So you think you can Dance?
Heelwork to music, Musical freestyle, Dog dancing ... whatever you call it, I personally prefer Freestyling coz that means anything goes and your owner cannot fault you on it. My fav freestyle move is the 'Jumping Jacks' (above pic).
This I do a lot and involves hopping on and off your owner like a Energizer Bunny. Owners don't like this as this throws them off guard and messes up the dance routine, big time! We then have to go into impromptu mode, relying on creative moves, tricks and more jumps ... which is my intention all along. Well, there can only be 1 leading man on the dance floor.
At times, when I am not myself, I may actually dance in rhytmn with my owners. Yes, I can actually synchronize and move in tandem with the humans, executing the 'Both' (above pic) and 'Twirl' and 'Who's the boss?' (below pics) with swift precision.
There are times I don't read their body language very well and try to improvise ... above pic has me trying out a new 'Jitterbug' step. And if I don't really get what they are doing, I just stand there and laugh out loud at their incoherent steps. Hey, what happened to the routine we were going through for the last couple of weeks ... (below pic)
On more formal occassions like during public performances, it can be thin line between a well orchestrated dance routine and an overly animated JRT running circles around his owner ... I kind of like the latter.
posted by Groovy Dogs Just Wanna Hv Fun at 2:23 PM
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Junior the Silky Terrier was all excited to try out his new dance steps and asked us to join in but we were less than impressed. Put it this way, dancing with a soggy Silky is like grooving to a wet mop. Besides we had better things to do, like:
OB exercises by the beach. Not in my list of recommended beach pursuits but I did a few retrieving exercises just to please Mr Owner. He has gotten hooked on the dumbbell retrieving routine, so I desperately need to find him other avenues where he can release his creative juices … help.
Beach soccer. This sport was actually for the humans but they must have got confused, as we noticed rugby and heelwork to music moves mixed in as well … chaos ensued and our humans soon degenerated to football hooligans. I tried to step in to bring things to order but they pretty much ignored me, just like in the real matches. While our owners struggled to make a decent pass, Milo the GR decided he had better get in the act. He was fairly good at keeping possession of the ball with his mouth, so he takes the Most Valuable Player award.
Savouring local fare. Come night time, our owners sneaked off to the nearby town of Kemamam to sample the famous stuffed crab and seafood delicacies. Dogs weren’t invited and had to guard the chalets. For the next trip, we will be forming a union with the motto, ‘No work while at the beach”.
Hunting for crabs. The JRTs fav past time. Shadow, Russell and Kimi specialised in this and were rather successful in their crab hunt. No photos published as the end result was considered too gory for all crustacean lovers out there.
Recent puppy agility trials at Chin Woo stadium were disappointing and shoddily run. I won’t even try to list down all the slip-ups made by the organisers/ officials as there were too many on the day. Let’s just go straight to areas for improvement:
1. Agility trials on slippery parquet flooring is a big no, no. When conducting trials indoors, flooring should be carpeted for the safety and well being of dogs. Making dogs look awkward and foolish with all that slipping and sliding in the ring, is in total contradiction with the dog sport of agility and not what dog lovers wish to see, especially in an event called Malaysia Dog Day.
2. Officials and organisers should be well versed with the trial rules as posted on the website … interpreting rules as one goes along does nothing for the credibility of the trials. Calls for all type of faults (ie. wrong weave pole entry, missed weave pole, missed/ incomplete obstacles) must be made and must be consistent and fair. Officials should not have to be reminded by the trialers on which faults to call.
4. Trial courses should be designed by the trial judge and not by the organisers so as independence is maintained.
5. Trials should commence on time and not 3 hours behind schedule, which meant that competing dogs had to wait a good 4-5 hours in the cramped hall conditions. Poor time management added to the dogs’ and handlers’ frustration on the day.
Despite the inappropriate surface and inconsistent judging calls, PetnYou Dog Squad defied the odds with Kimi and I winning both the Mini Jumpers and Mini Agility classes respectively. Cami took 3rd spot in Mini Jumpers and Caca managed 2nd place in Maxi Jumpers, but the inconsistent calls denied him a placing in Maxi Agility.
All that waiting (I waited for 5 hours from 9am to 2 pm) just to take part in an exercise which lasted less than 5 minutes … wonder if it was all worth it? I think there were moments when I almost passed out from all that lack of activity. My owners must have fallen asleep with all that waiting, hence why there are no photos of my OB exploits. 
Goes to show that OB trialers are a patient lot. Hats off to them! Congrats to me mates, Chloe and Amber the GRs, for winning 2nd and 3rd placings in PreNovice class. Pacco came very close to winning but got unstuck in the Stay routines. 
'Last year's Mid Valley Dog Show was huge!'
Just like agility, there are a few categories to excel at:
