my friend asked me yesterday how she could get her dog to drive more, when she first said it i thought she meant get it to come along to the shows by itself  driving the car,
but she has been told that the dog needs to drive more around the ring, she said do i run faster what do i do ?
i did not have an answer for her, the dog is 10 months old, i said i would ask the wealth of knowledge on hear and see what can be done if anything.
so any ideas greatly appreciated please or will it always be the case
thank you
carolann

That would have saved me getting up so early today.....

Seriously though, I'm not entirely sure - moving faster may encourage him to move with more drive, as long as it doesn't make him break into a gallop!

Being correctly muscled up would help. I would start gradually increasing his exercise - what breed is it? Uphill running is good for making your dog use it's hindquarters and building muscle up. As well as constant trotting of course. Depends on the breed though as 10 months would still be young for a giant breed to increase exercise.

Akita , she needs to put on some weight as well but she is going through a leggy stage at the moment she has about 8 acres of farm to roam on all day, but that is different to actually walking at a pace or is it
carolann

yes, it is very different. When I was showing my zois they would do 5 miles a day at a steady trot and then have free running, encouraged to run up very steep hills as fast as they could. Pretty much every judge I went under commented on their condition and excellent muscle tone. My current dog who isn't shown walks for about 3 hours a day, running if he likes, mostly just mooching around and his muscles aren't anything like what I want in a show dog.

As she's such a big breed I would start just gradually increasing her on lead walks. Just walking at a brisk pace, no stopping to sniff or chat.

Playing just before going into the ring, getting the dog worked up -I like to get mine to jump up at me for instance. Once I was even singing to one -honestly! In other words: getting them excited and in a playful mood, makes a big difference.

It is not just the speed at which you move the dog. If you watch other handlers moving, some will move fairly fast but take small steps an the dog will copy that and move with a small short stride. The method that I have found works very well is for the handler to move at the same speed, but take longer strides which the dog will copy and therefore will appear to have more drive, it also helps to give a more level and smooth topline.
Hill work is great once the dog is old enough, it will vary with the size of the breed. But remember it is a good pace trot uphill, and a steady walk down, that way no unnecessary pressure or stress is put on the pasterns.

What breed are we talking here?  Sorry, bit slow as usual.  For me, drive comes from the rear of a dog, hence the comment of correct muscle being important.  A dog will reach from the front & drive from the rear, but only if this is the norm. for that breed.  With a dog of 10 months, this could just be immaturity (imho).  If the dog is correctly angulated then there should be drive, but as I say, breed dependent.  The size of dog & size of ring can also inhibit real movement so if it's a big dog in a small ring, it may be a harsh comment.