Anyone do Dog Dancing?

[stainthedane]

I've been researching a lot on Dog dancing lately and thought I'd ask if anyone on here does it with their Danes.
You can see a whole bunch of examples on Youtube, including the Cruft competitions. What a fun thing to do! And great for obedience!

Anyone dance? yay

[Meatos]

Ha, to be honest, dog dancing really freaks me out.

[Faye413]

LOL Scarlett's Mum. I have actually researched dancing as well and thought it looked like fun. It is probably something Merle and I will play with as soon as he knows enough commands because it looks like a neat thing for owner and dog to do together. Stainthedane, let me know if you get into this because I would love to hear how it goes. :)

[MeganT]

Yes, I compete in dog dancing daily with Jax.
It involves trying to keep my feet moving fast enough so his aren't on top of mineroflmao
Sorry...couldn't resist! Its that boy's daily mission to see how many times he can step on my feet:cool:

[stainthedane]

Lol,
Why does it freak you out Scarlett's mum?


Don't have my Dane yet, hopefully soon, but when I do I am going to hop straight into dog dancing for sure! When I do I'll be sure to let you know Faye413, hopefully get some videos.

Megan T, do you have any videos??? I love watching it!
And it seems I can only find one dane on youtube that dances. (Honey)

Lol, Danes, They have to be on you at all times.roflmao

[Meatos]

I dunno...it just looks weird to me. I watched a competition on the telly once, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. And they always use weird music. It's like people who do yoga with their babies...I just don't get it.

I don't doubt that it's an awesome way to bond and exercise with your dog, but...I just don't get it!!!!! :p

[ROTTI2DAYNE]

Scarlett have you ever seen people that do Yoga with their dogs, talk about weird, try manouvering a Dane into the Downward Facing Dog Pose, yeah right. LOL, we have enough problems moving them on the bed let alone putting them into an awkward position. There was an episode of King of the Hill, where Bobby was dancing with his neighbors dog, I thought it a little weird as well, but I can see the bond it makes between dog and handler.

[MeganT]

Megan T, do you have any videos??? I love watching it!


roflmao I was just kidding! Its me that's dancing around trying to keep my feet from getting stepped on by a 150lb dog! It doesn't matter where they are, even on the couch he'll come and sit on themroflmao

[ownedby3danes]

roflmao I was just kidding! Its me that's dancing around trying to keep my feet from getting stepped on by a 150lb dog! It doesn't matter where they are, even on the couch he'll come and sit on themroflmao


LOL - it is the same around my house too!!!!!

[jeann1230]

Actually I think it is kind of fun yay

I have trained some steps and tricks with Luca, but without instructions of a trainer or music. I find teaching him some not so common steps and figures has loosend up our often pretty strict obedience routines.

He has fun because it is new stuff, and he gets lots of praises and treats. Not talking about all the uuuhs and aahhs of kind friends and family.

But it has also helped focusing his attention on me and keeping eye contact with me during the heel position. Because one never knows that crazy Mom might turn in a circle, goes backward or asks a big Dane to run an eight around her legs without flooring her :D

I pick some figures and tricks, then think about how to break them down and teach them to him. And then start putting things together. It helped me to learn how Luca learns best, and gives me a better timing with when to praise and correct him. Also you can see real fast when the dogs attention is drifting and when to stop training.

Another aspect of it is that you are spitting treats (hot dog pieces etc.) into the Danes mouth. That way the dog focuses on your face and you spit the treat directly towards the dog and the dog catches it. Takes some practice, but is a quick and interesting way to treat, because it keeps your hands free and it rewards faster and more on time. If your treat is in the hand the dog always focuses on the hand and miss most of the signals, and never learns to look up at you for instructions.

Oops did not want to write an essay roflmao

[Mom2Dori]

LOL, Katie you crack me up! If I did yoga with a baby, I'd be a nervous wreck I'd break it LOL (can you tell I don't have kids!)...

The only dancing I've done is some sweet footwork to get out of the way when the stampede of Danes rolls through my family room in what seems like an enormous ball of fur all trying to eat one another's feet LOL!

[Purple Raine]

LOL, Katie you crack me up! If I did yoga with a baby, I'd be a nervous wreck I'd break it LOL (can you tell I don't have kids!)...

The only dancing I've done is some sweet footwork to get out of the way when the stampede of Danes rolls through my family room in what seems like an enormous ball of fur all trying to eat one another's feet LOL!

Same here.....LOL!! only for me it's one dane, one Pomeranian and a 5 yr old little girl..... Oh and can I have Cami PLEASE!!!!!!!! she is sooooooo Cute!!!!!!!!! I love the Mantled Merles!!!!!!!! LOL!!!

[Mom2Dori]

Awww...thanks!!!! You'd love her....she's a ball of love....she has this look she gives me that makes me melt! It just says "love me now and love me forever, plllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase" And she's all snuggles all the time....very velcro-y! More than my other two...which I thought would be hard to do, but it was done LOL!

[Faye413]

Actually I think it is kind of fun yay

I have trained some steps and tricks with Luca, but without instructions of a trainer or music. I find teaching him some not so common steps and figures has loosend up our often pretty strict obedience routines.

He has fun because it is new stuff, and he gets lots of praises and treats. Not talking about all the uuuhs and aahhs of kind friends and family.

But it has also helped focusing his attention on me and keeping eye contact with me during the heel position. Because one never knows that crazy Mom might turn in a circle, goes backward or asks a big Dane to run an eight around her legs without flooring her :D

I pick some figures and tricks, then think about how to break them down and teach them to him. And then start putting things together. It helped me to learn how Luca learns best, and gives me a better timing with when to praise and correct him. Also you can see real fast when the dogs attention is drifting and when to stop training.

Another aspect of it is that you are spitting treats (hot dog pieces etc.) into the Danes mouth. That way the dog focuses on your face and you spit the treat directly towards the dog and the dog catches it. Takes some practice, but is a quick and interesting way to treat, because it keeps your hands free and it rewards faster and more on time. If your treat is in the hand the dog always focuses on the hand and miss most of the signals, and never learns to look up at you for instructions.

Oops did not want to write an essay roflmao

Thank you so much for writing this essay! I have been wanting to start doing some more "fun" training with Merle and you gave me some great ideas! One of my obedience instructors was talking the other day about doling out treats from your mouth - we'll have to give it a whirl. yay

[Greenmagick]

Yoga with a baby is actually wonderful:) I never go too into it, but I wish I did. The couple times we did it were great.

Dog Dancing....I wont ever do it because I dont danceyayIf I did, I would consider it. I have a friend who does it. It really is a great bonding and obedience sport.

There is one guy on youtube that I really enjoy. Some of the dances are kind of boring and goofy (the dogs does some spins and heels, repeat) but this guy and his border collie do really fun routines! One is a gladiator themed "fight", another is a Charlie Chapman routine, etc.

[TuckersMomma]

If you are interested in Dog Dancing your should check out Honey! She is my favorite Dane dog blogger : http://bighoneydog.com/

[Purple Raine]

Awww...thanks!!!! You'd love her....she's a ball of love....she has this look she gives me that makes me melt! It just says "love me now and love me forever, plllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase" And she's all snuggles all the time....very velcro-y! More than my other two...which I thought would be hard to do, but it was done LOL!

Your Welcome :D

[Bighoneydog]

Hi Everyone (and a special hello to Tucker & his human!)

Just thought I'd join in as I'd noticed a link from this thread to Honey's site:

I have a 5yr old fawn girl named Honey and we have been doing Canine Freestyle (doggie dancing) for about 2yrs now - we even compete in it quite successfully. When we first started, a lot of people laughed at me and said I could never do it with a Dane because they are too slow, clumsy and dopey...well, we've proved them all wrong and we even went on to compete at the annual national dog training championships - Honey beat all the other Border Collies to win the trophy for the Best Routine! :)

It is fantasic fun and really helps to build the bond between you and your dog, as well as being great in teaching them to focus on you - you learn to work together as a team, which is how I think dog training should be. The great thing about Freestyle, unlike Obedience or Agility, is that nothing is compulsory - you choose the moves & tricks that your dog enjoys the most and build your routines around them...and it's all taught with clicker training, so all positive, reward-based and makes the dog REALLY keen for training and really enjoy working with you.

By the way, you don't actually have to have "dance" ability - Freestyle was originally developed as an extension of Heeling to music and just got more creative, with people adding in twists & turns and other moves...it is really just a form of advanced obedience & control where the dog & handler learn to move in time together, through a certain choreography, and the dog learns to respond to cues from the handler, for various moves, and in various positions. Any dog can learn to do tricks - it's getting them to do several tricks in a row, in time to music and in synchony with you, with distractions around them, that's the real challenge! :)

If you're interested in learning more, you can go to Honey's website (www.bighoneydog.com (http://www.bighoneydog.com)) and click on "Canine Freestyle" at the top.

Also, her latest blog post shows a video of us training her new moves for our new routine - for a competition in July:
http://bighoneydog.com/new-dance-moves-new-playmate/

And here are videos of our previous routines, if anyone is interested:

Big Spender by Shirley Bassey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rG9GIWiNQ

Sway by the Pussycat Dolls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZPT_fxC1s

Does anyone else on the forum compete in Canine Freestyle? We're a bit of an oddity and I would love to meet someone who is also doing this with their Danes! :)

Hsin-Yi (& Honey)

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j78/hsinyicohen/BigSpender-bow-1.jpg

[agreenwood]

That looks like SO MUCH FUN!

[jeann1230]

Hi Hsin-Yi,

Welcome to DOL, great you joined yay

I have seen all your routines prior to your joining, you doing an awesome job with Honey. I would love to get more into Dog Dancing with my Dane Luca, but we are merely beginners, and around me here in Germany are not many Dog dancing opportunities. But I like using some figures and tricks to loosen up our obedience workouts and Luca really likes doing unusual and fun stuff...

I have watched some of your and Honeys moves as inspiration. I hope you share in the future. Too bad your are a continent away, I would love looking at this in person.

[stainthedane]

Wow, I'm so glad I made this Thread!

Welcome to DOL Hsin-Yi & Honey, I've been watching your routines prior to your joining as well, I love them! Showed them to my OH and told him when we get our great dane I'm most certainly going to hop into Canine Freestyle.

I'll let you guys know when that finally happens.

Jeann1230, if Germany doesn't have much in terms of Canine Freestyle, I strongly encourage you to start one! I'm sure there are many owners out there that would love to compete in this fun activity.
Maybe find some other dog owners to help you get it going!!
yay

[Bighoneydog]

Hi Hsin-Yi,

I would love to get more into Dog Dancing with my Dane Luca, but we are merely beginners, and around me here in Germany are not many Dog dancing opportunities. But I like using some figures and tricks to loosen up our obedience workouts and Luca really likes doing unusual and fun stuff...
.

Thanks everyone, for the welcome and the kind words! :)

Jeann1230 - I agree, if you're interested, you can just get started yourself and you might be surprised at how many other dog owners are keen to make up a little group.

To be honest, most of what I do with Honey is self-taught. Once you master the basics of clicker training, it's fairly easy to teach any trick you fancy - you just need some books and DVD's for inspiration (check out Richard Curtis and Mary Ray on Amazon) and a bit of time and patience! :) If I can do it with slow, dopey Honey, I'm sure you'll have no problems! The good thing about CF is that you can choose the tricks & moves that your dog likes to do naturally (with Danes, this is anything using the paws!), which makes it more enjoyable and much easier to get into - no frustrations trying to teach your dog to do something it doesn't like doing or doesn't do well! There are quite a lot of videos on YouTube as well, if you do a search for "Canine Freestyle" or "dog dancing".

To start with, you just need to get going with clicker training and then teach your Dane some simple tricks - and then build from there. There is a REALLY good book that I used in the beginning by Mary Ray, who is one of the top trainers in CF. If you go to Honey's website (www.bighoneydog.com (http://www.bighoneydog.com) ) and click on "Canine Freestyle" - and then scroll down to the bottom - the info about the book is there, as well as a link to Amazon. It explains the basics and moves on to fancy tricks, all with beautiful, clear, step-by-step pictures. I found that this was my best help - and I'm sure there are other very good books out there. I've heard that Richard Curtis's DVD's are very good too so perhaps if you get a book & DVD, then you can take it from there!

Freestyle is not very well developed here in NZ either - it's pretty much the same: a group of dog owners watched it and loved it and decided to try and do it themselves. One of them - an Obedience instructor, went to a few seminars given by top trainers and got lots of DVD's and stuff - and taught her own dog, then started classes. She is the one now responsible for trying to get the NZKC to give this sport more recognition and organising competitions - but they're not on the scale of Obedience and Agility - still not many people involved yet.

I got into it on my own - I'd seen a lot of it when we were living in the UK - where it is a lot more developed - and loved it and started teaching Honey tricks on my own...then found this lady and joined in her classes. But I have to say, I didn't find it very useful - most of the dogs there were Border Collies and a lot of the training tips were more relevant to a keen, agile, fast working breed - than to a slow, mellow, placid giant hound! So we ended up doing a lot of our own things anyway. And now, I don't really join the others to "train" - I do most of my training with Honey myself at home or in parks - when a routine is almost ready, then I'll take her to join the others and practise there but otherwise, I only have about 10mins of useful concentration with Honey and it's just not worth driving so far for that! Whereas their collies can work for 2hrs straight and still be keen to do more...SUCH a difference between the breeds!! So I mostly do my training for 5-10mins here and there in the day: before her walk, before dinner...short & sweet!

So if you're interested, don't feel daunted by the lack of official classes - this is really one dog sport where you can do a LOT by yourself, as long as you have a clicker, some time and some inspiration from books & DVD's and some good music! :) You can just put together routines for fun displays -and get your friends to do the same - it doesn't have to be for competition. Honey and I don't compete very seriously, like some of the Border Collie people do (I don't do that every weekend thing! :p and I refuse to travel far to compete!) - we just join in if there is one in Auckland and/or we do public displays at doggie events - it' really just the challenge of perfoming to an audience - as a goal to work towards, not about winning ribbons.

Good luck!

[jeann1230]

Thank you for all the tips and information. I will check them all out dance2
I have not started Luca on a clicker yet, I move him mostly through body signals. But I'll try it out and see, if he takes to it.

I also train Luca mostly at home and on walks. His window of attention is about the same as Honey's. Most of all we do all the training for fun also. Maybe I can get some doggy friends to join me :D

Keep in touch!

[TuckersMomma]

Hi Everyone (and a special hello to Tucker & his human!)

Just thought I'd join in as I'd noticed a link from this thread to Honey's site:

I have a 5yr old fawn girl named Honey and we have been doing Canine Freestyle (doggie dancing) for about 2yrs now - we even compete in it quite successfully. When we first started, a lot of people laughed at me and said I could never do it with a Dane because they are too slow, clumsy and dopey...well, we've proved them all wrong and we even went on to compete at the annual national dog training championships - Honey beat all the other Border Collies to win the trophy for the Best Routine! :)

It is fantasic fun and really helps to build the bond between you and your dog, as well as being great in teaching them to focus on you - you learn to work together as a team, which is how I think dog training should be. The great thing about Freestyle, unlike Obedience or Agility, is that nothing is compulsory - you choose the moves & tricks that your dog enjoys the most and build your routines around them...and it's all taught with clicker training, so all positive, reward-based and makes the dog REALLY keen for training and really enjoy working with you.

By the way, you don't actually have to have "dance" ability - Freestyle was originally developed as an extension of Heeling to music and just got more creative, with people adding in twists & turns and other moves...it is really just a form of advanced obedience & control where the dog & handler learn to move in time together, through a certain choreography, and the dog learns to respond to cues from the handler, for various moves, and in various positions. Any dog can learn to do tricks - it's getting them to do several tricks in a row, in time to music and in synchony with you, with distractions around them, that's the real challenge! :)

If you're interested in learning more, you can go to Honey's website (www.bighoneydog.com (http://www.bighoneydog.com)) and click on "Canine Freestyle" at the top.

Also, her latest blog post shows a video of us training her new moves for our new routine - for a competition in July:
http://bighoneydog.com/new-dance-moves-new-playmate/

And here are videos of our previous routines, if anyone is interested:

Big Spender by Shirley Bassey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rG9GIWiNQ

Sway by the Pussycat Dolls: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZPT_fxC1s

Does anyone else on the forum compete in Canine Freestyle? We're a bit of an oddity and I would love to meet someone who is also doing this with their Danes! :)

Hsin-Yi (& Honey)

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j78/hsinyicohen/BigSpender-bow-1.jpg

Welcome Honey, I'm glad you joined! You'll probably be able to help many Dane owners in the Training Section of the Forum, since you always have great advice!

[faust]

Welcome to the boards. I love the routine of you and Honey to Sway. I was impressed at how attentive and focused she was.

[MistyLyn]

OK, before I watched Honey's vids, I envisioned a dane on his hind legs, one paw at his owner's waist and another on his owner's shoulder. Yeah, I'm sheltered and special....lol. AWESOME work Honey!!! ;)

[Faye413]

I am really excited because Merle and I are signing up for a training class entitled "Click-a-Trick." I spoke with the trainer who is having the class and she said she is also going to incorporate some Canine Freestyle as well. I have now taught Merle to kick his legs when I kick mine and his bows are very consistent. Any suggestions on how to teach lateral movement?

[shunee]

If you are interested in Dog Dancing your should check out Honey! She is my favorite Dane dog blogger : http://bighoneydog.com/

Me too :)

[kwhit]

I dunno...it just looks weird to me. I watched a competition on the telly once, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies.

How could this ever give anyone the "heebie-jeebies":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbVbPvlDoM

Rookie passed away on 7-16-2008. He was 15.

[Greenmagick]

How could this ever give anyone the "heebie-jeebies":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbVbPvlDoM

Rookie passed away on 7-16-2008. He was 15.

This was the very first one I ever saw years ago. I thought it looked so neat. Granted, not many are up to that calibur, but still it is such a neat thing to do with your dog, and such a bonding opportunity!

[stainthedane]

I am really excited because Merle and I are signing up for a training class entitled "Click-a-Trick." I spoke with the trainer who is having the class and she said she is also going to incorporate some Canine Freestyle as well. I have now taught Merle to kick his legs when I kick mine and his bows are very consistent. Any suggestions on how to teach lateral movement?

I'm not very useful for tips on lateral movement, maybe someone else on here can help you, But I'm glad to hear they're including Canine Freestyle into the program!! Keep us updated on how Merle is getting along with it :)--and grab a video if you can!!!!



...on a different note.. I didn't realize Rookie died, but at the age of 15, well, yeah I guess so! Didn't realize he was so old! I'm sure he inspired many dog owners like ourselves :)Thumbup

[Bighoneydog]

I am really excited because Merle and I are signing up for a training class entitled "Click-a-Trick." I spoke with the trainer who is having the class and she said she is also going to incorporate some Canine Freestyle as well. I have now taught Merle to kick his legs when I kick mine and his bows are very consistent. Any suggestions on how to teach lateral movement?

Hi - perhaps I can help....but I'm not sure what you mean by a "lateral movement"? Could you explain more what you mean? :)

Hsin-Yi
ps. am also delighted to hear about a class that is incorporating tricks and Canine Freestyle - a lot of people think that 'doggie dancing' is just silly and frivolous but while it is fun, it is actually an advanced form of obedience as it requires the dog to focus on you for a extended period of time (dance routines are typically 2mins without break) and perform one move after another, all done on time and to cue...it requires a lot of concentration from the dog and a very good relationship between the handler and dog to work together as a team.

A lot of people think it's easy until they try it and find that getting a dog to follow command after command, instantly on cue, and in time with the music - while in a ring with spectators, other dogs and other distractions - is not as easy as it looks!

And although it is not "serious" like Obedience, it can be just as challenging to the dog, if not more - there are more different moves and tricks to learn and master - and anyway, to a dog, doing Heeling or a Down Stay or Retrieve is just as much a trick as doing Spins or Reversing or Weaving through legs or a Bow! :)

[Faye413]

By lateral movement I mean walking sideways with me.

[Bighoneydog]

By lateral movement I mean walking sideways with me.

Oh, OK. And sorry - do you want the dog in front of you or next to you?

We haven't really done the dog next to you version but the dog in front of you is easier - you first have to teach the dog an "In Front" command - where you only click when the dog is standing straight in front of you.

1) Hold a treat in front of you to encourage the dog to come and stand in front of you.
2) After you click, throw the treat away so the dog has to move away to get it - then when he comes back, wait until he lines himself up straight in front of you before you click - and then throw the treat away again.
3) When he is coming back and standing straight in front of you reliably, start to add a word to it (we use "In front")
4) When he is doing it very reliably on cue, take one step to the side and say "In front" - the dog will have to step sideways to line himself straight in front of you again. Click as soon as he takes the sideways step.
5) Don't rush - just work on one sideways step first - and do both directions, so that he doesn't favour one side. Then you can try 2 steps, 3 steps, 4 steps, etc...until you are walking sideways and the dog is also stepping sideways with you - sort of like crab-walking.

* Some dogs like Honey can get lazy and basically just walk on a diagonal, with their heads in front of you but their back parts lagging behind. So make sure that you only click when they line themselves back straight in front of you again - so they understand that it is that position they are getting rewarded for. This encourages them to actually step sideways, rather than walk diagonally...if that makes sense!

I haven't actually taught Honey to walk sideways when she is next to me so I'm not sure if I can help you with that - I'd imagine it is a similar principle and easier to start with you walking into your dog rather than away from your dog. So with your dog in a Heel position, step sideways into him - this will probably make him shift sideways away from you - click as soon as he takes even a small step sideways and build from there.

For the dog walking into you while you step away sideways - the hard part is keeping the dog parallel as they tend to turn - I think you're going to have to teach rear end awareness first because otherwise, they tend to just turn so that they are following you in a 'T' shape, rather than remaining parallel next to you and stepping sideways. So you might have to do some work on teaching them to pivot and walk backwards first, to get rear end awareness. So then they know how to move their back ends and are more inclined to step sideways when you step away from them. But there may be an easier way - as I said, I haven't tried this one out myself yet - so perhaps someone else more knowledgeable could help you! :)

Hsin-Yi

[Faye413]

Thanks for the suggestions! We have been working recently on "feet awareness" and I would assume that translates into some "rear awareness" as well. In our intro agility class, he was introduced to a PVC "ladder" laying flat on the ground that he had to walk through. The first week he was a little weirded-out by it, but by week two he was stepping in those holes like a champ! I was also given a training tool by a friend who has years of dane-agility experience that we still need to try. Basically it is a large tupperware under-the-bed storage bin with sandpaper/friction tape on the bottom. The goal of the exercise is to, step by step, work the dog up to placing both front feet on the bin and to use the back legs to walk in a circle. This exercise can then be done by placing the back feet on the bin and using the front feet to walk in a circle. As I am writing this, I am thinking this would probably held with the sideways movement as well...

Hopefully we will find time to try out your advice this weekend! Thanks again!

[agreenwood]

For the Seattle folks, there is a Canine Freestyle workshop on 8/7 @ Ahimsa. The dog with handler spots are full at this point but you can sign up for "auditor" spots to see what it's about. Should be fun! http://ahimsadogtraining.com/class/dancing.php