Excited about the imminent arrival of Richard Curtis in Australia, - well, next April feels pretty imminent - Penny and I have re-enrolled in canine freestyle lessons with Sue Cordwell of Melbourne Canine Freestyle.
For our homework we were set the task of putting together eight different moves, not including forward heeling. Here's our first try at recording our attempt. It went pear-shaped fairly quickly, lol, due to the clumsiness of the human part of the team.
Here's our second try. Penny's attentive and interested. The human looks a bit like a lumbering rhinoceros, but I guess if I'm going to persevere with this hobby - that Penny loves - I'll just have to stop being self-conscious and try to relax a bit.
It's great fun!
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16 comments:
Wow, that was pawsome Penny! Mom always wishes she knows how to dance too...but she's such a klutz she doesn't dare do it. LOL! Great job with the moves!
Scottie
Penny, I love this!!! And I thought my Linguini was a good dancer, until now. The second video is so good!
Twinkie
It was a pleasure to watch you and Penny.
Oh how exciting that you're doing classes with Sue! Am good friends with Sue - I was really looking forward coming up in April to meet her in person at last but sadly, with the cost & hassle of transporting Honey on an airplane (have to rent a van just to get her crate to the airport, never mind the rest of the costs!), I've had to abandon that idea. Particularly as Richard Curtis will be coming to Camp Tailwaggers near us too so it seemed silly & extravagant to go to Melbourne as well. Shame as I would have loved to meet you in person too!
And hey! Stop being so hard on yourself! You are NOT lumbering at all! (and I'm a dancer so I know) You move very nicely to the music - I have seen people who really clump around like they are in an obedience drill with no sensitivity to the music at all - whereas you were moving in time to it very nicely. I think you're just a little self-conscious and so a bit stiff with it - you just need to learn to relax a bit and not give a damn and have some fun - I know it's easier said than done but too often I see people in this sport with the most fantastic dogs and the only thing holding them back is their constant worry about what everyone thinks of them.
You know what? People are mostly only interested in watching the dog - they don't really care that much about the human partner - until when the human is worrying so much about what they look like that they actually end up being obviously self-conscious and awkward and drawing attention to themselves and away from the dog!
I do think that Freestyle is more challenging than the other sports in that the human partner has to deliver as well. In Obedience & Agility & Flyball and everything else, it doesn't matter what you look like/do as long as your dog does the right thing and you can do ridiculous things (like hold your hand in funny positions) just to get your dog to produce the right result...whereas in Freestyle, it really is a partnership and your actions & performance matters as much as your dog. This doesn't mean that you have to be a brilliant dancer but it does mean that how you do things matters - and so people feel under pressure. But don't worry - you're doing great! :-)
Penny is just wonderful to watch! She is so obviously enjoying herself - I think for her sake, you really have to continue in this and get yourself used to performing! :-) She is amazing - she is doing all those tricks & moves one after the other without any treats and with so much enthusiasm...Honey would never do that! I think I'd lose her after 2 moves!! (That's MY biggest challenge!)
Hsin-Yi
Bravo - bravo! Great job! You were smashing together!
Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch
Oh, that was so great. You are both so talented!
Oh Penny - that is so cool!!! You are quite the dancer and your hooman too!!!
Slobbers Teal'c
Hsin Yi, I was looking forward to meeting you in person, too, but I can see it would be very difficult to bring Honey to Melbourne, after seeing the trouble you had to go to to organise your move to Australia.
You're so right about the fact that this is a sport where the human has to stand in the spotlight with the dog. That's my difficulty, but I can see that Penny just loves it, so I'm going to persevere.
Part of my "therapy" for my shyness and stiffness was putting up this video clip, so I'm really grateful for your encouragement.
Teal'c, Penny seems to love it, doesn't she? It was only when I looked at this clip that I saw how focused she is when she's dancing.
Schwan, Penny's great, isn't she? I'm not so good, but I'm determined to try to relax into the music a bit more, as Honey's Hsin-Yi advised. (Have you seen Honey and Hsin-Yi perform? They are fantastic.)
Maggie and Mitch, I feel as if I can hear you applauding. Thank you! (Penny and I take a bow...)
Slavenka, thanks. I'm glad we brought you pleasure. It can be our return for all the pleasure your funny and informative blog brings us each day.
Twink, I'm sure Linguini is good at everything! Maybe even at eating fruit!
Scottie, I am living proof that being a klutz doesn't stop you from joining in this sport!
You are doing great with your dancing! You will be a pro in no time.
Levi
Aphasia Decoder, I think Penny will be the pro of this team!
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