Hello everyone. I have a 5 1/2 mth old Irish Wolfhound who paces. Any ideas on how to get him out of this as I am going to show him. ( I hope!). Many thanks.

Run faster! :D  also just as you are setting off on movement tap his head up from under the chin.

He would be galloping round the ring if I went faster? He has his first show in 2 weeks.

The thing is, though, that he is now getting into the habit of pacing when you move him. If you move him faster and get him moving correctly you can then slow him down and try to teach him a command to go at that pace. Something along the lines of 'show' or any silly word would do, so long as he learns that you do not want him to pace. ;) I have heard of a Great Dane that was in a pet home, returned to its breeder who then tried to show him. He always paced as that was the way he had learnt to walk with his previous owners. No matter what speed they tried to move him at he always paced. :( He was retired but used at stud, siring champions, so I believe :) If you don't teach your dog while he is still young enough to learn you could end up with a similar problem. Not what you want for a show dog :D

When I first took my Dobe to ringcraft he paced constantly, and still will do if not moved correctly. I have learnt to set off at quite a speed, and to give a quick upwards tug on his lead at the same time. At our class if we are all moving around the ring together and I get stuck behind a slow coach :D he will sometimes go back into pacing, again a quick tug will 9 out of 10 times get him out of it.

A few months after starting ringcraft we got 2nd out of 18, just at a companion show but nonetheless! He had moved fine on the triangle and on the up and down. The judge called out about 8 of us who he wanted to see move up and down again. When it was our turn, we set off, and for a couple of seconds my boy had all the grace of a bear lumbering up and down :rolleyes: - I quickly gave the lead a tug and he moved perfecto! The judge obviously noticed something was up as he asked only us to then move again

I still always look immediately down at my boys legs as we set off , just incase. I am now finely tuned into it and can tell in a split second whether he is moving wrongly!

My boy's dad paced too and he went on to win Best of Breed at Crufts, so there's still hope! :D

Hi Mark,
If your breed is anything like mine, it could well be he'll grow out of pacing, he is still young, and will have many different "stages" to get past, before he's fully grown. Especially young males can at times look rather odd :-p  Agree though, with the above posts, it can develop into a bad habit, if you don't watch out. The method described in earlier posts is the most effective. The speed may not have to be increased that much, it can be just a small increase that makes the difference.
Good luck at the show! Remember to have a good time in the ring! Your boy has a long time ahead of him in the rings, at the moment the most important thing is to make him enjoy being shown.
Karen

Many thanks for all your replies. Much appreciated! We used to own 2 Danes until the last one passed away 9mths ago. I showed both of them and never had any trouble with pacing. It was suggested I try walking slow with him. If I do walk really slow he gaits. As soon as I pick up speed he paces. Some one suggested that because I am a quick walker that is why he paces? He has won the puppy walk at his ringcraft a few weeks back. I will try the running faster with him and see what happens. I am going to ring craft tonight so I thought maybe to walk him up and down the mat. He doesnt have enough run up and down the mat because of his stride. Thanks again.

Could you please tell me what pacing means? I read all the posts to gather information and have no idea what this term means. Thanks

Pacing is when the dog moves both legs on the same side forward at the same time - both left legs forward, then both right legs. This is the way a camel moves, and gives a very rocking side-to-side motion, which is one of the reasons camels are called the 'ship of the desert' - you can actually feel seasick riding one! A trot, however, is where diagonal legs move forward together - front left and rear right, then front right and rear left.

I take it to mean when both front and back legs on one side move forwards, then the front and back legs on the other side. This is incorrect movement for a judge to assess at a show, when they need to see the dog trotting, ie front left and back right, then front right and back left. My grooming college claims this gait is used mainly by larger dogs when going faster than a trot, and they call it ambling, but I disagree, I say it's called pacing and is used probably in all dogs when going slower than a trot! My Cavalier girl does it when I don't start off quickly enough, or as others have said, when forced to slow down by dogs in front. I haven't entirely cured her, but if I start off quite suddenly and quite fast she is more likely to trot properly, and if she paces I can sometimes make her change to a trot by giving a quick jerk on the lead. :-)

thank you both for your replies - i thought it was something to do with not settling down as in pacing around when you want the dog to stand still so I live and learn.

Dogs tend to do this when tired or if lazy.  You can usually spot dogs that tend to do this in the show ring as their handlers generally circle the dogs before starting off to get the dog off balance ;)  The other reason is that owners move at a speed that is too slow for them to trot and too fast for them to walk.......