Dancing With The Dogs

Oh, sure, you love your dog, but ask yourself: When was the last time you took that special pet of yours out dancing?

Doggie dancing, reports CBS News Sunday Morning Correspondent Bill Geist, is all the rage in the canine crowd.

Hard to believe, you say? Doggie dancing not only exists, there are doggie dancing competitions, such as one international event held at the fashionable Airport Ramada in Portland, Ore. Carolyn and her golden retriever, named Promise, were there dancing, sort of, to the "Beer Barrel Polka."

How does it compare to human dancing?

Carolyn, who is canine freestyle competitor, says it's more fun. But she admits she hasn't been out dancing with her husband in 36 years.

Sydney, another canine freestyle competitor, and her papillion, Romeo, came all the way from Miami to perform a Mary Poppins routine.

What do your friends say when you tell them you're into doggie dancing?

"They all know I'm nuts," says Sydney.

Here they call doggie dancing "canine freestyle." Patie Ventre is founder and president of the World Canine Freestyle Organization. She's spreading the doggie dancing gospel worldwide.

What do people think?

Ventre says, "Some of them laugh and say, you're out of your mind. What are you, crazy?"

Is she a little bit crazy?

Ventre responds: "I think you have to be, but you know, in today's world you look for things that are fun and just make you happy and make you smile, and dancing with your dog is fun." It's not always easy promoting a new and unusual sport.

Ventre said there were about 70 people at the event. She says getting a hotel can be a big problem.

She estimates that 10,000 people, and an equal number of dogs, are now involved in organized doggie dancing. It's all very professional. Judges rate the couples on technical merit and artistic impression.

What about costumes? Ventre explains, "The dog is only allowed to wear a decorative collar and ankle bands. If you start putting hats, dresses, coats, you know, reindeer ears - it starts to get a little tacky. We wanted to keep the dignity and the elegance of the breeds."

There are no such rules to protect the humans, however. You probably won't be seeing a canine "Swan Lake" ballet anytime soon, but some of these doggie dancers are quite accomplished. When Patie and her border collie, Dancer, perform, it actually looks quite like dancing.

"You need to go from move to move with flow and transition, just like dance, just like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers," says Ventre.

Many of the dogs are like Joey, who just isn't totally into this whole inter-species dancing thing.

Some say doggie dancing is like Olympic ice dancing: a sport, with athletes.

In fact, Ventre's talked about having high aspirations for doggie dancing, having it in the Olympics.

"My goal is to live long enough to see that happen, and I believe that we have all the ingredients to make this an Olympic sport some day," she says.