Does anyone do HTM

Culotte can do a few good tricks and the dog school have asked me if I would do a small HTM demo at the charity dog show this year I am really not sure where to start how do you decide what sort of music you are going to use? how long does a routine normally take? how long does it usually take to get a basic routine off pat. I know these are how long is a piece of string type questions but any advice would be really useful.

Use music you like a lot (you will have to hear it in your sleep! ) Use music which is popular, known to a lot of people and catchy. For first routines 60's music is good as it was short in duration and won't need cutting. Use music with obvious marker points so if you go wronmg you can fiddle around then get back on track.

Keep it simple with things that you and the dog are confident doing, simple and effective is better than going for broke with difficult tricks which may not come off----that comes later!

I'd go for about 2mins 30 secs or less and it depends how you and your dog learn and function how long it takes to get sorted. I've gone in and won after sorting a routine out the day before and I've failed after working on one for months. Its kind of how long is a piece of string!

Remember to have fun and try not to get stressed.

rune

Thanks for the tips Rune I will defiantly try not to get stressed, dont know if I will manage it though getting stressed already and there is 5 months to practice and Oh dear if I have to have popular music, have you ever heard french popular 60's music eeeek

Good luck! I think you need to make sure you have everything stuck in your head first as to moves and how they fit in with the music before you bring the dog in.

Good advice from Rune above. I used to do Htm with Parker and we still practice a lot of the moves. I did a demo dance with him once at our obedience classes where they were quite anti clicker training. We also met Annie Clayton and Parker got a beginner's award from her for a routine we did(tv dog judge from "The Underdog show" and "Bring your husband to heel") and she was really lovely and really liked Parker and said how nice it was to see a different breed doing htm.

I owuld have liked to keep it up but the competitions are too far to travel from Norfolk.

I dont know of anyone around here that does anything like HTM so at least it should be something different at the show.
I think I have chosen my music, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts
I know this off by heart as it was one of my faves when I was a kid, just got to get my moves sorted now

Thats a nice beat...people tend to know it as well.

Keep it simple for the first time Too much to remember really.

I have been competing the same length of time as Rune (mum) - about 10 years now.