Freestyle Photos

I thought that you might like to see some pictures that Jim Poor, the dog sport photographer, took at the Canine Freestyle Federation trial. He took them with no flash since that would have distracted me while I was doing my routine.




You can see that I am paying great attention to Barbara. She was very pleased with me.




I was not allowed to get any treats during the whole routine. This is very hard but we had practiced a lot so I knew I would get treats at the end.




I really like doing my freestyle because I get to work with Barbara and do fun moves.




We got lots of applause when the routine was over which I liked very much.




We ordered the DVD of the competition and will post the routine once we get it.

Freestyle Photos

Our laptop is back from the Mac vet so now we can post about my winning weekend.

All the hard work of practicing my routine and all the dog grooming torture was worth it. Barbara is so pleased with me for earning my Canine Freestyle Federation Level II title that she is constantly telling me how smart and beautiful I am. I have been basking in the attention all week. Of course Ambrose is very jealous and has been acting out because he feels neglected. I have had to speak sharply to him a few times.

Here is a photo of us after Saturday's routine. I am wearing my 2nd place medallion as well as the patch that we got for my title. Barbara says she will sew the patch on our training bag but that will never happen because she is pathetic with a needle and thread.



I am licking my chops because each day after my routine I got an entire sausage biscuit to eat! Very delish. Of course I was famished because I was not allowed to have any treats in the ring while we were performing. But I paid great attention to Barbara and tried to follow her signals. I did anticipate her cues a couple of times but stayed right with her and worked very hard to earn my biscuit. We got lots of applause after our routine and people made a big fuss over me which I enjoyed too.



Barbara had the professional photographer take lots of pictures of us so when we get those, we will post them. Here I am modeling my first place medallion after the awards on Sunday.



We have ordered the dvd of the event so I hope to post my routines when that is available. Now that I have earned my Level II title we have to move up to Level III which is much harder. I have to start practicing all sorts of new moves. But I like to hear people clapping for me and I love those sausage biscuits so I think that I will get right to work.

Freestyle Demos

In one month Barbara and I will compete in a Canine Freestyle Federation trial. We have a new routine, to Celtic music, that I enjoy performing because it has my favorite jumps in it as well as turns and spins which I also like to do. We have been practicing a lot to get ready for the trial.

Last Saturday we went to Yanceyville to perform our routine at the Caswell Animal Protection Society's Bark Fest. I had a good time but of course Barbara forgot to take pictures of me. A lady from the Caswell Messenger took my picture so maybe I will be in the newspaper.

A few weeks ago we went to the Woof-A-Palooza to support Chatham Animal Rescue and Education (CARE). There were many vendors selling dog treats and toys. We had a booth with lots of training information. I was on my best behavior so people could see what a good trainer Barbara is and they will sign their dogs up for her classes. We did not bring Ambrose because I know he would have disgraced us with some crazy adolescent antic.



We performed our freestyle routine for the crowd.



The audience was very impressed with my jumping abilities.



CARE raised lots of money at the Woof-A-Palooza which will help them foster and find homes for lots more dogs and cats.

Here is a movie of Barbara and I rehearsing our routine last month. We still have some work to do to polish up our performance and of course it would help if she was not so clumsy. I am always graceful but Barbara has two left feet. Well, I have two left feet as well, but I am supposed to have them.

A New Boyfriend and Freestyle Practice

A girl can never have too many admirers. However, I like them to be well behaved and they must follow my signals about what is the appropriate way to play with me. I am very good at flirting with them and training them to play appropriately.

Jix is a handsome, young Retriever/Collie who was recently adopted by a nice family. They are doing a great job in training him but they told Barbara that he gets very overexcited when he sees new dogs. Barbara suggested that they come to the training center so that Jix could meet me.



He did get very excited when he saw me, lunging and barking. I am used to this reaction and it doesn't bother me. I knew Jix was just stunned by my Gordon Setter beauty. What boy wouldn't be?? So we practiced walking by each other until Jix calmed down. He got lots of good treats for passing by calmly. After awhile he realized that I was not impressed by his antics and settled nicely.




We got let off leash and of course Jix wanted to sniff me. Now I am happy to be sniffed politely, but intensive sniffing of my personal areas is quite annoying. My body is my own! I flipped around and told Jix to behave.



He stopped but then couldn't help himself (how could he resist?) and went back to trying to sniff me. I chased him off smartly!



After a few times Jix got the message. See how he is politely averting his eyes? That is how I like all my boyfriends to behave. Then we had some nice playtime together.



On Saturday we met up with our friends from the Carolina Canine Freestyle Guild for a meeting and practice. The meeting was so boring that I fell asleep. What can people talk about for an hour and a half?? Finally it was the dogs turn to get in the ring and practice. We worked on our freestyle routines and then I got to learn something new - platform pivots.



I had to learn to stand with my two front feet on a little platform while my back feet stayed on the ground. At first I thought that this was very silly and kept jumping over the platform. But Barbara kept clicking and treating me for putting my paws on the platform and after awhile it was very easy.



Then I had to learn to move my rear feet while my front ones stayed on the platform. This is harder than it looks but with clicks and treats I could do it.



Barbara was quite pleased with this. She said it will help me with my left pivots in freestyle and rally. It is also good exercise. Now she wants to teach it to Ambrose although where we will get a platform large enough for his big feet, I do not know.

Freestyle Friends

We drove out the the kennel club this morning to practice canine freestyle and rally obedience. I really enjoy these activities (although not as much as tracking) because it keeps my mind occupied, I get lots of treats and I get to visit with my friends.


This is my new friend Stormy. She is a Belgian Tervuren and already has her Utility Dog title (UD) which is very hard and takes a lot of work to earn. She and her person are learning freestyle and I bet they will be great. Look at the beautiful attention she is giving to her person. Attention is key to doing well in obedience, rally and freestyle.



Lucky is very good at walking backwards. Here you see him backing away from his person. They are getting ready to compete at a trial in November.



Pree is one of my boyfriends. This isn't the best picture of him-it makes him look like a little mop and he is actually quite handsome. He finds me irresistable and today he ran through the ring gates to get to me. No photos of that since they would be R-rated at least.



Here I am doing my favorite trick-the leap to touch Barbara's hand. I love to do it because I am allowed to jump. See how high I can get.



Here is another picture of me doing it again. It feels so great to leap up.



After freestyle we ran a rally course and then it was back home to take a long nap while Barbara had to work.

Freestyle Practice

This week I got a chance to practice Rally and some Tracking. This morning we got together with some of our friends to practice our Canine Freestyle routines.



I had a bath yesterday (UGH!!) so I am looking particularly shiny today. I am waiting for my turn to go in the ring. We are finishing up the choreography for my routine and we've added a zig zag where I switch back and forth from heeling on the left side to heeling on the right side. It is not that hard to do and I get lots of string cheese while I practice, so I enjoy it. Unfortunately, Barbara forgot to give her camera to someone to take photos, so there are no pictures of me working!



This is my new friend Rhiannon. She is a 2 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever and is just starting freestyle. She and her person are heeling around the ring while we all try to figure out what would be the best music for her performance.



I like freestyle because I get to show of how well I move and get to do some fun tricks too. Once the routine is finished, and I've practiced it, we will post a video.

Drill Team Performance

I was very excited this afternoon when Barbara got out my green bandana. I knew it meant that we were going to perform with the Drill Team. We drove over to a retirement community to do a performance of our routines for the people who live there. I was very excited to see my friends and acted a bit silly at first. I think that Barbara was afraid that I would not do well but I settled down when it was time to perform.

The people really liked our routines and clapped a lot. They asked many questions about how we are trained to do the routines. It is all positive of course. Lots of treats, praise and toys. No being jerked around or scolded. All of us dogs love to go to Drill Team practice and perform because we know that we will get lots of rewards and get to spend special time with our people.

Here is a picture of my friend Ayla and her person Sandi. Ayla is almost as silly as I am but she looks very calm here and did well in the performance. Ayla has her own blog which you can read here.



I have to rest up now because we have another performance tomorrow at the Farmers' Market in Carrboro.!

Canine Freestyle

We had a great day today at the Canine Freestyle Federation Retreat and I learned a lot. We did Artistry and Presentation where we had to heel across the floor doing inside and outside circles and look good while we did it. Then we worked on the opening shape for our routine. The hardest part was the proofing class where I had to practice doing a sit stay while the teacher walked around me and tempted me with treats! If I stayed, Barbara rewarded me with pieces of cheese. It was very difficult but I really tried to do well.

The nice thing about Canine Freestyle is that any kind of dog can do it. Big or small, it doesn't matter. Your person has to pick the right kind of music that suits you. Then of course you have to practice a lot to get good at it. Here are some pictures of different dogs at the retreat.





Lucky and Jeanine are heeling to his music. He is paying attention to Jeanine very well.



I'm exhausted and I need to rest up now because tomorrow we will practice technical moves.