another question,perhaps the judges could help with this.I have trained my akita Sox to stand by herself with only fractional adjustments if required from myself,do judges prefer this or should I faff around like I've seen some others,I've been taking her to classes and we do "homework" for a little while every night,advice would be appreciated,thanks

DONT FAFF!!!!

if ur dog will free stand with only minor adjusments here and there then leave it as that.

faffing around could mean that a judge will just walk past you and ignor your dog.

on average your dog should be ready in about 10 seconds.

Agree if the dog will freestand then that is best, you will hear some judge ask the handler to move and then freestand that is because that way the handler cant hide things like a poor top line by moving the feet.

its only best to let it freestand if its made right, !!! pointless if its fronts not right, or it stands underneath itself to just leave it that way, even the best made dogs can sometimes stand carelessly, if so youd need to correct them, -how many times do you see someone staring at the judge, willing them to pull them out and not paying attention to the dog, who has decided to move and is now standing like a sack of spuds, take each show as it comes and do whatevers needed,