Last Tuesday evening a few of us with our dogs met at Shasta Dog Training to begin our class learning “Canine Freestyle” also known as “Doggie Dancing”. This is actually a competitive dog sport in which dog and handler work together as a team doing tricks and fancy maneuvers all choreographed to music.
However, Dani Joy and I are just learning so we can have some shared fun times. Last week we went over basic training skills: using a clicker, positive reinforcement and using a target/touch stick. We also learned how to do some spins and having the dog walk towards me in a straight line in front of me.
This week we have added having the dog backing up in front of us in a straight line and circling around us. We also reviewed the “wait” command and how to use it with other commands.
There are five dogs in the class: Toy Aussie, McNab, Scottish Deerhound, Kerry Blue Terrier and my Sheltie.
It is so fun to watch the different personalities of each of these dogs and their own individual learning styles, flares, temperament as well as the varying sizes.
It is so nice to be a student and not be the dog trainer once in awhile, especially when you have a great teacher!
So far, Dani Joy and I are doing quite well. I wouldn’t say we are proficient in any way. We are still learning, but we are having lots of fun. Who knows maybe someday we may do a demo 🙂
In the meantime, in your own community look into signing up for a Canine Freestyle class and learn to dance with your dog too!