Ready to Try Dancing with Dogs

What Is Canine Freestyle?

Canine freestyle or dancing with dogs is a terrific way to develop a strong, loving relationship with your dog.  You can design personalized dance routines to your favorite music, and take to the dance floor with your dog.

K9 freestyle is a dog sport for pet owners who love their dogs and want to spend time forming a bonding relationship with them, while having fun at the same time.  

K9 Freestyle is a personally designed routine that combines dancing with your dog, using tricks and obedience training set to music.  As your progress through your dance routine, you’ll form a bond between you and your dog, becoming an inseparable team.  

The trick training and synchronized dance routine physically and mentally stimulates your dog, which is great for his cognitive function.

Is K9 Freestyle Physically Demanding?

You create dance routines to suit your physical abilities, so you can make it simple or demanding.  Anyone can participate in dog dancing.  Men, women, young, and old enjoy this dog sport.  The dance routine is set to whatever music you enjoy.  It can be soft, slow, loud, boogie-woogie, or rap.  You decide what music is best suited for your dance team.

Is Dance Experience Required?

No dance experience is required to have fun dancing with your dog.  It’s up to you to decide the dance steps and tricks your team performs.  The dance moves can be as basic or advanced as you want.  Even basic tricks make wonderful freestyle routines.

What Should Your Dog Know before Beginning K9 Freestyle?

The only thing your dog should know before starting canine dancing is basic obedience commands.  It’s always a good idea to attend a basic obedience class before starting any other dog sport, whether it is rally, performance obedience, agility, or freestyle.  Your dog should know basic commands, such as sit, down, come, stay. He should also be friendly around people, and other dogs because freestyle is performed off leash.

How Much Time Should You Spend Training for K9 Freestyle?

It’s up to you  how much time you spend training tricks for canine dancing.  Most dogs learn quickly with just five minutes of training, a few times a day rather than long training sessions.  You teach freestyle using positive reinforcement, not punishment.  This makes the training fun for both of you, making progress easier.

Do K9 Freestyle Competitions Require only Purebred Dogs?

No.  What is great about canine freestyle is that all dogs can participate.  Mixed breeds, purebreds, young, and old dogs have fun competing in freestyle.  National freestyle organizations present titles to all dogs who present winning dance routines.

Canine Freestyle is an enjoyable dog sport for people and dogs of all ages.  Put on your dancing shoes and start dancing with your dog.  You’ll be surprised at the bond you form with your dog and the fun the two of you will have together. 

See an amazing example of this incredible dog dancing routine with Carolyn Scott and Rookie.

Resources:

World Canine Freestyle Organization

Volunteer at Your Next Dog Agility Trial

Participating in dog agility is one of the best ways to bond with your dog. After a few months of agility classes, you will notice that you and your dog communicate without having to say anything. It all has to do with body language. Dog agility trials offer you one more way to keep that bond strong and give you an idea of how your dog focuses on you even with so many distractions.

If you decide to enter an agility event with your dog, consider the volunteer opportunities available at the trial. Volunteering for one of the trial jobs helps you become acquainted with other competitors and makes the events run smoothly. It also gives you a close up view of the agility course and something to do besides get nervous before your agility run. Make sure you designate which events you are competing in when you fill out the volunteer form. This ensures you free time for your event. Even beginner agility enthusiasts can do most of the volunteer work.

Ring Crew

Volunteering for ring crew is a good starter job at the trial. All that is involved is sitting on the sidelines and watching the dogs run the course. If a dog should knock off a jump bar, you run in and put it back on the jump. Also, when the dog groups change, you set the jump bars to the correct height for the dog. You do not have to guess because the judge yells out the jump height.

Leash Runner

Leash runner is another beginner volunteer job. Each handler takes the leash and collar off the dog before beginning the course. The leash runner takes the collar and leash and carries it to the end of the course. When the dog completes the final obstacle, you hand the leash to the handler.

Course Builder

Course builders set up the new agility course for each event. This job involves moving jumps, tunnels, weave poles, A- frames, hoops, and dog walks. A course chart is available to show where the obstacles go and how they are numbered. The judge is also available to direct how the course should be set.

Timekeeper

The time of each dog's run is calculated electronically. When the dog runs through the first obstacle, it registers on the time keeping machine. The timekeeper just has to make sure the time begins as soon as the dog begins its run and turns off when the dog passes the final obstacle.

Scribe

The scribe's job is to write down the time it took each dog to complete the agility course. When the dog finishes the run, the timekeeper tells the scribe the dog's time.

References:
North American Agility Council
Act Up Agility Club