We had a great time in Kansas City this weekend
performing at the American Royal Pet Expo. We had three exciting days of
demos and everyone did an amazing job. I really enjoyed getting to meet
the junior teams. Katie & Nick Massey from Michigan each did an individual
routine plus a pair routine. Katie and her border collie Shelly have some
really fun routines. Her routine to "It's Raining Men" was very
appropriate on Friday as we had some pretty good storms. Even though
Shelly was bothered by the thunder, Katie really worked to help Shelly
through it and they were still able to present some good routines. Once
the rain and thunder stopped, this team really started to shine. My
favorite was her routine to a military themed medley. Shelly has the most
amazing crawl and when Katie, dressed in fatigues, crawled next to her
like soldiers, the crowd really responded.
Nick is quite a performer and much braver than most of
us - he and his border collie Jake did two routines. One was to Hawaii 5-0
and Nick was all dressed up in a grass skirt and coconut bra -- he
definitely has the slow-motion baywatch run down as he and Jake saved the
day by "rescuing" the swimmer. For his other routine Staying Alive, he
came out with a big afro wig. In between performances, if you didn't
remember it was a wig and saw it lying on the ground - it could give you a
little bit of a scare. :)
Their pairs routines were very cute - they did one to
Grease, and also debuted a new "cheer" routine which was very unique
having both Nick & Katie handling Shelly. It was definitely a crowd
favorite...
Our two local junior teams from Kansas were wonderful.
Anna Buddish and her smooth collie Witaker introduced a new routine to
Possum Jamboree. This song was so cute and really fit the team well - they
definitely have a lot of potential and I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of
this team in the future. Our other junior was Jenna Petesch and her two
dogs - toy poodle Jiggles and aussie Cara. Jenna & Jiggles did a very cute
routine to Peppermint Twist in matching poodle skirts. In addition to
being a talented freestyler, Jenna is also a very talented costume
designer having made their matching outfits. Jenna and her other dog Cara
are a very fun and exciting team to watch. Cara has a LOT of energy and
does amazing flip spins. I was also very impressed with their roll-overs.
I won't give away their secret, but they have found a very unique way to
perform this move. Again, I'm sure everyone will be seeing a lot of this
team in the future.
I was also very proud of our Oklahoma teams. This was
the first demo for two of my students, Janice Allen and her golden-mix
Molly and Nancy Haddock and her alaskan malamutes Nanook & Faith. Both
these teams handled the crowd and performed like pro's. Molly showed off
her paw kicks very well and always had a smile on her face and a wagging
tail. Nanook looked great as Nancy danced over him to their Land of 1000
Dances routine - this routine always got the crowd (and us) clapping
along. And Nancy's new routine with Faith to the song Tarantella has a lot
of potential and was also a crowd pleaser.
My four dogs also did very well. Roxie and I were able
to do a couple of our routines - an old favorite to Jail House Rock, our
last heelwork routine to Dixie, and our new routine that we are developing
to a latin tune. The new routine still needs some work and looks much
better when I don't fall on my butt in the middle of it! :) Nellie, who
celebrated her 9th birthday at the show on Saturday, did her hop scotch
polka routine and showed off her jumping ability. I was very proud of her
since she has always been a very anxious dog. Two or three years ago, she
never would have been able to handle this type of crowd. I could tell she
was a little nervous and noticed the people, but she kept on performing
and was even wagging her tail.
I also had a lot of fun with Shelby's debut into
freestyle. Shelby is my new beagle who I've only had for a little while -
we did a short little heel pattern to music and she did really well. She
has made amazing progress on her attention and showed some great potential
- everyone wanted to know how I taught her to prance... Lucky for me, it's
just how she walks. :) And little Miss Maggie - each routine I get to do
with her is truly a blessing. I can't believe that at 17 1/2, she can
still handle doing several performances a day. I can tell she still loves
showing off for the crowd as much as she ever did.
I'd especially like to thank Denise Massey who served
as our MC and did an amazing job - she kept the crowd excited and also
provided some great information on freestyle. How she managed to keep up
with the announcing and get the music right every time is beyond me - she
definitely is a very coordinated lady and we could not have done it
without her.
After each of our performance sets, we'd invite the
crowd into the ring to meet the dogs and to ask questions about freestyle.
It was so much fun to see the crowd getting involved with our dogs and
getting a first hand experience at how much fun freestyle can be. After
one performance, Katie had a line of kids form a tunnel and Shelly crawled
under their legs. Nancy and Nanook and Faith showed how easy it was to
spin. Roxie flipped for anyone who would show her a cookie, a couple kids
even got her to do her "beg" and then flip-out. This interaction really
allowed us to talk to everyone about freestyle, show them how to train
some of the basic moves, and also share the benefits freestyle can provide
to help give you a happy, fun relationship with your dog.
In addition to the performances, we were also part of
two news interviews - one on Friday and one on Sunday. Our junior teams
did a great job handling the interview for the Sunday morning spot. I had
several people come up to me on Sunday and say that they had seen it on
the news in the morning and came just to check it out.
We also got to meet some local people who were
interested in freestyle and hopefully we'll see more teams from the
Kansas/Missouri area in the future.
We also need to send a BIG "Thank You" to the event
coordinators.
They did an amazing job and were extremely nice to us.
We had a wonderful 50x50 area with a sound system that not only worked the
first time, but worked all the time. Mike, the sound guy, would come by
before each of our scheduled performances just to make sure everything was
in working order. Pat and Mylane were always very nice and very helpful
and quick to answer the few questions we had.
I have done several of these expos before and this was
definitely one of the better ones. This was the first year for this event
and I'm positive it will grow into a huge event in future years.
Anyway - we definitely had a great time this weekend
and I think everyone did a great job in promoting WCFO and the sport of
canine freestyle. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this weekend
such a success, and thanks to Patie and WCFO for allowing us to be a part
of this event.
