Memory Monday – Winning at Freestyle

Hi friends. Today is….Memory Monday! I have been thinking about my first Freestyle Competition. For those of you who don’t already know, Freestyle is coordinated movement between a person and a dog, set to music selected for the dog’s tempo. In other words, it is doggie dancing! Woohoo! Here we go…

May, 2011

I had spent a grueling six or more months preparing for my first competition. My tempo had to be determined (145 bpm), then music picked out. Mom and I tried out lots of different 145 bpm music until we came upon Dan Landrum’s Split Rail Fences. He plays an instrument called the hammered dulcimer, and the beat and sound of the music made me pick up my feet, lift up my head and prance around the floor. Voila, we had our music.  I was starting in Level IIa,  where there were standard moves we had to include, such as right and left side heels, face work including backing and different crosses. We worked hard on all that, and being a natural, I quickly perfected the moves.

The next step was putting together a routine using all those moves. Mom and I went to the dance studio and worked on the wooden floors where it wasn’t too hard on our joints, and we had plenty of space to m-o-v-e. After about 40 minutes I would get tired and lose interest, so we kept the workouts down to around a half hour each time. Sometimes we would do what Mommy had sketched out on her writing pad, and sometimes we would do what I thought went best with the music. That’s part of being a team. Combining both our ideas, we finally had a routine. Now to practice, practice, practice that routine until we could both do it without hesitation (and without Mommy looking at her notes).

Finally, the big day arrived. My good friend Pierre is one of the bosses at C.G. Roxanne water bottling company, and he sent over tons of water for the thirsty people. I was the official spokes dog for the company that day.

Mom bought me a new travel kennel so I would have my own private place to rest. It is sort of like a celebrity dressing room. I was very happy and excited and kept popping up to see what was happening next.

I had my music edited to fit our routine and we brought that to be played for My Performance our dance. When I got there I receive my Freestyle medallion. I also got a program with my name and stats in it, along with all the important info about our dance. (I don’t know why they called me a b…ch!) I was number 203, and Mom had to wear a sign rubber banded around her arm so everyone would know it was me.

Mom and I went onto the center of the floor, where we both bowed to the judges (well, at least in my mind I did) and assumed our starting positions. Mom nodded at the minion Jim who was running sound and we started our routine to Split Rail Fences. I was brilliant. I was so brilliant that I got some points deducted. The judges said I wasn’t allowed to do laterals at this level. (Laterals are where Mommy and I both move sideways by facing forward and crossing our legs. I am a natural “leftie” so that’s the direction we moved. It’s lots of fun.) No one had told Mommy that the rules had changed since she ordered the rule book. Even so, the judges wrote that on the bottom of the score sheet. They also wrote,”A delightful and joyful team.” I still won a medal, and we went home tired and happy!

Now, my amazing four year old boyfriend, Noodle, shares a Monday Memory.

(You will see that we are a good couple – both so talented! 🙂 )