Top Tip #36
Puppies are not statues, don’t stress when they don’t stand perfectly still. A happy puppy who wants to please and has a pleasant experience is wonderful to see and will only help your dog as it grows up into a mature adult. – Danielle Ingarfill
Thanks Danielle for these words of advise for this top tip!
The importance of socialisation
Some show dogs can be made or lost depending to how well they were socialised as a puppy. Even with perfect conformation and breed type, any dog needs the correct temperament to make it in the ring. A dog which is shy with people and wilts like a flower when you take them to new places, will never perform well enough to win in the ring. This said, it’s important to remember the difference with “reserved with strangers” and shy in the ring as some breed standards will describe the breed as the former.
General socialisation
To help with socialisation, take your new puppy everywhere you can with you. Expose him/her to as many new places as possible with as many different people, dogs, situations, noises, etc.
Also attend puppy training/socialisation classes to introduce new dogs and a different hall.
Specific socialisation for show dogs
Introduce from an early age, lots of different kinds of surfaces to walk on including grass, cement, concrete, carpet, linoleum and rubber matting so different surfaces are a norm for a show dogs.
Encourage people to pet her all over her body including down legs and picking up paws. This will help to simulate a judges movements of “going over” your dog and get him/her used to be touched. Also don’t forget to gt your pup used to having strangers looking at her teeth, just be careful not to over do this and never push it when a puppy is teething.
Confidence
All of these experiences will teach you pup to take everything in their stride and give them the confidence.
Confidence is a key trait found in all top show dogs that gives them the winning stride and attitude that judges love to see.
Of course, top top it all, the handler also needs to be confident.
Stacking your dog
If you have a stacked breed, consider how you pick up your dogs legs; below are some do’s and don’ts of placing your dogs legs.
Do…
…place your dogs legs one at a time
…gently place your dogs feet on the ground
…pick your dogs leg up from the centre of the leg
…stay calm and take your time
…keep the stacking calm and rythmatic (one foot, two foot, 3 foot, 4 foot, head, tail, present)
…remind them of the command
Do not…
…pick your dog up from the under-carriage
…drop your dogs legs from height
…be rough with your dog
…use jerky movement
…throw your dog off balance
Remember to stand your dog in front of a mirror so you can see how you have stacked them to make sure that they are correct or ask your trainer to watch how you do it and give any advice to improve if needed.
Have a look at some more advice of stacking your dogs on the blog post Standing your dog – part I
Jack of all trades…..
One of the greatest myths of show dogs that I hear, is that you can’t do anything else with them. So many people come to me saying that they have been told to stop basic/puppy obedience and stop teaching sit, down etc if they want to continue showing and they should only teach their dog stand
To me this is one of the biggest myths, although you will need to work harder if you want to teach your dog more. Just make sure you work evenly on teaching your dog to do everything that you want to do with your dog.
To me, basic puppy training with a local obedience club is paramount in any of my dogs training to be well socialised pets (and show dogs) and there is no reason why you can’t compete in obedience one day and go to a show dog the next day or throw in some agility, gundog work or Rally-O while you’re at it!
Top Tip #13
Know your dogs faults or bad habits and remember these. Be honest to yourself about the faults.
Also, know the breed standard of the breed you are showing.
You are there to show YOUR DOG. To emphasise the good points and minimise any faults.
You want the judge’s thoughts on YOUR DOG.
You want to leave the judge with a lasting impression of YOUR DOG.
You want to persuade the Judge to put YOUR DOG first.
GOOD HANDLING will help achieve all of the above.
“A good handler can make a poor dog look good, whereas a poor handler can make an excellent dog look poor.”
There is nothing worse than seeing someone mis-treat a dog at a show, or drag them round the ring, or force them to something they don’t want to. Make each and every show fun for your dog and remember, you want them to enjoy showing!
2) Always be polite to the officials and other exhibitors
A polite thank-you to the judge, and a well done to other exhibitors costs nothing. Even if they are your sworn enemy, you being polite to them will only get them wondering. Also think about all the people who are watching around the ring.
Also, remember that dog shows are run by a committee who give up their time to provide a show for you. Accept human errors graciously and forgive when something doesn’t go to plan on the day.
3) Dress appropriately for the job in hand and to compliment your dog.
See more details under What To Wear to a Dog Show or Dress Code
How do you give the dog an edge by handling/training?
Each and every dog is different and therefore may need to be handled/shown slightly differently to get the most out of them. By getting the most out of your dog will help them have that extra edge in the ring above their competition which can be the difference between Best of Breed and unplaced.
Top tips to get the best from your dog (things to think about)
1) Find the right lead
2) What motivates your dog
3) How does it best like being handled
4) What are they sensitive to
5) Make sure you are relaxed
6)Remember your dog has to want to do this for you
7) How much can you talk to your dog?
Getting the best from your dog is often trial and error and this is where One to One training at Winning Paws can help. We can use our experience to help you and your dog perform together.
We will assess what you do and follow up with advice and guidance on next steps. We have a range of tools that can help.
Case studies
Below are two case studies of dogs I handle/have handled. These tips won’t work for every dog, as I said above, each dog is different.
1) The pacing Gordon Setter. I have handled this Gordon Setter since she came out as a 6 month old puppy but being a puppy a young setter she was prone to pacing. I had been handling her on a leather slip lead at a couple of shows and all the usual tricks to stop pacing weren’t proving 100% successful. One show I found a gold chain slip lead in the bottom of the bag, and from that day forward she has never paced since (it just cost her owner a new black chain and black leather lead!)
2) The tail of the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (Toller). Tollers are expected to hold their tails up when alert. Judges like to see the correct tail carriage when the dogs trot in the ring. By watching this lad in the ring we were able to notice he ran with his tail up, if he was allowed to run out in front slightly. Giving him that extra length of lead and changing the position of the lead has led to a dog that goes round the ring with a lovely tail carriage! (Of course, when he see’s something like ducks, his tail always goes up, but it wasn’t feasible to take ducks to a dog show!)