InFocus Magazine

As the dancers line up waiting for the music to commence, the sense of excitement is palpable. One last check on the outfits—vests done up, shoelaces tied, collars straight. With the first couple beats, a half dozen partners jump right into their performance. Finally, they get to put their practice to work.

Moving around the show area flawlessly, you can catch a glimpse of some of the dancers counting time as they execute their choreography…1, 2, 3, 4… 1, 2, 3, 4….

Working hard to maintain their synchronicity, the troupe carries out a number of classic elements—inward side passes, 360 degree turns, forward figure eights, high stepping, left and right pivots—finishing with the ever-popular heel–sit–stay.

Come again?

Yes, the heel–sit–stay is a staple of any performance when it comes to Canine Freestyle, a dance craze that has gone to the dogs.

A little more “dancing with the strays” than Dancing with the Stars, Freestyle is a relatively new dog sport that combines basic obedience training with the added dance elements of composition, choreography and costuming.

Of course, the dogs that are in the ring this day at the Comox Valley Fall Fair are hardly strays. It is easy to see that there is more than a little bit of love and pampering that goes on between the dogs and their handlers in each and every performance.

As noted, Canine Freestyle is a choreographed dance performed to music by handlers and their dogs. The dance can be done either as part of a larger group or as a solo. The objective is to present the bond between dog and owner in an original dance, using intricate movements to display artistry, athleticism, style and teamwork while interpreting the theme of the chosen music.

Put another way, it’s a pretty fun excuse to get a little exercise, chat with friends and get your groove on while hanging with your dog. Little wonder that interest in the sport is growing worldwide.

While the majority of organizations in North America are in the East, particularly in the States, BC is believed to be where the sport first originated in the 1990s. Within the Comox Valley alone, there are a couple of different dance groups, as well as less formal recreation classes.

Glenda Gentleman is one of the original members of a group called Wee Paws for Applause that has been doing Freestyle since 2000.

“Our group got started after attending a dog show at Tradex in Abbotsford. There were some people doing drill work with some bigger dogs and we thought that we should show them that little dogs can do it as well as big dogs,” she says.

Drawing on their personal experience—two of the four members of Wee Paws for Applause are obedience trainers and one is a choreographer of human dancers—they put together a couple of different routines. Sounds easy enough, but we are talking about getting a total of 24 feet and paws in synch here.

While most of us wouldn’t know where to even begin, Gentleman says it actually isn’t too tricky if you follow a couple basic guidelines.

“The first thing is to pick a piece of music that you enjoy and seems to be the right kind of beat for your dog,” she says. “If you have a great big dog that moves kind of slowly you don’t want to have a piece that is too quick, because they won’t be able to keep up. So you pick some music that is appropriate.

“The next thing is to teach your dog some tricks. The dogs that have had a little bit of obedience training and have learned to respond to their owners and they know that sit means sit; they manage much better and have more fun.

“Then you teach yourself some steps to go along with the music, and you just coordinate the three. So it is a blend of the music and movement of the dog and the handler. The key thing is the relationship that you develop with your dog and having fun.”