Canine freestyle didn't feel right to Leila Widgren after her class was instucted to put their dogs into crates and practice dancing alone, jumping and maneuvering poles as pretend umbrellas.

Then she discovered the Canine Freestyle Federation, which endorses a version of the sport that's all about the dogs.

Several years later, the Mentor resident and Janet Dayton of Painesville now share the helm of the North Coast Canine Freestylers, a federation-approved guild based in Lake and Geauga counties.

“Whenever I tell people I'm into freestyle, I say 'it's not that type,'” she said. “I don't dress up in costume, and I don't dance.”

That is, this version isn't what you've seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live or the Today Show or YouTube, with dogs dancing the Macarena. It's not trick-oriented, and there are no sequins, costumes or pretend umbrellas — ever.

In fact, dogs aren't allowed to wear anything but a buckle collar.

“We specifically try to capture their natural movements, as you see at Westminster, in a routine to music,” Leila said. “When the dog is at that beautiful gait interacting with his trainer, when their paws hit the mat, we even time those natural movements with metronomes (that count beats per minute), then go find music to that speed.”

Routines typically last about two and a half minutes, and just as a male ice skater frames a female skater in tandem, humans frame their dogs in this sport.

Unlike agility, obedience, rally and tracking, canine freestyle also offers a blank slate for each performance.

“All the other dog sports have something that someone else has told you you have to do, and you are judged based on that,” Leila said. “In this sport — for instance, one of Janet's Greyhounds, Pearl, had one leg shorter than the other and couldn't sit well, so in obedience Janet had to teach her a floppy sit so she could sit for the judge. But in freestyle she just didn't put a sit in her routine because it wasn't something Pearl did well. You do what your dog does best, not what someone else says your dog needs to do.

“It also makes the whole thing more enjoyable; how you feel goes down the leash to your dog, and if you're stressed out then they're stressed out, too. We want our dogs to look the best they possibly can.”

In particular Leila said she enjoys showing off the cute, silly, party-like nature of her Shih Tzus, Oliver and Gambi, and the beautiful, gigantic tail on the one. (Her newest addition, 7-month-old Standard Poodle Charlie, is still learning how to heel, but his breeding was chosen especially for this sport.)

Meanwhile Janet's rescued Greyhounds, Lark and Rain, often go two or three times around the ring to feature their gracefulness.

And the dogs love it, being with their humans and having fun; when the training bags come out, they simply jump for joy, Leila said.

Though relatively unknown, the Mentor area has been fortunate to have the guild since October 2008; Leila and Janet are the only two known trainers practicing this kind of freestyle in Ohio. The downsides: every learning opportunity is out of state, and the schedule can be kind of lonely. The guild started 10 strong, then dwindled to a handful regulars that practice weekly Fridays at Canine Affair Center in Chesterland.

However, Widgren and Dayton are eager to expand the interest, and offer regular six-week classes (with the seventh “Evening of Share” free) at Canine Affairs at a cost of $70 for any human and dog knowing basic obedience, loose-leash attentive heeling and overall friendly manners. Each two-hour class covers technical, creative and artistry skills and improv, when human and dog are set free to create and be imaginitive and inventive to music.

Both women currently volunteer their time to teach; fees are split between renting the space and the guild treasury. Which is commendable seeing as how they actually taught just one student one period.

“The people that would be interested in this also do agility and obedience and rally, so they're being torn by having other opportunities,” said Leila. “But that's how passionate we are about it. We just really want to bring it to this area and have people experience it.”

Class graduates are then invited to join the official guild, serving as an advisory group for sharing and learning, for the $25 membership fee to the national federation.

For more information on the North Coast Canine Freestylers, or to enroll in a class, contact Leila at 440-255-5680 or lawidgren@oh.rr.com.

And for video of dogs performing in this beautiful way, click here and pick your favorite breed to watch. (Allow me to recommend the Corgi.)