stacking – Page 2 – Winning Paws

Standing you dog – part 2

Standing you dog – part 2
When standing your dog they can either be stacked or free stood. Most breeds will have a certain way of standing them, although some breeds it is acceptable to either stack and top and tail, or free stand them. Below I will explain about free standing your dog. If you have a stacked dog, please refer to Standing your dog – part 1 blog post.

Free stood dogs
Free stood dogs are those who are stood with little or no touching and the handler normally stands in front of the dog.

It can be said that a free-stood dog is more difficult to show although I find a free stood dog is harder to train. Once trained a free stood dog can be a dream to show.

It does require a certain amount of understanding between dog and handler to get the perfect stance but with training and patience it does happen.

If required then you can position your dog’s feet by hand, then adopt a position in front of them. Some breeds though are traditionally stood with no intervention from the handler.

No matter how you stand your dog though, it is important that you keep their attention on you and on the job in hand.

If your dog is a fidget, move them back then walk him forward into the stand or take you dog round in a circle. Personally I prefer to teach my dogs ‘backwards’ and ‘forwards’.

To keep your dogs attention there are many ways to try and each dog will be different. Winning Paws can help you work out the best way to stand your dog and keep their attention so they stay still.

freestack — A free stood bitch who requires no touching. She will happily stand still watching her handler.

freestack baiting — This is a free stood puppy who was being baited to help keep her still and to bring her legs into position. (This was her second show in the UK and only met me as many times, so bribery was needed!)

Standing you dog – part I

Standing you dog – part I
You may have heard the terms stacked dogs and free stood dogs. Over the next couple of blogs I will explain each of these terms and how best to go about standing your dogs in either of these ways.

Stacked dogs
When you stack a dog you place the feet into position and then hold the head and the tail (if applicable to your breed). It’s important to consider many things when you stack your dog to make sure you present your dog to its best advantage.

Present your dog with outstretched arms and stand/crouch back from him. Keep your own posture too, in particular keep your back upright.

Do not lean over you dog. This will spoil the overall picture and may also affect the dog.

Always keep the dog straight from nose to tail to avoid ‘the banana dog’.

Many people find it easiest to start at the front and work back.

When stacking your dog, the order to go though could be;

Position head and check for clean eyes and ear position.
Now while holding the head in one hand position front legs as needed
Stroke the dog as you move towards the back legs and place them in the required position for your breed and dog.
Finally have a last check that nothing has moved and check that the dog is in a straight line, (Not impersonating a Banana), place the lead in the correct position
If necessary hold the tail out and present with outstretched arms.

With practice a good handler and a trained dog will be able to get the stack and present in under 10 seconds and it can be useful to practise doing this.

If your dog moves a leg, calmly place it back into position giving another ‘stand’ command. If they move completely, move them off the spot and start the sequence again. Getting flustered will ultimately affect the dog further. Likewise, telling the dog off might confuse him. He might think you are telling him off for standing there. A quiet ‘No’, or ‘woops’ followed by a repeat of the sequence should suffice.

Some judges will ask you to freestand your dog on completion of the pattern work. With this in mind you should practice free-standing your traditionally stacked dog too.