Musical canine freestyle
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| Musical canine freestyle | |
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 A dog and handler perform in a musical freestyle competition |
Musical canine freestyle, also known as musical freestyle, freestyle dance, and canine freestyle, is a modern
History
Musical freestyle started in many places almost simultaneously around 1989, with demonstrations of the talent of heeling to music being shown in
The first official musical freestyle group, Musical Canine Sports International, was founded in British Columbia, Canada, in 1991. Soon, other groups followed in the United States and England. Each region began developing its own style, with many American groups promoting more trick-based routines and costumes. English groups focused more on heel work and on the dog, and less on costumes and design. Musical freestyle has become more common in animal talent shows and specialty acts.
Techniques
Teaching a dog to be able to work on both sides of the handler's body, not just the left side as in standard obedience heeling, is the first step to doing freestyle. The trainer first breaks the routine into pieces with only two or three moves linked together, and as they progress these pieces are linked together.
There are two types of musical canine freestyle, freestyle
Heelwork to music
Heelwork to music focuses on a dog's ability to stay in variations of the heel position while the handler moves to music. In heel work to music, the dog and trainer remain close to each other at all times. Sending the dog away or doing distance work is not part of the routine, with the dog remaining almost invisibly tethered to the trainer. Pivots, and moving diagonally, backwards, and forwards to a suitable musical theme are important to the routine. Jumping, weaving, rolling, passing through the trainer's legs and anything else considered "not heeling" is not allowed.
Musical freestyle
Musical freestyle demands that the dog perform a variety of tricks and other obedience talents. In musical freestyle, heel work can be combined with other moves such as leg weaving, sending the dog away, moving together at a distance, and more dramatic tricks such as
Competition
Currently, there are several organizations regulating competitive freestyle, such as Rally Freestyle Elements, the World Canine Freestyle Organization, Canine Freestyle Federation, Dogs Can Dance and the Musical Dog Sport Association in the United States, Paws 2 Dance Canine Freestyle Organization in Canada, Canine Freestyle GB in
Competition rules vary from group to group, and from country to country, but most are based on a variety of technical and artistic merit points. All routines are done free of training aids or leashes, except in some beginner categories. Competition can be done as a single dog-and-handler team, as a pair of dogs and handlers, or as a full team of three or more dogs and their handlers. Generally, there is only one dog per handler for competition.
In either type of competition, the choice of music and the way the routine reflects the music is important. Routines not following the rhythm, no matter how well executed, do not score well.
Exhibition freestyle is a no-holds-barred routine designed to demonstrate the full extent of creativity and excitement that musical freestyle can offer. Though highly entertaining and representing what most people see on
that would not usually be allowed on the competition circuit.Rally Freestyle Elements (Rally FrEE) combines the trick behaviors of Canine Musical Freestyle with the format of Rally-Obedience.
References
- ISBN 9781601385963. Retrieved 7 February 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Carey, Patrick (11 May 2018). "Dancing dogs star in new show inspired by niche sport 'canine freestyle'". ABC News. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ "Heelwork to Music". www.thekennelclub.org.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
External links
