Dancing with your dog...a new type of freestyle obedience!

Doggie freestyle dance isn't really a new thing, but it is relatively new to the public. It developed in Canada out of freestyle heeling as an entertaining way to compete in obedience. When costumes and dance steps were added to heeling routines to music, dog dancing took on the form of a dramatic routine. Although the possibilities are endless, there are many things you can do with your dog to create a dance that is both fun, but also a great way to work on heeling and also communication. I have recently been asked to start a cha-cha with your dog class at Bosley's in New West. It will be held on Friday nights at seven until eight and begin on August 9th.

This summer I had the opportunity to attend a seminar with Dante Camacho who is an agility master and also a free style dance competitor and instructor. Here is a video on how to get started on targeting and also on how to build the foundations of the tricks you can transfer to dance routines. It is fun to train these behaviours, then link them together into a routine to music. The music is key to the performance and you need to pick a beat that suits you and your dog. You also need to consider what works in terms of the speed at which your dog can perform the behaviours.

Check out this video of Dante Camacho demonstrating the foundations of heeling and targeting!

Check out Dante and his targeting demo:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSFe7w181iQ