HELP!

I have been practising trying to get solo to stand, and he really isn't getting the hang of it - probably because i'm cr*p!!! He keeps sitting down, but when he is standing up, he is hunching his back and refuses to leave his feet where i put them.. THen if we get a good position, he just folds after about 30 seconds!!!
Please help! We're due to start ringcraft in a fortnight - when i get back from holiday - but would like a head start!

Thanks in advance,
x Alex

What breed is he? Is it normally stacked or free standing? Only have
experience of free standing I'm afraid but I would start by concentrating on teaching him to stand - forget where his feet are - you can sort that out later! Sounds like you are trying to teach him too much at once.
I teach stand by luring them out of a sit (offer treat then move it away in a line from their nose - they usually stand up to follow it. Once they are standing they get the reward - gradually increasing the time they stand for. I don't worry about feet until they will stand on command for several minutes (but then I don't worry much about feet anyway - a well made dog will stand pretty square naturally and doing too much fiddling with legs and feet tends to unbalance the dog - and is really irritating when you are judging and people keep doing it!!).

It is easiest with a clicker as you can "click" immediately they do what you want but gradually delay the reward (and you can also use it to
sort out the feet placement later!).

Good luck!

I also find that to encourage the stand if you very slowly stroke your hand down the side of the dog it encourages them to keep still. I repeat the word "stand" emphasising the ST. I reward with a small piece of sausage or cheese and gradually build up the length of the stand.

Thanks for the advice - have since tried that and he stands up just fine... think i may be trying to run before i can walk!! :D After we have managed to increase the length of his standing up, how do i move on to stacking?
I have staffordshire bull terriers, and my older (non-shown) bitch stacks herself, and stands perfectly, whereas solo looks like a sack of potatoes!

Clicker training can be good for this - you can "shape" the behaviour you want - whether it is an alert expression (ears up) or feet in a particular place. In essence with shaping you reward first any behaviour that is moving in the right direction to the one you want. Don't wait for perfection! You'll find the dog starts to think about what it did to get the reward and will try it again - eventually you "fine tune" it. So first you might reward standing still. Then when that is OK you might reward placing front feet square, then front with back and so on. It is fun and it does work. I will email you an internet article by Karen Pryor which explains it in more detail.
Good luck.

Sellador,

Please can you email it to me too! I have a young Weimaraner and although we are not sure about showing yet I would like to try it and I htink the ringcraft training would be good. In addition I like the sound of clicker training so all in all the article sounds really useful :)

Thanks,

Linda & Kaiser

Hi Cleo

I just practised at home with my pup (right from the word go), we started out by doing it for a few seconds, then increasing the time, I used to fiddle about with her feet, and just said firmly to STAND...in time she got what she was supposed to do. I had to start by stacking (have cockers)...They do get it, it just takes a while and a lot of practise..

HTH

Natasha :D

Hi Alex

The best thing to do with a Staffie is to hold them in the Stand Position ie put his lead on him and sort of string him up so his head is up, and then hold him under his tummy, only do it for a few seconds/minutes at a time and whilst doing it don't forget to say STAND !!

Nickie still has trouble with Remy and Daisy for fidgetting etc so practice and practice, you will soon get there.

Best of luck

Dessie :D

Hi alex dont worry to much at the moment just standing is better than nothing, when you get to stacking him just do front legs first when he gets that right then start on back legs. if you try to much at one time they get confused about what there doing just a little bit everyday.my 51/2 month pup can now do it perfectly (most of the time). now got to get to work on my 8 week old dog pup. its a pity we did nt live a bit closer to each other its so much easier to show some one how to do it happy standing gwen