At Spokane Art Supply, members of the Ruff Revue practice a holiday dance routine with their dogs. Ruff Revue is a group of dogs and their trainers who do short dance routines at area retirement and nursing homes as a community service.
Thursday, November 13,
2003
Prancing
paws
Strutting
their fluff, dogs bring joy to audiences with their dance moves
Melodie Little
Staff writer
| Colin
Mulvany - The Spokesman-Review
At Spokane Art Supply, members of the Ruff Revue practice a holiday dance routine with their dogs. Ruff Revue is a group of dogs and their trainers who do short dance routines at area retirement and nursing homes as a community service. |
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Nine dogs and their humans circle around a miniature Christmas tree in unison.
Several pooches turn clockwise when they should turn counterclockwise. Still, it's not a bad outing for a third rehearsal. And the season is still young.
While Ruff Revue is a bit, well, rough, its four-legged members have raw talent, work for kibble and are a lovable bunch.
Ruff Revue is a group of 12 dogs and 10 trainers who do free synchronized dance performances at area nursing and retirement homes and for select charities. They practice once a week in a borrowed classroom at Spokane Art Supply and are led by Diane Baker, an instructor for Diamonds in the Ruff.
Jami Ostby, who teaches a class in community service at West Valley City School, said the furry performers were a perfect fit with last year's fund-raiser, organized by the students to raise money and pet food for the three animal shelters.
"Homeward Bound 2" was the featured film, and Ruff Revue wowed spectators during the intermission.
"They played kind of fun music. Tails were wagging," Ostby recalls. "Everyone was giggling and laughing; they loved it."
By the end of the show, the students had collected more than 50 pounds of pet food in addition to canned food and about $250 in donations.
The plucky pets and their trainers braved freezing weather to perform under the floodlights in the parking lot of SpokAnimal CARE for the shelter's holiday adopt-a-thon last winter. They brought their tail-wagging brand of cheer to seniors at Cheney Care Center, St. Joseph Care Center and Holy Family Adult Day Center.
"I don't think the residents care so much if the routine is perfect as much as they just seem to enjoy watching the animals perform and petting them," said Linda Wood, owner of Dunny, a 3-year-old yellow lab that bids her fans farewell by sitting on her haunches and waving with a paw.
The troupe often arrives to fanfare, including trays of cookies and dog treats and posters announcing their performance.
Rooms fill with seniors pulling portable IV stands or sitting in wheelchairs, so space is tight.
Dogs must be sociable and focused to thrive under the spotlight. However, even veteran performers occasionally break formation to vacuum a tidbit of turkey off the rug.
Dogs, decked out in sequined collars or festive bandannas, weave through and around their trainers' legs, turn circles and do other moves choreographed to "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree," "Bird Dog" and other canine classics.
Select performances are done individually or in pairs, and moments of improvisation find dogs dancing on their haunches, moving in a conga line or mimicking their owner's footwork. Wally, a 3-year-old Australian shepherd mix, does spectacular aerial jumps into his owner's arms.
The dogs finish the routine with a bow that finds their front legs lying on the floor and their hind ends up, with tails flying like a row of furry flags. It's a move that trips up Bayley the beagle. "We have a ways to go on those," said owner Judy Robertson.
Performances last 20 minutes and the stars stay to schmooze the audience. "They have a sense about who to go see. They just can sense people's needs better sometimes than humans," Baker said.
Watching the dogs brings back fond memories, and elderly residents often share stories about cherished pets from their pasts.
"It makes them smile. If they think it's goofy or if they really appreciate, it still brings a smile," Baker said.
The dogs learned their craft of freestyle dance techniques at a performance arts class offered through Diamonds in the Ruff and taught by Baker. Canine freestyle dancing is considered an event, like agility and conformation. Anna, a 3-year-old Entlebucher mountain dog that dances with the troupe, won titles at World Freestyle Organization and Paws 2 Dance competitions.
Some four-legged performers are as busy as schoolchildren. In addition to dancing, four dogs and their trainers are search-and-rescue volunteers. Dewey, an Australian shepherd that gives high-fives on command, belongs to a breed that's highly intelligent and easily bored.
"We thought we'd better keep this dog busy," said owner Nancy Zietlow. "He's in agility, freestyle, and we're dabbling in search-and-rescue. We're not sure if that is going to be his forte or not."
The troupe is a lesson in diversity. Dogs of many breeds come together with trainers of diverse backgrounds. Old biases are forgotten and new friendships formed.
"Alida is a letter carrier and Dewey hates letter carriers in real life," Zietlow said.
Baker said the dances bring a light touch for everyone involved. "In a life of stress, it's important to do things that are joyful," she said. "This is joyful."
•Melodie Little can be reached at 459-5440 or by e-mail at melodiel@spokesman.com.