Burr!! It's freezing outside, but training and exercising your dog can't stop! Remember habits are formed by repetition, so make sure that your dog is rehearsing the habits you like, not habits you dislike.
Terra is about to get started on an extra-hard combination of food-puzzle toys! Made of Kong Genius toys and Link-ables. Guaranteed to give her jaw and brain a workout.
Terra and Ringo are enjoying their New Year; we are doing LOTS of training of new tricks inside when the weather is inclement outside. January is National Train Your Dog Month, so we are going to be posting lots of free tips!
Today: Reliable Training in the Real World!
Meanwhile, back at the club...Ringo's working on his handstands!
Terra and Ringo are enjoying their New Year; we are doing LOTS of training of new tricks inside when the weather is inclement outside. January is National Train Your Dog Month, so we are going to be posting lots of free tips!
Terra loves to intercept a snowball!
Terra and I just got an amazing and gorgeous ribbon in the mail yesterday, celebrating the earning of our Premier Title from the Musical Dog Sport Association. It completely wowed us both, and caused me to reflect on the years and hard work we have spent working toward this goal.
Terra and I with her Premier Title awards from the Musical Dog Sport Association.
When Terra was just a puppy, I was intrigued by the creativity of freestyle, and “played freestyle” with her, like many do, tinkering here and there. It was a great addition to her obedience, keeping things light and fresh and fun. We continued to play and experiment, though there were no freestyle instructors to be found in Montana. Finally I got brave enough to submit our first Novice routine in 2011. But I had no idea that she and I would someday love it so much that we would be submitting routines at almost every quarterly video event.
Now we have completed her Premier Title. I’m still sort of in awe, though I don’t know how it could have snuck up on me. We submitted three successful Novice routines, three successful Standard routines, and the two required Premier level routines. I still have a hard time believing it. To the two of us, it doesn’t feel like work, it is just they way we live now, so it’s hard to realize we did it!
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was our winning routine for our Premier title. It was over 3 minutes long, showcasing Terra's favorite and best tricks and heelwork. Definitely our most challenging routine so far, but we both really enjoyed it!
Freestyle has become the biggest thing in Terra’s life. She can hardly wait for her next chance to dance: pestering me if I’m at the computer and we haven’t danced that day, and preferring it to every other activity that we do together. In the meantime, she has taught me so many valuable training skills, so many that I will certainly forever be in her debt. My life with Terra has been filled to the brim with so many absolutely lovely freestyle memories, and it has forever bonded us with an amazingly strong love and relationship.
This is our very popular "Seneca Square Dance" routine that we created for our Standard MSDA Title. We LOVED this routine and competed it live many times! We are still competing this routine for the In-Sync division of RFE Musical Freestyle.
Freestyle is such a creative and challenging sport, it has pushed me to become a better trainer, a better instructor, and even a better horseback rider!
So I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to MDSA and all the lovely freestylers who have come and gone over the years. I just can’t say it enough: thank you, thank you, thank you!
Terra says, “WOof! WO-Woof!” which could roughly be translated to: “Isn’t it time to DANCE?!?”
Love Always,
Jenn and Terra
In Montana, I used my BA in Photojournalism to start a business specializing in animal photography. It's been sitting on the wayside since I moved to New York, but it's time to share!
Wowee!!! Terra and Ringo and I just got back from the Rally Freestyle Elements Musical Freestyle competition in Newtown, CT. What a whirlwind weekend. I have freestyle jet lag! I feel like we were gone for so much more than a couple days! Everyone did an amazing job and I saw some phenomenal routines and teamwork. What a great group of people.
This coming November I'm teaching THREE Freestyle classes! If you've been wanting to give it a try for ages, now's the time to try!
(perfect class for beginners)
(if you've taken CMF1 or any rally freestyle class)
(if you've taken any freestyle class and are ready to create a Rookie or Novice routine!)
Look at what arrived in the mail today!!! Which color clicker do you want? Terra loves the hot pink color, and Ringo is always partial to orange :)
