Wakey’s Dance (and why FUN matters)

I was asked to be a mentor at an event last week. It’s called the Nontraditional Employment for Women Workshop and it’s a pretty awesome event. This event hosted 300 high school sophomores from around the city.

I knew I wanted to bring Wakey. She’s a pretty cute sidekick.

But what tricks would go over the best? (Let’s face it… basic obedience is the bread & butter of what I do but it’s not very impressive to a group of sophomores.)

Maybe a dance? Yes! Definitely a dance!

Here’s where I explain to you that doing a dance in front of an audience is a pretty big deal for me. Mostly, because I tend to be a perfectionist. The old me would practice the moves over and over and over and get frustrated if my dog missed a cue or if I got off the beat.

A dog trainer friend of mine reminded me that it’s not really the moves that matter. It’s the fact that I’m having fun with my dog.

In fact, you can watch Cyndy with her dogs and clearly see her “have fun!” philosophy shining through.

So, with Cyndy’s motto in my head, I started working on our moves. Really, the dance is a number of tricks strung together to music. Some of the tricks are pretty easy. Some of them are more challenging.

And I reminded myself that it’s not about perfection.

We performed the dance six times that day and each one was different. And do you know what? The girls had a blast.

And more importantly, Wakey and I had the most fun.

I wasn’t able to get a decent video at the event, but for your viewing pleasure, here’s a snippet of our practice: