dancing with dogs in Australia

When Penny was swimming at Kepala, she probably thought she was there to have fun. (After all, what else is a pet dog's life about?). However, I was intent on helping her to get fit so she could go to the first-ever session of the newly-formed Dancing With Dogs Club of Victoria.

Well, we made it. Today Penny and I joined a class at Foundation level. It was great fun and we'll be practising what we were told. (Thank goodness for pen and paper, otherwise I would most likely forget everything as I walked out the door.) Later, at home, we've practised 'heel' - yep, after all these years we've never quite got a handle on that basic move. (Red face)

We tried 'on your mark', with Penny putting her front feet on a thick book and circling around the book in position, facing me as I also circled the book. No problems.

Next we tried this activity with a long ruler laid on the ground, touching the big book. The idea is to get Penny more aware of what her back feet are doing. As you'll see in the video clip to come, she could sort of do this. The final step was to raise the ruler so it was a couple of centimetres off the ground, one end lying on the book.

That she can't do, yet. She definitely knows her back legs are nearing the ruler, so I don't think it will be long before she gets it.