just1more Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers as to how to teach my furkids to free stack. We are newbies to the show ring with 3 shows under our belts now but have a few coming up in the next couple months. They are both staffords, my boy 9 months and my girl is 8 months. Both are very willing to please and fairly easy to teach as they love their treats ;) They both stand well and hold for a good amount of time once stacked but once I have asked them to "stand" I can't figure out how to encouage them to move to stack by themselves. They will let me stack them manually but I find, especially with my boy, that he doesn't "hold form" ("keep a strong shape"/drops his back) and can also turn out his feet more than normal whe I move his legs under his shoulders. If he's wondering around the yard and naturally stacks/becomes "alert" due to seeing a bird etc. I praise him for his "stand" but when training I don't know how to encourage him to step each foot to these same positions that he needs to be in (if you know what I mean). Any help would be great. Thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I have used show stackers with success. I had a girl that would always put her back legs in the wrong positions and show stackers corrected this. Another thing to try is walking then stopping. When they stop in the correct position, say the command (i.e. stand) and then treat immediately. You will need to teach them to stand in the correct position first, then once you have this you then move on to getting them to hold it for longer periods of time. Go slowly though, like 2 second, 5 seconds, 10 seconds etc. Good luck! Another thing to note, I have never had any success teaching free stacking with manual stacking. So if I would place their legs correctly, then they would not learn to place the legs themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 try this link :D he has 3 video's out nowI have had to be inventive with my current boy as I have a frozen shoulder and hand stacking is a bit difficult. Tonight I got a great free stack with duration by feeding Warrior fresh chicken mince off a spoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I know someone who taught his wheaten to free stack. The dog was also a CDX. He'd stop in the ring and just boom, autostack. It was a marvellous thing to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Something that I have always found useful for my Staffords is to teach them how to "catch" their goodies. This helps them to stay on their toes, anticipating your hands and what might be in them and in doing this, helps them to use their ears better when they see a hand in front of their faces. Once they're catching I then find it relatively easy to teach them to walk into their stack and stand four square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toshman Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers as to how to teach my furkids to free stack. We are newbies to the show ring with 3 shows under our belts now but have a few coming up in the next couple months. They are both staffords, my boy 9 months and my girl is 8 months. Both are very willing to please and fairly easy to teach as they love their treats ;) They both stand well and hold for a good amount of time once stacked but once I have asked them to "stand" I can't figure out how to encouage them to move to stack by themselves. They will let me stack them manually but I find, especially with my boy, that he doesn't "hold form" ("keep a strong shape"/drops his back) and can also turn out his feet more than normal whe I move his legs under his shoulders. If he's wondering around the yard and naturally stacks/becomes "alert" due to seeing a bird etc. I praise him for his "stand" but when training I don't know how to encourage him to step each foot to these same positions that he needs to be in (if you know what I mean). Any help would be great. Thanks :) There are some good tips here - Sue Ailsby is a great trainer from the USA and writes lots of articles... http://www.sue-eh.ca/page24/page40/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I clicker trained my older girl to walk and hold her own front - i'd place her rear legs... you can train it all with a clicker working on one thing at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just1more Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Thanks everyone for the replies The uTube clips were great to see it in action! I was looking into the show stackers too. I'm actually in the process of teach them to catch their treats too :) Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I never train free stacks as part of the walk exercise . Free stacks are taught whilst playing because the free stack is all about paying attention & reward . A good free stack is about attitude & carriage so i prefer to not make it part of show training or the same old same but make it part of games or another means that has there attention & attitude that isn't repetitive & boring . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rysup Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 I started out free stacking Keeshonds and when I got into show the Amstaffs I thought, yep I will teach these guys to free stack. But despite my best efforts, I just cant do it. Their food drive is WAY too strong for them to be able to hold a stack at the prospect of food. I am yet to achieve it. Give me a Keeshond any day! I much prefer showing them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 One thing to remember when teaching a Stafford to free stack is either you have to bend over to be closer to their height OR get them to stand a long way back - their height & shorter neck means the second you stand close to them and start waving things over their eye height they prop back, dip their top line, poke out their elbows and look just gorgeous :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 One thing to remember when teaching a Stafford to free stack is either you have to bend over to be closer to their height OR get them to stand a long way back - their height & shorter neck means the second you stand close to them and start waving things over their eye height they prop back, dip their top line, poke out their elbows and look just gorgeous :laugh: This applies to all breeds so many people bait in a fashion that they shouldn't bother Holding the food/object to high,to low/to close,squeaking the squeaker till the point its going to die ;) & the dog couldn't care a less about it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mish13 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Thank you just1more I am in the same position as you trying to learn all there is about dog showing, this thread has been a huge help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just1more Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 One thing to remember when teaching a Stafford to free stack is either you have to bend over to be closer to their height OR get them to stand a long way back - their height & shorter neck means the second you stand close to them and start waving things over their eye height they prop back, dip their top line, poke out their elbows and look just gorgeous :laugh: Tell me about it!!! Beautiful in that "pose" That's one thing I really should have throught about before getting a stafford...I'm 6 foot tall and bending over to stack them is just great...not My boy's not too bad but my girl is food crazy so I REALLY have to watch what I am doing with her when trying to get her to stand...plus she's the typical "full of beans" stafford so get her to stay still for a stack is hard enough as it is :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Also use a mirror or reflective window for training ,you must see what the judges see or video Edited February 10, 2012 by showdog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just1more Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Also use a mirror or reflective window for training ,you must see what y=the judges see or video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Also use a mirror or reflective window for training ,you must see what y=the judges see or video I picked up a nice long framed mirror for $25 from Sam's Warehouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCheekyMonster Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Good thread for clueless newbies like me :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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