My 8mth old PBGV will not stand still while in the ring. He dislikes me putting my hand under his chin to stack him. I have tried baiting him but as soon as I go to stack him he plays me up - biting my arm and generally being.

He moves fine and stands still when not at ringcraft or at shows so it's not a case of not putting in the practice!! It is extremely frustrating and I realise he is only young but any suggestions would be greatly welcomed!!

Thanks!

I had this type of trouble with mine, at almost exactly the same age. Like you though, mostly in the show ring not often at RC. I was completely new to showing and this was my first 'show' dog.

A bit like a child who messes about when Mum is distracted, I used to feel that mine took advantage of my nerves.  Not on purpose of course but I suspect that he realised I wasn't as 'in charge' as usual.  That, and a surge in his 'boundary checking' behaviours at that age combined to give me an unruly pup who wriggled about, grumbled at me, and mouthed any part of me, or his lead, he could reach.

We had quite a few challenging shows but I really felt that each time one small part of it was better than the time before.  Ironically this was exactly a year ago!  By the time we got outside for WELKS in April he had really turned a corner, the atmosphere and the grass really suited him and I suppose I was getting a little less nervous each time.  I had also got to know the people I was often in the ring with and I felt less self conscious and more able to take control of him. 

I had some great help from my breeder too.  One of the things she suggested was cue words, partly for him but also to give me a rhythm to set him up.  One of the components was HEAD - where I'd hold his chin/beard, and position his head.  As this was one of his wriggle points I'd often do this part completely separate from the rest and for a little longer each time, several times a day.  I'd also make sure he was happy to have any part of his head touched.  It worked for me so I hope it helps.  I also stopped taking very high value treats in the ring with me as it became counter productive.  When I dropped it back to tiny plain mixer biscuit it helped to reduce the hyper wriggle.  He was still being discreetly rewarded but I saved the big exciting 'aren't you fabulous' treats for when we left the ring.  We still do pre stack kisses though - I stacked a friends dog the other day who was a bit surprised by his kiss on the head, I had completely forgotten that I do that!!  It calms my nerves though :)

Edited to say: Wow what a long reply - sorry

Try clicker training. My mental 10 month used to be awful and wouldn't stay still.  literally 5 mins with a clicker and she now stands perfectly, shame she doesn't walk properly!

just patinece and training im afraid (dont like the clicker idea....not fair on other dogs in the ring)

I'm with Sam on just patinece and training.  How often do you practise outside shows?  And do you practise out and about, or just at home?

I always stack my setter puppies over the fields before they get to be let off lead, randomly on road walks, at shows prior to going into the ring.  just any time, they get stacked and I've never had a difficult dog in the ring (and setters are top and tailed)

I also still get the older dogs to stack on the road walks as I walk ahead of parents, turn the dog and stack them and so I can practie standing the dog perfectly first time, every time! :-D  So for mine the practise continues for a lifetime!

Sam I WOULD NEVER use a clicker in the ring, I'm talking about training outside of a show!  My girl was terrible at ringcraft and shows doing standing.  After clicker training it for, as I said, literally 5 minutes at home, I presume she enjoyed the stimulus so much of the clicker that she forever since stands perfectly now at shows and ringcraft.  Then every so often at home I go back to clicker training again.

glad to hear it....sadly there are plenty who do :(

unfortanly there are some people who don't think about other dogs.  Though alot of people do use clicker training as training and not in the ring :)

I clicker trained my boy to stand and have never brought a clicker in the ring. The idea is to do the initial training of something new with the clicker, then phase it out so it's not needed anymore.
I must say I've never seen anyone take a clicker into the ring, although I've heard people use them ringside which can be quite distracting.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have practised standing him since I got him at 12 weeks and he goes it fine at home, when out for a walk etc. It's just when he gets to ringcraft or in the show ring he plays up. He's not stupid, just bloodyminded I think!!!

Suppose it's just a case of perseveraing. The other week at ringcraft he managed to stand for at least a minute then last week he was worse than ever. It's so frustrating!

Hi Merlin.
I show my own dogs and handle dogs for others.
And I must say you should be well pleased with your boy, if he can stand still stacked for a whole
minute at eight months! Don't forget such a young dog will have very immature muscles in his
topline, which makes it difficult to keep the stacked position for long.
If you can keep on practising like you do, and try to have fun and give your pup a good time when in the ring, I'm sure you will
see a slow but steady improvement. Before you know it he'll show beautifully, and look happy too.
Good Luck!
Karen