Fri, 04/28/2023 - 1:04pm

Dance, Dance, Dance

Crufts International Heelwork to Music competition

 

Story and photos by Yossi Guy

 

Perhaps one of the most-eye catching competitions in dogdom is Heelwork to Music and Freestyle. This sport expresses to the fullest the connection and mutual understanding between human and dog. 

The majority of serious competitors are women, with a handful of men who are sometimes able to keep up. But at this year’s International Heelwork to Music Competition at Britain’s world-famous Crufts show, there wasn’t a single man – neither among the competitors nor on the judging panel.

 

 

The three judges were head judge Louise Ince and Sandra Hallam from the U.K., and Grietje Wagenaar of the Netherlands. They scored the competitors on three 10-point scales:

Content and flow — Varied movements with no excessive repetition and content appropriate to the routine. Movements that suit the dog’s structure and conformation. Natural flow of content, creating an interesting routine that makes good use of the ring. Lastly, the judges note the degree of difficulty of the movements.

Accuracy and team performance — Accurately and smoothly executed movements with the dog working in a natural, willing and committed manner. The dog should respond promptly and appropriately to the cues given by the handler. Signals should be subtle and form part of the handler’s movement. Dog and handler should work as a team, presenting a captivating performance with an overall appearance of harmony between them.

Musical interpretation — Interpretation of the rhythm, phrasing and timing of the music. The choice of music should suit the team, and should be well represented by the choice of moves by handler and dog. Primary emphasis of musical interpretation should be the dog’s movements, although the handler may be expressive. The handler’s dress and props used in the routine should be suitable and integrated into the performance.

 

 

Head judge Louise Ince began heelwork to music in 2005, when she attended a local training club and soon came to love the moves and musical flow that could be created between handler and dog. She began to compete later that year, and in time started to judge competitions. She still takes part with a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever with whom she competed at Crufts 2019 and got to the semi-finals.

The other British judge, Sandra Hallam, started to show dogs back in 1983. She has owned many breeds, mainly Bernese Mountain Dogs. In 1995, she started judging breeds from several groups at dog shows. She began taking part in heelwork to music as a competitor 18 years ago. In 2011 she started judging competitions. 

“Only last year,” Hallam said, “I had the joy of competing on the fabulous Crufts green carpet with my Bernese Mountain Dog ‘Fiz’ in the heelwork-to-music finals. This was not my first experience of competing in a Crufts final, as in 2014 I also competed in freestyle with a deaf Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Henry.”

 

 

Grietje Wagenaar from the Netherlands, the third judge on this year’s panel, began to take part in dog dancing in 2001 with a Shih Tzu and a Papillon. She gave workshops in Holland and is among the founders of its national dog-dancing organization. In 2020 she established an online academy with courses on dog dancing. 

“Lately, I am focusing on the effect of dogs related to personal development and growth. I combine dog training and personal growth in my online classes and people love it,” Wagenaar noted. “Between 2009 and 2019, my Border Collie, Floris, and I became Dutch national freestyle champions nine times.” Wagenaar has been judging since 2005 in Holland and around the world.

The routines exhibited in the competition were inspiring. They all told a story, some more complicated than others. In one of the routines, the dog “saved” its handler by “resuscitating” her, jumping up and down on her chest and breathing into her mouth. In another routine, the dog jumped on its handler’s head and “read” a book with her. All the dogs leaped and walked forward and backward on their hind legs, in synch with their handlers and the music.

Interestingly enough, even though it seems quite obvious that the breed most suited for this type of activity would be the Border Collie, there were several different breeds in this competition, including a Norwich Terrier and Chihuahua. The bond they showed with their handlers was wonderful to watch.

 

 

First-place winner Nicci Hindson of the U.K. is a dog walker who also runs heelwork-to-music classes. 

“She is my absolute soulmate, a dog in a million,” she said of her heelwork partner, Elsa, a 6-year-old red-and-white Border Collie. “She is crazy and loves to work. The experience was incredible — so much adrenaline and excitement.”

Though the pair have placed at world championships, Hindson — who has never had a heelwork instructor, though she has gone to workshops and trained with others to share ideas — considers winning Crufts international to be her highest achievement.

“I train with our dogs Monday through Friday, two hours a day,” said second-placer Monika Gehrig, who lives in a small Swiss mountain village with her husband, two Jack Russells, a Great Pyrenees and a retriever mix. “My everyday life is the dogs. I started trick training 14 years ago. My choreographies are created when I train with my dogs. I have worked with choreographers and trick trainers. I've been training on my own for a long time now.”

This year, she competed with Sam, her 10-year-old Jack Russell, who she described as sweet, intelligent and charismatic. “Sam loves being in the spotlight,” she said about her very social terrier. “For me and Sam, it was the highest of feelings to show our routine in this arena. The second place is unbelievable.” Of all Sam’s accomplishments — third place at the European Championship, seventh place at the World Championship and a Swiss championship— “Crufts is our highlight, so absolutely mega and great!”

 

 

Christine Elisabeth Berczes from Hungary took third place. “Me and Meredith, my Australian Shepherd, started dog dancing six years ago,” she explained. “Since as a puppy she was a bit naughty, I was looking for a sport that is good training for her and for me as well. In the beginning my husband would laugh at us as we danced. Actually, the only time my husband danced with me was at our wedding, so I mocked him, saying that the dog dances better than he does.”

Berczes never thought this sport would build such a strong relationship between her and her dogs. Meredith is one of the foundation dogs of Berczes’ Glamour Aussies kennel. 

“Two years ago, I established my own dog-dancing school, where I teach children from ages three and four as well as elderly people – my oldest student is 70,” continued Berczes, whose Crufts performance with Meredith involved a California-beach-inspired “Baywatch” theme. “I remember my first dog dancing lesson, when the sport was introduced to me through a Crufts routine. That was the moment I dreamed about participating in Crufts, but I didn’t imagine it could come that quickly, in just three years. This is my second time here. It is an absolutely amazing and mesmerizing adventure for both of us.”

After the competition, judge Sandra Hallam recalled looking out at the competitors, who produced such wonderful routines, and being flanked by the good company of co-judges Louise Ince and Grietje Wagenaar. It was, Hallam said with satisfaction, “the best seat at Crufts.”

 

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