About

A Discipline in The Sport of Dogs

CanineFreestyle DogWork® is a performance activity for dog and human teams. Teams train movement behaviors technically, creatively and artistically. The objective is to illustrate the delight of working as a team and to participate with others in a friendly environment learning to craft DogWork Presentations. Each unique Presentation offers a perception of the team’s training journey artistically and creatively. The fun is in learning to be free; to choose which doors to open and discover the joyful dynamics of learning to move as one expressing movement as a language. Each team’s Presentation is an expression of their work; crafted by their creative choices to visually illustrate what the dog does best. Each canine and human team is different. Presentations celebrate their differences while expressing the joy of their relationship, moving as one, respecting and trusting each other to work towards the same goal to:  

1. focus on the dog’s work advantageously
2. share and celebrate the relationship of working and training as a team
3. create visually pleasing shapes expressing a whole team design
4. craft DogWork movement as dog focused, enhanced by the human partner
5. move with a common rhythm to dynamically focus on the dog and/or the team.
6. competitively craft a Presentation with music to showcase the team’s dog work as a test of training and relationship live for judgement.

CanineFreestyle DogWork® is designed to develop teams to reach their highest potential technically, creatively and artistically. Teams train as one to move forward, sideward, backward and around, to work on the right and/or left sides relative to three reference positions. Movements may be expressed in stillness; appearing as if the movement has been caught between coming and going. Movements may also move, in and through the Presentation Space, rhythmically focused on the dog or the team. Training, artistically and creatively, develops teams as finely tuned instruments, capable of expressing any safe trainable movement effortlessly with a smooth and easy flow. Each Presentation is unique; designs express each team differently in:

1. focusing movement rhythmically with a BPM (beats per minute) relationship to the musical choice,
2. crafting performance vehicles choreographically with imagination
3. choices to express movement as a medium creatively and artistically
4. artistry and creativity to fulfill the definition and objectives of the competitive discipline.

Movement, artistically expressed is the medium of expression for DogWork Presentations. Movement artistically expressed communicates information to observers clarifying intents and purpose. Each Presentation honors and respects the dog as an equal working partner to showcase the dog and/or the team advantageously. Each team develops their own unique movement vocabulary through conceptually created improvisations. Trained behaviors from all disciplines become part of each team’s vocabulary. The Team’s movement vocabulary provides the raw material to craft performance vehicles for titling event testing. The training concepts experienced technically, artistically and creatively with class discussion are creative tools to craft Presentations; each team is unique in showing the dog to his best advantage in a creative and artistic manner. DogWork is team oriented; neither can do the work without the other. As a team each has different responsibilities, the goal is the performance test; each team member trusting the other to work as one to achieve a common goal. As one, they are greater than if separated; partners at work and companions at play. As teammates, they are delighted to be with one another at all times. Their oneness is a visual perception experienced kinesthetically and emotionally by all observers. The relationship expressed is a team behavior resulting from training in a Dog Sport discipline. CanineFreestyle DogWork is designed to introduce dogs and humans to working as a team and to experience the joy, a result of training as a team, a single entity expressed artistically as one design.