Rescue Pups Step Out in Music Video 

Professional musician Randy Raatz featured his dogs Teddy and Mojo in a video in which his band covers the tune “Steppin’ Out” – a great way to open our issue with the theme On the Town!

Combine 40 years-plus of making music with a lifelong love of dogs. Mix with the goal of creating smiles during a tough time.

Served to the public when complete, the music video “Steppin’ Out” celebrates life getting a little more back to normal while spotlighting rescue dogs.

Longtime musician Randy Raatz of Woodstock, Illinois, enlisted the help of his two dogs, Mojo and Teddy, to star in the video in which his band covers the Joe Jackson tune “Steppin’ Out.”

“After I finished recording the song, there wasn’t much going on due to COVID. My wife, Sue, came up with the idea to dress up the dogs in outfits and have them ‘Steppin’ Out’ around the city square in Woodstock,” Raatz said.

Woodstock was the location where the movie “Groundhog Day” was filmed. The town has picturesque shops around a quaint park with a bandstand in the center. Every year, the town does a groundhog prognostication with Woodstock Willie, the rival of Punxsutawney Phil.

Raatz began playing guitar around 1973 and has been active in bands for 40 years. He currently records and produces music and music videos with a “talented group of studio musicians” in his home studio.

He and Sue are lifelong dog lovers who have rescued six dogs – all active members of the AKC Canine Partners program.

They adopted Teddy from the Chicago Animal Care & Control in 2018 after he was picked up as a stray near an airport. He has earned his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) title and his BCAT title in Fast CAT.

The other video star, Mojo, was 9 years old when his owners turned him into a Chicago shelter after their landlord made them give him up. Now nearly 13, he is doing great, has earned the CGC-Advanced title, but “his true passion is shopping and meeting new people,” Raatz said.

For the video, Mojo obligingly agreed to play the part of the girl stepping out on the town and donned a pink and blue tutu and hairbow, while Teddy wore a pink and blue bow tie and spats.

The colors were selected from the lyrics of Steppin’ Out that has a line: “You can dress in pink and blue just like a child.”

“We had our friend and fellow dog sports enthusiast Nicole Hatchell-Bensko, who has a dog clothing business Bow Tys Forever, design and make the two costumes. Once we had the costumes, the shoot was easy,” he said. “We just filmed the entire trip from our rural location just outside the city limits to the city to the square. Once we got there, we filmed the walkies of Mojo and Teddy for a couple of laps around the square.”

In addition to Teddy and Mojo, the couple has Hero, Zippo, Four Socks and Grover.

Grover was a stray who spent nine months in a county shelter before the Raatz’s adopted him in 2013. It was Grover who introduced them to dog sports. He was so highly energetic that someone suggested agility classes. Through agility, they learned about other dog sports, and Grover discovered his real strength – using his nose. He holds some of the all-time records in Barn Hunt for fastest runs and the top level title of RATCHX.

In addition to Barn Hunt, the Raatz canine team competes in disc, coursing, dock diving, tricks, scent work and more. The couple also strives to train each dog to earn the CGC title.

“We match the sport to the dog based on what they like the best,” Raatz said.

Enjoy the Steppin Out Video starring Teddy & Mojo: