Training the “stack”

The basic premise of stacking the dog is to teach the dog to remain in the chosen position while the judge examines the dog. Believe you me this is NOT an easy task and even though when you are watching this at a dog show and thinking that it looks so simple, it is NOT simple to train. Training should begin as soon as you can possibly do so, I have trained puppies as young as four and five weeks of age to "stack" and to "focus" on my hand. I do this by placing them on a grooming table with the front feet right at the front edge of the table. They will not move because they are afraid they might fall..so this encourages them to stay right where they are placed. I will lift up under the chest and gently set the puppy down so that the front feet fall automatically into the correct position. And then of course he gets a cookie for his good behavior! Almost any breed, while it is young, can be trained in this manner. Once you have positioned your puppy by placing him either with or without physical positioning, he needs to learn to stay that while while he is touched, petted, and handled. Teaching him to stay still is the trick. Lots of treats are important.

One of the first things to teach the puppy is not to leap forward and grab at the treat. This part is exceedingly simple. Do this right away! Teach him that he can NOT get a "cookie" when your fist is closed. First, give him a treat. Then, after one or two of these "freebies", simply close your fist and knock him firmly on the nose and say "WAIT". The minute that he has stopped nuzzling at your closed fist, and he WILL nuzzle at first, then immediately open your hand and offer him the treat from your open palm, so that he will eat it out of your palm, not grab it out of your fingers. continue this until he will simply watch your closed fist when you say "WAIT!" From that point then it is comparatively easy to teach him to remain in one position while he is watching your closed fist. Just time this carefully so that your puppy will "wait" for perhaps three to five seconds and then gradually lengthen this time. combining the two techniques, teaching your puppy to focus on your hand and to remain in the position you place him in, go hand in hand and need to be trained together at the same time.

At dog shows, the dog is presented to the judge in two major ways: moving, and standing for examination. The judge will put "hands on" the dog, examining his teeth, his head, ears, positioning of body, feeling musculature and condition, and generally checking all parts of the dog. This is a very extensive examination when compared to the simple "touching" that is done at an obedience trial. For this presentation, the dog is usually"stacked" in a particular position. Depending on the breed, some breeds are expected to "free stack" which means that the handler does not place the dog into the correct position physically but rather that the dog moves himself into the correct position naturally. Some dogs are placed on tables and examined by the judge from that angle. This is true of all of the toy breeds and many of the terrier breeds.

In order to present your dog to the judge you will need to know how your breed is presented to the judge and train your puppy accordingly. Collies, Belgian tervs...Australian Shepherds, German shepherds, and many of the other herding breeds are presented to the judge in a natural manner or the "free stack". The Belgian Sheepdog picture is standing naturally in a "free stack".

Many hound breeds and some terrier breeds are presented to the judge with NO collar on, the collar is removed so that the judge can examine the neck and "head set" without any physical interference. Sometimes the handler will even pull the ears up over the front of the dog's face so as to present the complete "line" of the head and neck to the judge. With every breed, there are different aspects of that breed that the judge will be looking at. With some breeds, the head is one of the most important aspects, and with some judges this may be the case. Judges who always are looking for the perfect head are called "head-hunters". With some breeds, the movement becomes the most important aspect. With some breeds, for example the rottweiler and the doberman,the entire mouth must be examined and the number of teeth counted. With some breeds, the number and positioning of dewclaws is even of importance, as in for example the Great Pyrenees.

Most of the smaller breeds (expecially all the Toy breeds) are presented to the judge on a judging table. The dog must get used to being picked up and placed on the table in a stack for the judge's examination. The handler than takes the dog off of the table for the presentation of the dog's movement to the judge. Perhaps you have seen handlers remove the dogs from the table by holding on to their tails and under their chins. This is NOT recommended by veterinarians. You will see many handlers who swear by this technique, saying that this way the dog's coat is never messed up. Well, I'm here to tell you that Veterinarians do NOT recommend this. It is safe to pick the dog up by the brisket (between the front legs, under the chest) and with your hand under the loin section of the dog, in other words, the belly. It is never safe to pick up any dog by its elbows or front legs.

a Pomeranian is always examined on the table

The correct "stacking" positions are different for different breeds. Therefore I can’t cover all the possible ways that you might need to train your puppy. There are a few things that will remain true for nearly every breed however.

The positioning of the front feet should be with the feet pointing straight in front, directly under the point of the shoulder blade. Dogs who are not well “balanced” over the front feet, where the dog’s front feet are too far out in FRONT of the shoulders, are either built incorrectly or the handler is stacking them incorrectly. This position is called “posting” and is a problem either with the handler or the dog. Some breeds will have a slight toeing out but as a general rule, the front feet and the rear feet should be pointed to the front.

To position a puppy's feet correctly, it is easiest to gently pick up the leg by gently lifting on the brisket or the chest directly behind the elbow, pick it up only an inch or so and gently set it back down again, one leg at a time..in this way you are re-positioning the entire front leg and by lifting on the chest right behind the elbow you are not actually lifting the leg but you are re-balancing the weight of the dog over his center of gravity. And you are allowing that leg to come back and settle into the correct position. Remember that this is only going to happen however if your dog is built correctly. Even if your dog is for example a bulldog, whose front legs are typically bowed and whose front feet are pointed outwards, the dog will usually position the front foot correctly FOR HIS BREED if this maneuver is performed.

If your dog is splayed out at the feet or down in the pasterns or even in the middle of a growth spurt, he can be going "every which way" and simply will NOT position his feet correctly. He is either going to grow out of it or he is not. If you are working with a dog that is not built correctly from the beginning, then you have to concentrate on the other good points of your dog and try to minimize the defect. (SEE THE TIPS ON SHOWING OFF YOUR DOG TO THE JUDGE)

The rear toes should also be directly beneath the point of the hip bones in most working breeds when the dog is standing naturally. When you do have to place the dog's feet farther back than this because of the angulation of the rear stifle, what you can do to insure that you are presenting a correct outline to the judge is to place you hand perpendicular to the rear hocks of the dog. (Please see the diagram of the ANATOMY of the dog) and check whether or not your hand is perpendicular, at right angles, to the floor. The dog's rear hocks should be at right angles to the floor. STRAIGHT UP AND DOWN! An exception to this is the German Shepherd breed, which unfortunately has such extreme angulation that it has become almost a major defect of structure and impedes the ability of the dog to actually move correctly! However as a general rule, from the toy breeds to the hounds, to the working and sporting breeds, for correct movement, the front feet and the rear feet should be straight forward and the rear hocks should be perpendicular to the floor if the dog is correctly built. . (in the photo of the anatomy of the dog, the German shepherd is an illustration of an "old fashioned" shepherd that does not have such extreme angulation)

YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES and that is all. That is the average time your judge willl spend looking at your dog. Be ready for this. Practice, practice. Get so good at it that you can "stack" or set your dog up within thirty seconds. this is because when you are lined up for that final look that the judge will give you, you may be in the top running but when the judge comes down the line to look at you, the handler behind you has just come back for the lineup and run right into you, and you have to re-stack your dog, and you're not ready. Or your dog has stepped out of position and you have to re-stack. You should practice so much that you CAN stack your dog in thirty seconds flat, and he will hold that stack for two minutes. So be prepared and practice, it may make all the difference.

Ch Kaylar's Calypso Bear, ROM (Register of Merit), foundation bitch of Kaylar Kennels, taking Third Place in the A.O.C. competition at the National Specialty in Denver, Colorado in 1989. This was the first Nationals I ever attended. And "Bear" was my first Newfy.

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