SEQUIM — Want to “paws” a moment and catch some real tail-wagging, puppy-prancing entertainment?
The 10th annual Boot Scootin’ Boogie freestyle dancing with dogs competition is coming to Guy Cole Community Center at Carrie Blake Park on North Blake Avenue on Saturday and Sunday.
The event starts in the Guy Cole at 11 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Sequim’s Carolyn Money, secretary — and one of the original founders — of Emerald City K-9 Freestyle Dancers, is ready to cut a competitive rug with her canines, Funny, 11, and Hunter, 8, both golden retrievers.
She and dog groomer Shelley Denton and her sheltie, Shelley, 2, are the two Sequim competitors.
“It’s the first competition that’s ever been here,” Money said.
The competition has taken place in Arlington in Snohomish County for the past nine years but was moved to Sequim this year because the Arlington venue was not available, Money said.
“There are several people from Canada that are coming to compete that are very advanced and have championship dogs,” said Money, a Sequim resident for 20 years who has been dancing with different dogs for 11 years.
Dance routines
“A dance routine is choreographed to music,” Money said, adding that the performances have “costumes and a lot of flare, especially the more advanced teams.
“The dogs do things like spins, rollovers, jumping over your legs or body, crawling, dancing on their hind legs, all in time to music while the human partner adds their dance moves. It is fun to watch.”
Spectators must leave their own dogs at home and can only use cameras without a flash so as not to distract competing dogs.
Smaller dog-dancing demonstrations are generally put on at the Hurricane Ridge Kennel Club shows every year, but, with the move from Arlington, this will be the first year the actual full-scale dog-dancing competition will be in Sequim.
Videos of dog dance routines can be viewed on YouTube by searching for “canine musical freestyle.”
The event starts Saturday with freestyle beginners, moving up to advanced. Routines are about five minutes each.
At the noon break, a 30-minute performance by the Na Hula ‘O Wahine ‘Ilikea Hula dance group is scheduled.
Canine dressage, which Money said isn’t as fun to watch as the musical freestyle because the focus is on the dog, involves more technical heel work.
Following that, a parade of title holders and an awards ceremony is planned.
The same program is planned Sunday, but the order is reversed, with the advanced dancing dogs starting first instead of the beginners.
The size of the ring is 30 feet by 60 feet and takes up quite a bit of the room at the Guy Cole building.
“So there isn’t a lot of spectator room, but the same basic competition will be both days, so if people wanted to come and watch, they have two days they could come to it,” Money said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
