[Dailydrool] (no subject)

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

I've just been gently chastised off-list by a fellow Drooler who  
scolded me for neglecting to mention in my last post the fact that  
our Elsinore won first place at the BHRG Basset Bash talent contest  
last weekend. I chose to leave that out because, even though I'm  
proud beyond words of my little girl making such a success of her  
stage debut, I'm feeling a little badly about it. She's had the  
benefit of a couple of years of dance lessons, and the hounds she was  
competing against haven't had that opportunity. It wasn't really a  
very level playing field. But we'll sit it out next year and enjoy  
watching other hounds compete and win.

The talent contest was the first time I've put Elsinore in the  
position of dancing in front of a group of people, and I was pretty  
nervous about it. Elsinore, however, wasn't nervous at all. She knows  
she's a good dancer. In fact, that's what she told the pet  
communicator at the GABR waddle in September when I asked Elsinore if  
she liked her dance lessons and wanted to continue with them. Yes,  
she likes her dance lessons and, she informed the pet communicator in  
a matter of fact way, "I'm a very good dancer." That's our Elsinore.  
A lack of self-confidence is *not* one of her problems!

Fortuitously, the DJ was playing a polka in the background, and the  
polka is one of the kinds of music Elsinore's dance teacher says she  
moves best to. Apparently, Elsinore is not poetry in motion but  
rather busy-ness in motion. Her front end sways to an entirely  
different rhythm than her back end. This means "her" music needs to  
sound equally busy or complicated (think the theme song to the Andy  
Griffith Show, for example). Elsinore also moves well to the kind of  
music that's used to accompany madcap chases in silent movies.

Elsinore performed a very short dance to the polka music. She did a  
leg weave with me, a few twists, a circle around me, and concluded  
with a couple of hops. I fumbled and dropped a treat in the middle of  
her dance, which she found distracting, but then again I *was* pretty  
nervous about being up there with everyone watching us. Fortunately  
we were both able to recover and the judges were very forgiving.

Young Charlie competed in the contest as well. He performed the  
classic dog trick "roll over." When he does this at home, he does it  
lickety-split, sometimes executing several complete roll overs in  
rapid succession, looking up for his treat after each rotation. But  
this time he seemed to be under the impression that he was supposed  
to demonstrate to all the other bassets exactly how to roll over. So  
he did one rotation very slowly and methodically, using the step-by- 
step method. This didn't win him a prize, but I know the other  
bassets appreciated his thoughtful tutorial.

Ultimately, what I hope basset neophytes attending the Bash got out  
of watching all of the competitors in the talent contest is proof  
that "obedient basset" is *not* an oxymoron. Anyone who says a basset  
can't be trained doesn't know bassets. Any basset can be trained--for  
the right price. In our Elsinore's case, her obedience can be bought  
for a type of dog jerky called Real Meat. She'll also cooperate for  
string cheese. And since we've been working together on obedience  
training (which is basically what this dog dancing thing is--just  
esoteric obedience skills) for so long now, Elsinore is in the habit  
of watching and listening to me and, most of the time, doing what I  
ask, whether there's a treat in it for her or not.

After watching Elsinore change from an adversary fighting me for rank  
in our pack to a team member who happily cooperates with me, all  
thanks to the obedience training we've done together, I'm a huge fan  
of obedience classes. And from those it's just a small hop, twist,  
and sashay away from dance lessons, which are great fun for both  
human and hound.

Elizabeth