The first thing you do after getting up in the morning? cuddle my dogs all come on the bed!
Last time you took a train to / where? 7 years ago because it was snowing and was working in Milan, I could not take the motorbike and then in Bellagio in my country where I live , I loaded my dog-bag for the dog and I went to Milan!
On the 9th and 10th of april the Umbria Agility Team and the Centro Cinotecnico Umbro organize two agility competitions in Settimo Torinese , Italy more informations here deadline 2nd of april video Agility Dog - Siggy - 13.09.2008 Master Settimo Torinese by JommaJoy
Bagshot CaniX / Bikejor / 5XC distance 7.2km and 1.75km Date: Saturday 9 and/or Sunday 10 April 2011 Venue: Swinley Forest, Bagshot, Surrey more informations here video Tilly at Bagshot Canix by Jencanix
On the 9th and 10th of april the www.kynologie-cbks.cz organize an agility competition in Penzion Celnice Nové Hrady , Czech rep. More informations here deadline 3rd of april video Závody agility Nové Hrady by Nikola7Nan
On the 9th and 10th of april the ATO Champion Dogs organize an agility competition in Kaiseraugst ,Switzerland deadline 1st of april more informations here video Agility Teckel Amélie in Kaiseraugst by MsAmelie05
On canicross.cz are avaliable the dates and iscriptions for the Hill's CUP 2011 What is Hill's Cup? An annual canicross,bikejoring,scooterjoring event in Czech rep. with 9 stages for 3 different disciplines in 3 different places. Dates and locations: 1. Plzeň 30.4. - 1.5. 2011 BIKEJÖRING 2.Horní Bezděkov 14.5. - 15.5. 2011 SCOOTER 3.Hradec Králové 10.9. - 11.9. 2011 CANICROSS
On the 9th and 10th of april the Club d’Éducation Canine Issoldunois organize an obedience event in ISSOUDUN ,France more informations here video CONCOURS OBEISSANCE HYERES SAPHIR EN CLASSE 2 by beaweimar
This month we will have an interview from the world of dog dance. A person from Denmark which showed that with the commitment you will get excellent results. For example, the victory at the 2010 Nordic Heelwork to Music. Emmy dog dancing has grown since 1998 when she and her collie Kiri made their first demonstration at the Danish Collie Club's 50 anniversary. In 2004 she was invited to judge at Germany's largest dog dancing competition Norddeutsche Dogdance-Turnier.In the 2005 in Denmark with her dog Whisper she obtained the highest points number with their interpretation of Harry Potter. Since then she has had great success in Danish and international competitions. Emmy has held several seminars and courses on dog dancing in Denmark, Italy, Australia, Sweden and Germany and she has written articles on the subject of various dog magazines. In 2007 her first book "It's Showtime" on Dog Dancing was released from the publisher Dogtraining Books. read carefully, another good interview :)
Let's start with the warm-up questions
The last time you washed the dishes? Yesterday! I don't have a dishwasher, so I have to do it almost every day, but I've been too busy to cook today, so I haven't had any dishes to clean.
You use the crocks in the summer or wearing traditional sandals? Sandals - I hate crocks!
Have you ever gone fishing ? Yes. I grew up in Greenland and my parents had a very good friend, who owned a ship and made a living of sailing goods up and down the West Coast of Greenland. He had a son, Morgan, and when my family and I were sailing with them, Morgan and I would be fishing. We used to catch codfish in the harbours, but our parents always threw them back into the sea as they were disgusting from the dirty water - pollution from all the ships coming in and out of the busy harbours.
Never mind, better that we goes to the interview...
Could you tell our readers a little about yourself My name is Emmy Marie Simonsen and I live in the small town Sorø in Denmark. I work in a home for mentally handicapped young people and train dogs in my spare time. I have 4 dogs: Whisper (Border Collie "Bridacre Wisp", 11 years old) - he is a true all-rounder. He is Danish Obedience, HTM and Freestyle Champion and he has won Herding titles and been competing successfully in agility. He is my best friend and soul mate. He won the Individual Nordic HTM Championship 2009 and was on the Danish HTM Team that won the World Championship and the Nordic Championship 2010. Whisper has been the most successful Danish HTM and Freestyle dog ever since the sport was approved by the Danish Kennel Club and he was HTM Dog Of the Year in Denmark in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Biscuit (Sheltie "The Charmed Ones' Biscuit in Blue", 6 years old) - Danish Freestyle Champion and a funny little dog. Small in size - big in attitude! He has been representing Denmark at Crufts twice and will be again this year. He was also on the Danish Freestyle Team that won World Championship Silver in 2010. He was Freestyle Dog Of The Year in Denmark 2009. Beat (Border Collie "Sheringem Rhythm Of Dance", 2½ years old) - he has been a very challenging dog to train, but he is doing well and I am very proud of him for choosing to work with me despite of all his worries. He has qualified for advanced HTM and Freestyle in Denmark. And finally I have little Hero (Border Collie "Littlethorn Feet Of Flames"), who is only 6 months old and great grandchild to my old Border Collie Multi Champion "Whenway Decorated Hero" (Robbie) - a dog that I loved and admired more than words can describe. Hero himself is a wonderful little man with a super personality.
What has fascinated you in dog dancing at the biginning? I saw an HTM demonstration in England in 1998 and when the dog, the handler and the music became one, it became magical and it really moved me. I wanted to know how it felt to be able to move people like that with the work I did with my dogs, so I decided to give it a go.
Tell us more about "the idea" It's Showtime book? How it all started ? I was contacted by a Danish publishing company 'Dogtraining Book'. They wanted to publish a book that should help beginners to get started in this wonderful new sport and it should also have ideas to help more experienced handlers improve. The publisher asked me if I would be interested in writing such a book for them and I accepted with no hesitation. I love writing and I love to talk about dog dancing, so it was a great opportunity for me. It took about a year to write it and I am very happy with the result. I think it is a good book. The photos in the book are taken by a wonderful photographer Vicky Bjerring and the photo sessions were an experience! It was in the middle of the summer and so very hot. I think we went out 3 times trying to get the perfect cover photo and we came home with beautiful photos, but the editor wanted it to be very special and she kept asking for something different. I was in my hot costumes, had the sun blinding me and was still trying to work my dogs and look happy. On one of the sessions we were out in a big country park. We had worked for hours in the sun and when we were ready to go home, the photographer had lost her car keys! We searched and panicked and finally she found them in her bag! I must say that the cover photo we ended up with is stunning. It is my old Border Collie Robbie and his son Whisper working side by side.
Do you remember your first routine? I remember my first routine very well. It was with my rough collie Kiri to Lloyd Webber's 'Any Dream Will Do'. We performed it at the Rough Collie Club's 50 Years Anniversary Show. The musical interpretation was non-existing and it was mainly heelwork, but Kiri worked so well for me. Years later, when I was teaching a workshop for the Danish Kennel Club, I asked the pupils why they wanted to get started with dog dancing and one of the handlers told me about this young girl she once saw at a rough collie show. It turned out that she had seen Kiri's and my very first performance and we had moved her so that she had never forgotten about it - just like I dreamt of doing.
Have you ever dreamed of a routine and then have the repeated immediately in the
morning , before you forget it ? No. I wish choreographing came that easy to me though! Explain to as your typical training day. I almost always train the dogs in the same order - Hero first, then Beat, Biscuit and Whisper last. How I train depends on where we are in the process of creating/practising/performing a routine. In the beginning we just work on learning new moves. Later we want to make it flow well and finally the routine needs to be polished before it is ready for performance. Once we start competing with it, we work on keeping the dog motivated and improving accuracy. Each dog has its own personality, so training is very in individual. I have a very good training partner, Helle. I try to meet with her at least a couple of times each month to get feedback and new eyes on my work.
Where do you get inspiration for a new routine? From the music. I listen to the music and that's where the ideas come from. Which has been for you the perfect routine, if there was ? I don't think I have seen or performed a perfect routine, but some of my routines have meant a lot to me. Whisper's Ratatouille routine is very special to me and I am embarrassed to say that I loved Beat's Waltzing Mathilda too because it was funny and surprising :-). Biscuit's All I Care About Is Love was great fun to perform and very nice too.
Whisper Winner Of The Nordic HTM Championship 2009 by heelwork2music
12 mth old Border Collie Beat (Sheringem Rhythm Of Dance) performing his very first Heelwork To Music routine to Rolf Harris' Walzing Mathilda by heelwork2music
Biscuit performing his Freestyle routine to 'All I Care About is Love' from Chicago. by heelwork2music
As you can see the HTM & Freestyle world Championship 2011 in Paris. Who do you think is the favorite? Well unfortunately it looks like the French Kennel Club has decided to cancel the World Championship just 3 weeks after they sent the invitations out. But if they had not cancelled, I would have been judging so I would not have any favourite.
You are a very important dog dance icon in Denmark and around the World . How do you feel in this role? I don't think of myself that way. I love my dogs and I love the sport, so I am just very pleased when I get to combine all of that with travelling, performing and teaching. Do you have some plans for the future? I have my new puppy Hero and I am really looking forward to see what the future holds for us. He seems so talented and keen so I am very excited by the thought of everything I will learn from him and all the adventures we will have together. I have just retired Whisper from competition and he does leave a huge gap in my 'competition life'. He has been a star and so reliable. I am trying to get used to the thought of a future without him as my faithful dancing partner. Luckily Biscuit has matured a lot this last year and has coped well with some difficult situations like performing on a live TV show on Saturday night. I guess my plans for the future is to keep having fun with my dogs and do the very best I can with them.
videos Emmy and Robbie (CH Whenway Decorated Hero) performing their Freestyle routine to 'Sparkling Diamonds' from Moulin Rouge in heavy rain!!!! by heelwork2music
Sheltie Biscuit performing on TV2's live show Bingo Banko on 23rd October 2010. by heelwork2music
Here you have the results and videos of the agility competition held at the Agility Club Marvi in La Roca , Spain on the 26th and 27th of march 2011. results here videos Drac agility by AgilityCanic
On the 9th of april the Elfsborg BHK organize a rally obedience event in Boras ,Sweden classes: Open class, beginner class, Advanced Class, Second Class & master class more informations here video Anders Dahl och Sniffer's Jo-Jo, Elfsborgs BHK. Sjuhäradsmästerskapen 2009 by Andersochjojo
From the 7th to the 10th of april in Czech rep. you can join theDogtrekking Šlapanický vlk Moravským Krasema dog trekking event.The Deadline is on the 31st of march 2011 more informations here video Hiking trip with a dog area in Zahrádky through Hell and Paradise to Holany Litice. Training the dog-trekking. by samurajtt
Here you have the results,reports of the sleddog2011.no,photo gallery by Kjell O. Brun an videos of the sleddog World Championship 2011 held in Holmenkollen , Norway from the 24th of march to the 27th of march 2011 results here various reports here photo gallery here video VM i hundekjøring Holmenkollen by lysmys123
On the 2nd and 3rd of april the Planet Dog Club organize two agility competitions in La Tollara Fubine (AL) , Italy more informations here deadline 28th of march video Agility Junior Championship- Veronica&Sean [ITALIA] by VeryWibi
On the 3rd of april the KD Kutina organize the 2nd agility competition of the agility Croatian Championship in Kutina ,Croatia more informations here video Winning agility run of Mawlch Myf in Kutina in 2009 / Mawlch Myf by mawlch
On the 3rd of april the Éducation Canine de Ballan-Miré organize an agility competition in BALLAN MIRÉ ,France more informations here video Ballan Miré | oct. 2008 | agility by legendesceltes
On the 3rd of april the Canis Club Chartrain organize an agility competition in CHARTRES ,France more informations here video Agility Yrja et Danielle GPF Chartres 23 mai 2010 by Fronaryr
On the 2nd and 3rd of april the AT Liechtenstein organize an agility competition at the Agilityhalle Rheinau in Rheinau ,Switzerland more informations here deadline 28th of march video Monty - Sheltieturnier 2010 - Vilters by jzagility
On the 1st of april the KV Säli Olten club organize an obedience event in Schöftland , Switzerland more informations here video Tia Crufts 2007 obedience wi by charicky
This year we have started with the first collaboration with epi4dog.com and now the cooperation with agiltiyzone.co.uk First of all I have to write that : This collaboration is a very big opportunity for me to be able to expand the reputation of my site in the UK and elsewhere. Now ,I will write something about agilityzone.co.uk a real paper magazine and online magazine based on agility. Very interesting magazine with advices ,agility exercises, training methods tips , interviews , reports from events and includes articles that relate to canine health, fitness and nutrition too . During these months you can find articles of Silvia Trkman about her teaching methods, Sergio Sousa ...Lee Gibson training tips... Takealook , youwillnotregret. You will befascinated ;)
quote from agiltiyzone.co.uk The Agility Zone Magazine was launched World Wide in April, 2009. It is an A4 - full colour publication and is packed full of agility a dog training related articles. In fact, we are regularly praised by our readers from around the world for the generous amount of training related content, and have been compared to one of the best agility magazines in the world. We feature regular articles from some of the World’s BEST, and that includes World Champions. However, we don’t stop at training. No, we offer everything for the agility enthusiast and that includes articles that relate to canine health, fitness and nutrition, too. Agility training and articles relating to the above are by no means the depth of our magazines. We also include reports on competitions, home and away. We review the latest DVDs and agility products (Often before releasing them for sale in our online store), and we generally print what our readers thrive on.
Memo dog blog now have an “internal“ page on the agility zone site with some links to the most popular memo dog interviews.Check it :)
Here you have the report and video of the Heelwork and Freestyle Show 2011 held at the Hall BC Sparta Prague , Czech rep. on the 19th of march 2011 report with photos here video Demonstration with Assistance Dogs for the Disabled at the Prague Dog Dancing Show by heelwork2music
Agility with Philipp Müller Schnick
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