Dancing Queen By Monica King, MBA   

Effie is the “Dancing Queen”, and we chose that Abba classic as her dance song because she is truly a bon vivant.  That’s right, Effie has learned to dance! She spins, marches and weaves with a huge smile on her face. Every Thursday night, the perceptive Princess gleefully jumps for her leash and runs to the car knowing it’s dance day.  No wonder why her nickname is “Effervescent”! Effie’s life is truly a fairy tale, however. Her happy ending started out as a gloomy beginning.

Effie was abandoned in North Georgia and sat on a street corner, for days, in the cold February rain. Finally, she was trapped and taken to animal control. That is all we know about the first year of her life.  At the same time, we lost our beloved Sergei very suddenly.  The day Sergei died, we found Effie on Pet finder. For this reason, I believe things happen for a reason.  Her middle name is Bahnhof, German for stop or station, because she was waiting for us.

Dance classes did not start right away, though.  Effie was sick and nervous during her first year with us. She hid under a table for 2 days after we brought her home, and laid down outside when we tried to walk her. She showed no interest in toys. We had to carry her into the car. She constantly had an upset stomach. Still, she licked my toes and wagged her tail when we came close to her.  It turns out, GSDs bond very deeply. Since Effie was abandoned, we realized it would take awhile for us to bond.  We began obedience training, and took her everywhere dogs were allowed. We also enrolled her in dog daycare for socialization.  One day she jumped into the car all by herself! We also became active with German Shepherd Dog Rescue Group of Georgia to spread the word that rescue dogs make awesome pets.

Although her confidence improved with training, and she loved prancing around with a toy in her mouth, Effie still had a bit of trouble adjusting to new situations. She’d become nervous and tuck her tail. She backed away when new friends tried to pet her. She was less than thrilled when I walked her while her Dad was away.  Since I finished Grad School, I found myself with loads of free time and decided we should do something fun together. I’d read about Freestyle Dance and it sounded like fun for dog and owner. When I saw an ad for Jabula’s dance classes, I knew we had to enroll! Since dance classes did not start for awhile, we opted for tricks training first.  Effie was scared during her first class, especially since it was raining, but by the second or third class she stood up in the car as we turned onto Weeks Street. She was a different dog by the last class, smiling from beginning to end. Everyone around her noticed.

At her first dance class, Effie was not fond of loud music, especially the bass. So she would become acclimated, we constantly played music at home.  Normally a fan of classical music, Effie soon pranced to disco and classic 80s tunes. Of course she tired before me, and conked out with a smile on her face.  She became more confident and poised with each weave, bow, and spin. I was surprised how quickly she picked up some tricks! (Effie actually learned the steps quicker than her uncoordinated Mom.) When I was away, she was home moping until her Daddy took her to class, she danced her blues away! 

Thanks to Jabula, all I have to do is say “Let’s go Dancing” and Effie puts on her million dollar smile.  She learned a routine and will sit down and stop if I go out of sequence We will begin performing and show the world how much fun it is for mother and dog-ter to learn something new together. It is amazing to see a once-scared of bass dog transform into the Dancing Queen!