Activities to Enjoy and Compete in With Your French Bulldog

Musical Freestyle - "Doggie Dancing"

 

Canine Freestyle - also known as "Doggie Dancing", "Musical Freestyle", "Heel Work to Music", or just plain "Freestyle", is an incredible ballet between dog and handler, all set to music.

The team of dog and handler perform intricate movements timed to the beat of the music they have chosen, with the over all effect of a dance between owner and dog. Musical styles chosen range from country to rock or ballet. You can do a humorous routine, an athletic one, or a fluidly graceful performance, all designed to enhance your dog's strongest abilities. Most handlers choose to attire themselves and their dogs in costumes appropriate to the music they have selected. The commands the handler gives to the dog throughout their performance together are usually subtle verbal cues and hand signals, combined with body language. As routines in Freestyle are performed off lead, a well trained and reliable dog is essential, and most competitors enter into it from obedience, or at the very least with thoroughly obedience trained dogs.

Freestlye, as a relatively new sport, is not yet an official Kennel Club event in most countries. However a great majority of the handlers take it quite seriously, and there are competitions within the various Free Style Organizations for Best Teams and Performance. We are not aware at this time of any French Bulldogs taking part in Freestyle, so there is no illustration for this segment. If you know of anyone with a French Bulldog who takes part in Freestyle, we'd love to hear from them.

Links

Canine Free-Style Federation Home Page
One of North America's official free style organizations, with information on the sport, clubs, and Freestyle events.

Diane Blackman's List of Canine Freestyle Links
Dog Play, Diane's web sight about canine sports and activities, has a really thorough listing of Freestyle resources.

 

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