Music Plus Dogs

What we've been up to...

Date	Event	Comments
July 2010	SSPCA Mobile Adoptin Event	One of my favorite things to do these days is volunteering with the Sacramento SPCA. Often it’s just a matter of walking dogs, giving them a chance to stretch themselves and get out into the fresh air, or finding a quiet corner for a little grooming or just some petting and conversation. But I also enjoy “mobile adoption” events, where we take a few dogs out to a public location to show them off. This event was in front of a Barnes & Noble bookstore, in association with a book signing. The dog was Charlie, a charming little Chihuahua-mix about two years old. Wonderfully calm and confident, totally able to deal with dozens and dozens of people walking past and bending down to pet him – but also ready to get up and go exploring. (Charlie was adopted about a week later.)
May 8, 2010	Grand Opening of Carson Dog Sports (Carson City, NV)	Starr and I were invited to present a freestyle demonstration at the grand opening of a wonderful new training facility in Carson City. They had a good turn-out, and the energy level was very positive, so after the demo routine and a little talking about canine freestyle, my friend and fellow freestyler Jana and I did some impromptu choreography for a group of volunteers for a little “try it!” session. They got about 5 minutes of instruction, and I think they did pretty well (view their “routine” by clicking here). More importantly they seemed to have a good time with it all.
Apr. 5, 2010	Psychology Class! (Sierra College in Rocklin, CA)	This was definitely a new experience: a professor at a local community college asked me to bring Starr to demonstrate the concepts of operant conditioning as they apply to dog training. With clicker and treats in hand, we showed how I’m teaching Starr some new freestyle movements with positive reinforcement (rewards). There was also an opportunity to show how punishment – taking something away – might be applied, when Starr became overly excited and began to bark during the first of our two demonstrations: she barked, I turned my back (taking away my attention), and she stopped barking. (Thank goodness!) There wasn’t space enough for us to actually perform, but the YouTube clip of the famous Carolyn and Rookie routine (“You’re the One That I Want”) was an excellent example of what you can achieve with love and trust and rewards: you could never achieve Rookie’s fabulous attitude with punishment!
Feb. 23, 2010	San Joaquin Kennel Club	I had the genuine pleasure of introducing canine freestyle to the San Joaquin Kennel Club, based in Stockton, CA. It was a very, very wet night, but there were a dozen people (who may very well have arrived by boat!), with a wide variety of dog-handling experience: obedience, conformation, rally, agility, lure coursing and tracking. Starr helped me do a little demo, and then relaxed while I talked (can you tell who is the REAL center of attention?) We also viewed some video clips of first-class performances, and I think everyone enjoyed seeing both the differences and similarities between this and more familiar dog-handling venues.
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Feb. 19, 2010	Off to new locales...	We have a new Canine Freestyle Federation member in Reno, Nevada, who is very excited about this new way to work with her dogs. I spent two hours with her and two of her dogs, Ruby and Claire, and we explored lots of different movements and concepts. Jana is a professional dog trainer, and she is already thinking of ways to modify her facility to make it freestyle-friendly.
Dec. 5-6, 2009	Canine Freestyle Federation Gold Coast Guild Napa, CA	The Gold Coast Guild of the Canine Freestyle Federation held their annual show in Napa, California, with a two-day event. There were 17 different dogs and 13 handlers, and the performances were all unique and – each in its own way – inspiring. An Aussie named Charlie, who is deaf and going blind, still moves well, and clearly was happy to be at his handler’s side – and she was terribly proud of her old boy. A two-year-old Border Collie named Magic gave a performance on Sunday that was, well, magical, and earned the highest “Artistic” score of the weekend. The judges – from Utah, Minnesota and Virginia – took great care with their responsibilities, and provided valuable insight to all the competitors. I did not, after all, compete with Starr, as she has in recent months decided that freestyle is a game: I guess I’ve been TOO successful in making this fun for her! But there was something to be learned from every performance, and next year we’ll be ready to strut our stuff!
Oct. 23, 2009	APDT Conference Oakland, CA	Attended the national conference of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers in Oakland, CA – the location was just too close to home to pass up this rare opportunity. Excellent speakers, and much to be learned by just talking to others in this “community.” I had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time with fellow members of the Canine Freestyle Federation, who came from Virginia and Utah and Florida and Minnesota – oh yes, and California! It was great to meet people who previously were only names on a list or on our website discussion forum. It was also fun to watch their demonstration that day, and then talk with members of the audience, some of whom were VERY enthusiastic in their appreciation.
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Oct. 4, 2009	Woofstock El Dorado Hills, CA	Not quite so big as the Rocklin event, but bigger than the Dog Walk in Fair Oaks … I’m guessing a thousand people plus. Again, some people were asking “musical what???” but some people had taken workshops from my own teacher, Judy Gamet, and seemed pleased that another instructor (me!) will be making lessons available in the Sacramento area. Starr and I did two routines this time, and while they were certainly not “competition quality” I was pleased with how she performed: the space available had been used as an off-leash play area by several dozen dogs just before we entered, so there were many interesting scents to tempt her, and there was a lot of “hubbub” going on around us that might have been very distracting. Her focus and responsiveness were not 100%, but overall she did just fine; just as importantly, she was obviously enjoying herself again – she is SUCH a show-off!
Oct. 3, 2009	Fair Oaks Dog Walk Fair Oaks, CA	This is a relatively small event with a mostly local focus, but is surprisingly well attended; because we live in Fair Oaks, our participation was something we didn’t even have to think about! A fair number of people stopped at our table, although most of them were asking “musical what???” Starr and I did a very short little demo, and were joined by our friend Karen and her Brody, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: they’ve had only a few lessons, and didn’t attempt anything fancy, but they had a really good time. And in spite of this being our first freestyle performance with an audience of more than five spectators, we did pretty well: Starr clearly enjoys showing off!
Sept. 13, 2009	Woofstock Rocklin, CA	This is one of the biggest dog-related events in the Sacramento area, with an estimated 4000+ attendees, and we were VERY pleased to be invited to have a booth there. It was all pulled together on short notice, but it was very worth the effort. We talked to a lot of nice people, met a lot of great dogs, and generally had a lot of fun.
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