Freestyle TV Show

[Root Beer]

If any of you are interested in musical Freestyle, you might want to check out a special that is going to air on Animal Planet this coming Saturday at 9:00 PM. It's called "Dancing With Dogs".

 

It highlights the kind of Freestyle that Speedy and I compete in - WCFO. We weren't at the competition that is highlighted on the show, so we are not in the special. Many, many people I know are in it, though, and it should give a pretty good overview of what this type of Musical Freestyle is all about.

 

I would imagine there will be several Border Collies on the program.

[in2adventure]

I saw the show and was not impressed. i turned it off after about 20 min. The lady in pink made me want to hurl. She even stated her dog didn't like to dance and it was obvious during the comp. I clicked back once in awhile and saw some talent. I know it takes a lot to train these dogs, but many of the dogs looked so uninterested in what they were doing.

 

Please don't get me wrong, I love to watch dog dancing. It's very cool to train a dog like that. But this show was not well produced and many of the pairs didn't look like they should be competing yet. I think I'll keep checking out youtube for my dancing fix.

[RaisingRiver]

I happened upon the show the other day. I watched about 5 mins, switched and came back a bit later and left after another 5 mins. It was HORRIBLE. I could do better with River who isn't even trained in freestyle - but knows nearly everything they were doing. It should have had a higher caliber of teams, IMO. I didn't even know it was a special, seemed like a series - one I wouldn't watch.

 

I'm glad they highlighted the sport, but for me, it didn't do it any justice.

 

I suppose it would be good for people who don't really have trained dogs. AP doesn't really interest me anymore. Dogs 101 and It's me or the dog shows are both below my knowledge level. Sometimes I don't mind watching, maybe I'll pick up on something I didn't know, but often times it's just the owners who make all the mistakes.

[Bo Peep]

I watched it also. Although my BF is NOT a computer fan, I showed him the (scream one- I think) video. I told him This is it to the max. I felt they had a couple of good dogs, but not good enough for TV. I love freestyle. I thought these dogs did well, but they should feature the REALLY good dogs.

 

I'm sure Speedy and Dean dog will be coming up fast. I wish I could do that. I remember dancing with Miss Lacey, just with a few simple command and I used to drink then- it helped- LOL. I "thought" we could have done it. BUT, Miss Lace is gone and MY dancing skills are gone also. I don't think I could pull off the leotard.

[Root Beer]

I was not happy with the show, either. It did not give a good feel for what the sport is like. I think they would have done much better to have taped all of the routines and highlighted what was most interesting out of them.

 

The show was taped at the Intermational competition this past summer and I know for a fact that there were many, many, many more routines performed, many of which would have been very fun to see.

 

I am actually glad they didn't only show "the best of the best", since a big part of Freestyle is giving the performance and enjoying performing with your dog no matter what. But I think the show lacked a quality of dynamism that you experience at a live Freestyle event, even when the routines don't go so well!

 

The young lady that co-hosted did very well, but the guy who hosted annoyed the heck out of me. And there were not enough Border Collies.

 

People are always complaining that there are "too many Border Collies" in Freestyle. Where were they? I've never been to a single live competition that didn't have at least five Border Collies entered!

 

I could do better with River who isn't even trained in freestyle - but knows nearly everything they were doing.

 

To be just, I will say that it is much, much harder than it looks when you are out there for 2+ minutes in front of a live audience with no training aids!

 

Even when the dog is perfect in practice in their familiar training facilities, everything changes when you step into the ring in competition to perform live. I've done Rally and Agility and neither is anything like Freestyle competition because of the artistic performance element of the sport and the placement of the judges and an actual audience. I never have nerves in Agilty like I do in Freestyle - and I can honestly say that I truly enjoy performing with my dog in front of people. The nerves are there in spite of that!

 

That said, based on what I see at live competitions, I think Animal Planet could have put together a much better show.

 

P.S. The costumes also look much better in person! In person they look bright, creative, and fun. They did not translate well onto the TV screen!

[Lenajo]

That was painful to watch. I expected them to be all to the level of the lady that won, or better.

 

Some of those people need counseling - the lady with the cape comes to mind first. Oh my. And did we *have* to see the Newfie crapping in the floor repeatedly...once was enough, thank you!

 

What's the difference between freestyle and heelwork to music? The Brits seem to have it split.

[Root Beer]

What's the difference between freestyle and heelwork to music? The Brits seem to have it split.

 

It's different in the UK than it is here. Honestly, I'm not sure what distinguishes Heelwork and Freestyle in the UK.

 

In the US, the dog is required to stay close to the handler in Heelwork to Music (HTM). "Heel" is defined by the dog's proximity to the handler in the first 15 seconds of the routine and points are lost if the dog leaves "heel" during the routine. As with everything else, there is more "forgiveness" for the dog leaving "heel" in the lower levels. They look for a very high level of precision in Heelwork in the higher levels of HTM. "Heel" is also a 360 degree range around the handler, so the dog can work in any position relative to the handler, but must maintain proximity.

 

Also, in HTM, no jumping is allowed. The dog's front paws can leave the floor for hind leg work or paw moves, but the two back paws cannot "hop" off the ground at all. And no weaving is allowed - no leg weaves, no transitions of position under the leg, etc.

 

So, basically in HTM no distance, weaves, or jumping is allowed. In Freestyle anything goes unless the judge were to consider it dangerous to handler and/or dog. One could enter an HTM routine in Freestyle and qualify, but most Freestyle routines could not be used in HTM since distance, jumping, and weaves are good for gaining technical points and tend to be easier to make into more creative sequences of moves.

 

HTM is difficult since the handler has to be extra creative to keep the momentum up and keep it interesting. Freestyle is much easier to "wing" if things don't go as planned.

 

No Heelwork routines were featured in the program.

[Soda-pop]

it was poorly lit in a hotel conference room. that alone made it hard to watch! the production values were nil. It was just... boring. I turned it off after a few minutes.