Today was the first time I competed with my new dance routine!
me & Hsin-Yi in our dancing costumes...
It was at a NZKC Benefit Championship Show, out at the Auckland Exhibition Centre, in Ardmore, South Auckland and the ‘Paws 2 Music’ competition was in the afternoon, after all the Obedience doggies had finished their competitions.
When we arrived, there were so many people and doggies there – the place was really buzzing! I could feel that Hsin-Yi was stressy and nervous but I, of course, was my usual, placid self. We found a place next to my friend, Finnigan the Sheltie, to wait for our turn.
Finn was wearing an adorable red bow-tie with flashing hearts 
and his human had matching flashing red hearts on her coat, to go with their song “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”.
Finn in his flashing bow-tie - doesn't he look adorable?!
I was wearing a bow-tie too and Hsin-Yi had to help me put it on properly…
"Are you sure it's straight?"
We had to wait a long time because the Elementary class had to go on first. These are the doggies that are allowed to have food treats or toys to help them in the ring (not fair!) – but I am not allowed to compete in Elementary anymore because I have already come 1st in that class twice.
Waiting for our turn...
Just before our turn, Hsin-Yi started talking to me in a really squeaky voice and jumping up & down and poking me and gasping and squealing a lot…this got me REALLY excited, although I wasn’t sure what she was so excited about!
Then when we got into the ring and the music came on, Hsin-Yi suddenly said “Ready, Set – GO!” – oooh! A race? How exciting! I started bouncing around like a bunny rabbit! Yay! I’m Honey-Bunny! Who cares about dancing? This is fun! BOING! BOING! BOING!
I also decided that I loved that game of jumping up on Hsin-Yi’s back and smacking her head around – see, normally I would never be allowed to jump up on humans but hey, when I do it in dancing, Hsin-Yi doesn’t seem to tell me off – she just squeals like a squeaky toy! Hee! Hee! 
I don’t think Hsin-Yi realised we were having a race because her face looked a bit funny and suddenly, instead of doing more excitable things, she started trying to calm me down. But I was having too much fun! BOING! BOING! BOING!
I was so excited that I wasn’t paying much attention to Hsin-Yi and I missed a lot of my moves, like my Marching Paws, and I completely messed up my new trick of Reversing with the Target Stick.
But hey, I had a GREAT time! And actually, Hsin-Yi said I did pretty well, since it was the first time I was working without food treats…she said it’s much better if I’m excited and enthusiastic (and awake! 
) – even if I get things wrong – than if I’m just plodding along like a zombie…she was just disappointed, though, that I didn’t do my Marching Paws because she knows I can do those really well and they are not a new trick for me so really, I was just being naughty!
Well, so here is a movie showing my day at the competition, with a few seconds of every doggie’s routine, and the prize-giving at the end…
…yes, can you believe it? I got 1st place in Open!! Hsin-Yi could not believe it when they called our names…she thought we didn’t do very well because I missed a lot of my moves and was just bouncing all over the place…but hah! They must really like my bouncing to give me 1st place!
Here is my routine to “Me & My Shadow”:
And here are a couple of other great routines -
My friend, Finn the Sheltie, who came 2nd place in Elementary:
Brody the Sibebord, who came 1st place in Elementary
Moss the Sibebord who was not dancing with his own human but with a young friend who was only 14yrs old…isn’t she amazing? They came 2nd place in Open, which was a great achievement since it is always hard for a doggie to dance with someone who is not his own human.
And guess what? I won a toy as part of my prize! It’s a squeaky tennis ball dumbell – how cool is that? I was so excited when I got it (although I was a bit greedy and also tried to get the other toys that were for 2nd and 3rd place…ooh, stuffie or tennis ball toy…so hard to choose!) – I thought I would play with it as soon as I got home but actually, I was so exhausted from all the excitement (and bouncing!) that all I could manage to stay awake for was dinner before I tottered off to bed!
Note from Hsin-Yi:
Well, I was worried about Honey not being motivated without food…and I got the total opposite! I think I hyped her up too much before we went into the ring and she went a bit nuts! (Am definitely not starting a routine by saying “Ready, Set – GO!” again!) I always think of Honey as like a fizzy drink that you need to get when the bottle first pops open, before the bubbles go flat…but today, I think I shook the bottle too much before I opened it! I guess it’s all about finding a happy medium!
Anyway, it has all been a very valuable learning experience and I can’t believe we got 1st place! Am very proud of my big girl – even if I DO have an awful lot of bruises from her jumping up and bashing me! Will have to work on that and discourage that behaviour…very dangerous!…it’s amazing how quickly dogs pick up bad habits. She has only started doing that this week, obviously because she found it very rewarding when she did it last week at practice and I squealed and everyone laughed – she loved the attention!
Yea Honey and Hsin-Yi!! Congratulations!
WOooOFF!! HONEY You were GREEATT!! And Hsin-Yi wasn’t too bad either! I think that looks like SO much fun! Mommy loved seeing Finn the sheltie cause she kept thinking of her old Chelsea!! Thank you soo furry much for sharing with us! I think you did a pawtastic job!
Licks,
Kylie
Honey, you really have your human well-trained. We can’t train Jan to do anything like that! She’d have 4 left feet if she had 4 feet. (She only has 2)
You were energetic and enthusiastic. Really good to see you having so much fun in a routine, but we suggest you lose the jumping and bruising bit.
Oh Honey welll done, congratulations, that’s amazing, but very well deserved too. And hey, what a great toy you got as an award, bet you’ll have great fun playing with it.
Glad you and Hsin-Yi had fun – you made a really cute pair. We loved watching all the videos you posted, wow, all you doggies who do this are amazing, all so talented and clever. But remember – no thwacking the humans, no matter how much fun it might seem at the time!
Tail wags – JD and Max.
I LOVE this!!! Congratulations! Canine-freestyle looks like so much fun–I smiled the whole time I watched the videos! Thanks!
Whoo Hooo! Congratulations! First Place! No Treats! That’s so great.
I had so much fun watching you two dance, I was not surprised at all that you won. What a dynamic duo
I loved the costumes you chose as well. I thought they really looked sharp.
I also got lots of ideas of new things I can try and teach Oreo and Misty too!
What a great day you two had! You’ll be smiling for a week
Congratulations, Honey! You two did awesome together! It makes me smile real big to watch you dance.
Congratulations! I’ve told you… you two are the best!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
Congrats! Honey Bunny is pretty funny… to watch anyway! Moose will every now and then jump and I worry it will become a habit so we know what you mean. It is fun for them so it is hard since it sort of reinforces itself.
We liked watching her claim the prizes. very cute and funny.
We are glad you won and I have seen snippets of the routine so could kinda tell when she was not doing the right thing but if I had not seen it before I don’t think it would be that obvious. Regardless of execution, the routine itself is my favorite of the others you showed, so kudos for that!
Give her kisses from Moose!
Moose + Dana
Yay, congratulations to both of you! You guys looked great
Yay Honey and Hsin -Yi! I really enjoyed wathching all the videos – the only downside to all of the talent you and your friends displayed is that now my momster is thinking about teaching me some of those tricks! Uh oh… I think I’ll just follow Honey’s lead and do what I can do: bouncing and jumping up!
Honey, you look so happy on the dance floor!
hello honey its dennis the vizsla dog hay gud dansing by yoo and yore mama seeryusly yoo shud come to the fred astayre stoodyo the nekst time yoo ar in oshunside and danse with my mama and dada!!! oh and those helmets yoo wer asking abowt ar mind control helmets wot trouble and mr burns tried to trik us into waring but trixie sayvd us gud girl trixie!!! ok bye
A standing ovation and mega congrats to Honey and her beautiful partner!!! You did such a wonderful job. We so enjoyed watching all the videos. We think that yours is the best, of course, you both just look so happy dancing. You make it look like fun and that’s really what it is all about.
Woo, the OP Pack
Oh Honey, you are such a great dancer, our mummy enjoyed watching your dancing video’s with us. Big Congrats on your first place, you did good and won a great prize
Congratulations! What a great dance routine – loved the music and costumes and all the moves!
Wow – what an elegant couple you are! I would just love to do that with my ma, but I’m still having trouble with basic obed! I loved watching all the movies and think those dogs are simply magic! And you are amazing, Honey – even though you were so hyped up, you still got 1st!!!! Congrats to you! I know it’s the first of so many more in Freestyle!
Hugs xo
Sammie
Oh well done! It was a great routine and you both looked so good.
I’m all for the enthusiasm, it can always be toned down a bit.
Congratulations! Very well done to you both! You look so cute with your rosette Honey!
Congrats again!
Clive
Wow Honey, I’m so proud of you! You’re fantastic! Congratulations!
your cat pal,
Bruce:)
CONGRATULATIONS!! We were actually wondering if your Mom had any bruises before we got to her comment at the end!
You were SO bouncy Honey!! Very cute. We think even though you missed some moves, you were fabulous. We must give your Mom major credit because she dances beautifully and doesn’t make the signals so obvious like other people. The routine flows better.
We laughed out loud when you were trying to get all the toys during the awards.
You’re one very original girl Honey, and your mom is pretty fabulous too!
Hi Honey! We’re impressed! You are a VIP doggie now: tv, winning the canine freestyle contest…just amazing!
Congratulations!!!
The other doggies were great too!
Lots and lots of kisses
Rufus and Indie
WOW! Honey and Hsin-Yi, you guys are awesome! I am so impressed. And, actually, I loved the bounce. What an inspiration to see what you can do – and with such enthusiasm : )
Would love to hear more about how you get revved up!
Congrats on the 1st Place – Awesome!
Cheers!
Jackson and his Mom
Wow, congratulations!! We are so happy about your great achievement! It’s a shame that we couldn’t see you dancing at the competition. Although our Agility trial finished around 3pm, both of our humans were too exhausted to drive down to Ardmore after that.
OMD!
That is SOOOO khool!
We saw the post earlier today BUT Mom needed to get going fur her transport so she watched it when she got bakhk and settled in!
KHONGRATS!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: Brody is way khool!
You are so elegant couple! Congratulations!
Congratulations, Honey and Hsin-yi!
Love the costume the 2 of you wore together! its so cool!!
Love,
Camry, Chevro and Cayenne
Hi Honey. We added some information about the Pairs Relay to our post in response to your question.
Honey and Hsin-Yi, congratulations! I am so happy for you. I’m really glad you won, despite being extra bouncy. You look so sweet, crashed out at the end of the day …well done!
HONEY! You were amazing! I like your improvisation moves. Very bouncy! Your Hsin-Yi had a funny face right before you went into the ring, but you seemed to calm her down once you got going.
Of course you won!
Slobbers,
Mango
Three cheers for Honey and Hsin Yi! What a talented duo.
Congrats, Honey and Hsin-Yi! You guys were amazing! And I noticed BOTH you and Hsin-Yi danced really well….much more enthusiastic and better than the others…so well done! You deserved to be number one!
1:26 of honey dancing——–LOLLOLOLOLOLOL
WOW! You guys did great! Congratulations on your first place ribbon, that toy looks like fun. I think Honey did really good considering she didn’t have any treaties. I like her bouncing too, you should add that to her arsenal of tricks.
p.s. Honey the humans don’t like it when you smack them around too much. You have to have strategic smacks so they think it’s an accident and don’t think you are doing it on purpose. I gave mom a black eye one time and didn’t even get in trouble because she thought it was an accident. hehe.
Hope you guys have a good week!
Love From Bella
Congrats on 1st! I think you both did great! It was only obvious in one or two places that she messed up. Everything else looked planned, so if she missed other things you covered it up well. I’m glad you had fun and thanks for including videos of the Sibe mixes.
Congrats honey – you were a very bouncy girl though – i can get bouncy when i get too excited too – but you did a wonderful job
congrats
the other routines were really awesome
Woodrow, Sweetie & MJ
I am thoroughly impressed – you must have put a lot of work in to this!
What an outstanding performance Honey!!! You were brilliant, and made my mummy smile the whole way through your routine! You thoroughly deserved your first place!
That was naughty jumping up at Hsin-Yi, us Pointers do that a LOT but we are much smaller than you, and as a breed we ALL love to be on two feet, luckily we don’t cause bruises when we do this!! I bet you nearly knocked Hsin-Yi over!!
Thanks for sharing all those videos, they are all brilliant, especially the ones with you in them!
Luv Scotty xxx
Well done to both of you!
You were so excited Honey, it looks like you were having so much fun together.
Thanks for sharing your videos.
Holly & Zac…XX
Concatulations Honey and Hsin Yi!!! We think you did great! Especially for your first time without treats to guide you! We can’t wait to get home and HEAR these.
Hi Honey. Mango sent me over to see you dance! What a mover! Fab routine, I’m glad you won.
Wiry wags Eric x
HOORAY, HONEY!! Sorry we’re a bit late–we’re just catching up. Congratulations on your win–no dog more deserved, in our opinion! Grrreat job on doing it with no treats, either! That is quite a feat, since you hadn’t practiced that way very much! We liked seeing your mommee dancing, too. Woo-woo! Soo sexy.
Wuv,
Gus and Waldo
Honey
You and Hsi yin make the most gowgeous paiw..It’s a delight to watch you, I think excellence is not always measoowed in pawfect moves, but in the ovewall pawfowmance and you two wewe the best.
Congwatulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was on a plane to Wome when I was one and a half yeaws old..thewe is no quawantine fow Oowope. My angel sissie went to Fwance and the Nethewlands and my angel bwuvvew was in Fwance, Italy, Switzewland, Austwia, Hungawy, Lichtenstein wif no pwoblem.
My pawents don’t twavel as much any mowe cause they’we bwoke mostly, but it suwe was fun (I was at mommi’s feet in my twavel bag and thewe wasn’t a peep out of me fow the whole time. I had some ice coobes and cookies, and that’s all)
smoochie kisses
ASTA
Hi Honey
I think you are incredibly talented, and I’m sure that the judges felt that whacking your human over the head just added that extra bit of pizzaz to the routine!
Puppy kisses
Sasha
Honey & Hsin-Yi, you two deserved it! Congratulations! I actually enjoyed watching you jumping around. It makes it all fun! I also enjoyed your Sheltie friend’s routine. Too cute! I think the reason why you got 1st placing & your Sheltie friend got 2nd was because your hoomies danced as well & both of them looked like they were having a blast! I am going to give my honest opinion about your two Sidebord friends. They were good, fast & precise BUT they were a little robotic. I think their hoomies need to smile & move a little more as well. Yeah sure it’s nice to see doggies do pawsome moves & make it look all serious but sometimes, silly mistakes here & there makes it more fun. You two teams DESERVED the awards! Keep it up my friends!
Honey hey WOW you wuz GRATE! And you made it look soooo fun. I thinks I would have dyed of stage frite! To say nuthing of my Mummy! Congratulashuns on yer win!
Yer pal Dozer
Congratulations on your win Honey!! It is so hard to go in the ring without treats. Loved the video. We have ordered a video of our competition and I hope that I will be able to post it when it comes.!! Enjoy your new toys.
Your freestyle friend,
Niamh
I agree with Amber-Mae. Both dogs danced well, and the humans added to the routine by also dancing beautifully.
Congratualtions to you both!
Congrats Honey! I liked your bouncing too…..you must have really been excited that day!
Kisses,
Nala