A friend and I have been thinking about putting a trick routine together for an upcoming fundraising event. She has a boston terrier who is also in agility so has quite the repertoire of her own. Who could resist the double cuteness?
For inspiration I hit up Youtube, thinking I’d be able to find many videos of two dogs doing tricks together. Shockingly, my search came up empty. I found a single clip featuring a pretty slow-moving freestyle routine with two handlers and two dogs, but nothing that gave me any ideas. I think this is the very first time that website has let me down.
Shame, Youtube, shaaaaammme. You are officially off my holiday card list.
Not that the dearth of multi-dog trick videos prevented me from wasting more of my time watching dogs perform in goofy ways. Forget Facebook, that website will always be my ultimate time suck. From cutesy scenes of kittens snoring to dogs who ride bicycles, I can – and have – spent hours going from clip to clip, not even realizing it’s eight o’clock, I haven’t eaten anything, and my dog has taken herself for a walk.
Eventually I came across another video showcasing a canine freestyle competition. There are millions of them out there but it’s not something I regularly follow. This time it was a comment that got my attention rather than the video itself. I quote:
“The dogs are good but the masters look very ridiculous.”
Awkward use of “masters” aside, this offhand remark made me smile. It’s true. These dog handlers do look really silly. They are crawling around on all fours dressed up in top hats and sparkly leotards. Some of them struggle with rhythm and you can tell they are concentrating hard on getting the steps perfect. The competitors and judges take this stuff seriously, after all, which only seems to make them look even funnier.
At least, to someone who doesn’t get it.
In my opinion, this is exactly why dogs are so awesome. They encourage us to be completely ridiculous. Dogs just want to have a good time and never worry about how they appear to others. The handlers in this video have picked up on that wonderful canine spirit. Dogs don’t care about looking cool or sophisticated. If it wasn’t for dogs, no one would ever have the guts to wear purple paw print jackets. (Which, I think, the woman in the video pulls off quite well.) You can easily tell that every person and animal team is having brilliant fun out there in the ring.
So here’s to looking like fools as we play with our dogs. Outsiders may judge but they don’t know what they are missing!
I’m such a sap. That video made me cry. So much love! Dogs who absolutely trust their people, people who trust their dogs, people who love their dogs enough to put leotards on middle-aged bodies and have a great time.
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I’m not sure…some of the outfits I’ve seen at local dog shows on the humans: skirts far too short when they bend over, loud colors and sequins, men in plaid suits. I can’t imagine that dogs with taste wouldn’t be embarrassed.
Jan recently posted..British boxer paid for her dog to watch her Olympic matches at kennel
That is really pretty crazy. I don’t mind being a little silly with Blueberry – but that free-style thing is a whole new level of weirdness I wouldn’t be comfortable with. As long as they dogs are having fun, that’s all the matters though I guess!
As long as the dogs enjoy it, then that’s fine. Looking forward to seeing your video.
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Way braver than I am.
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My good friend Jamie does freestyle with her dog Risa and while I will forever laugh and tease Jamie, her dog LOOOOVES it!
And that’s what matters most.
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Love it. I don’t dance, with or without my dogs – maybe I should take lessons from them and learn how to let loose once in a while!
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It’s hard to let go of self consciousness and let yourself be ridiculous. Whenever I do manage to forget, there’s almost always a point at which I return myself mentally to society, and wonder who saw us, and what they think. Then I look at her smiling face again, and think, “You know, what? Screw it.” That doesn’t mean I’m getting ready to get in the ring and do freestyle (yet).
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I like the sound of that “yet”.
I bet you’d have a lot of fun and it’d be great to see a Doberman out in the ring!
So . . . does this mean there is a video of you and Shiva dancing coming soon?? I can’t wait!!!
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Actually, there is already video of Shiva and I dancing. We entered an online contest last year. Didn’t win but we had a blast! Here is the link, if you are brave enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JPwrx6AkBs
OMG that was adorable!! Cali just barks at me when I dance (I think she is embarrassed!!) I think we need to see more of that!
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Ummm, is wrong that I would totally do this but to Eminem or Pink as our choice of music and…….after a few beers?
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LOL. Beer definitely helps. I actually did put a routine together over a year ago for an online contest put on by Honey the Great Dane. Our musical selection was, in fact, Pink.
Hmm. Kinda late to respond to this, I’m sure. Vacation without wifi will do that… but uh. Some of my fav youtubers with multi-dog tricks include:
(channel names)
Mickvor (border terriers)
MultiAnimalcrackers (border collies)
Snuggliepuppy (border collies)
and zsianz1 (border collies)
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Not too late at all! Thanks for the great info! I will be spending the rest of my night looking them all up!
I love it! It makes me wonder if those people would act so uninhibited if they were out in public without their dogs. My bet is no. Let’s face it, when most of us go out without our dogs, we become invisible. Our dogs always take the spotlight, and I bet most of us figure that nobody will even remember what we were wearing!
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youtube is so full of trolls … people go on there just so they can write the most negative comment imaginable !!! I thnk my dogs do encourage me to be silly but I am pretty silly anyway!
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One of my favorite people once said that if you’re not looking ridiculous, you’re not training your dog. A good bit of silly is good for all of us.
I can’t wait to see what you and your friend come up with. Speaking of Freestyle, have you seen this one? It’s my favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crmD_B8ERzk
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