Woman And Dog Earn First Place At World Dog Dance Championship

May 09, 2020

Yvonne Belin from Switzerland and her Border Collie, Alice, gave an amazing award-winning performance showing their incredible gifts at an FCI Dog Dance World Championship in Moscow, Russia. They won a well-deserved first place for their talents. Involved was major originality, creativity, athleticism, artistry, magnificent teamwork, and intricate moves that were paired with music. Their unique and exceptional dancing was watched on YouTube over 2.7 million times.

In the “Freestyle” category of the competition, the dancing was set to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” which starts at a slow pace and ultimately explodes with energy. Yvonne and Alice also started out slow and increased their speed as the music progressed. Both Yvonne and Alice began and ended with a bow. They moved gracefully across the floor with outstanding showmanship while they did twirls and spins. Alice, as the star of the show, walked backward, performed many tricks, and followed Yvonne's moves as they went right along with the music. The pair even put on a mini grand-finale. They left the audience awestruck.

They also participated in the “Heelwork to Music” category where the handler and the dog move as one entity and stay at that close distance during the whole routine while displaying creativity and a multitude of positions and behaviors. The AKC states that Border Collies are an athletic and energetic breed and are very intelligent. That was apparently so because those traits certainly shone through as Alice did her part of the dancing. She proved how extremely well trained and dedicated she was as a result of Yvonne's patient and loving many hours of rehearsal. It was evident that a great amount of practice had been required because of the skill shown by the magnificent duo.

Sadly, Alice later passed away from cancer. On her website Alice-Ribbon, Yvonne shows how dedicated she is to spreading awareness about canine cancer.

What was your reaction to this fabulous performance? Have you seen for yourself various reality competitive television shows featuring a performing dog and an amazing trainer? Did you think it was possible for a dog to be that well-trained?