Teaching Hand stack

[pluto]

I have a 3 y/o rottie , who has been trained european style for sieger shows , and has never been shown at all breed shows either hand stacked or free baited . Basically he isnt alert nor does he get into place unless he is double handled and if one touches him he gets too excited and starts to play . What would be the best sollution to get him to show better in the new circumsthanses.

[Sharon Marples]

Originally Posted by pluto

I have a 3 y/o rottie , who has been trained european style for sieger shows , and has never been shown at all breed shows either hand stacked or free baited . Basically he isnt alert nor does he get into place unless he is double handled and if one touches him he gets too excited and starts to play . What would be the best sollution to get him to show better in the new circumsthanses.

First of all, have lots of patience! With an older dog like this, it can be both harder and easier at the same time. Harder because he has never had to stand and stack and hold it. Easier because he should know some of the commands already, such as "stay" and "stand."

First of all, I would exercise him before practicing the stack. Get him very relaxed, almost tired so that he will be easier to work with as you begin this training. Then work on one thing at a time. Start with the words "stand" and "stay." Don't worry where his feet are at the beginning. Just get him to the point where he will stand and stay where you have him. Then, once he has that down pat, start placing his feet where you want them. Place either the front ones or the rear ones, still using the stand and stay commands. Once he will do that, then go to the other set of legs and do the same. If you do a search on here or Google for "Happy Legs" you will find their website. You can look there to see what they look like and maybe come up with an idea of your own to use in the same manner.

It will just take lots of time and practice. As you stand and stay him, lift up on his collar a bit just to let him know he is to stay in place. Hold a piece of bait or a toy out in front of him so you can get his attention and a nice facial expression. If he lunges for the toy or bait, then put them away and just hold your hand out so he will focus on it.

I'm sure that with a bit of time, he will come around and will be hand-stacking perfectly for you. Keep us posted as to his progress and be patient!

[pluto]

thx a lot sharon , i will keep you guys posted , and hopefully if granted enough privelages can post pitctures of progress .

[aranea]

Trsut me, your way os stacking is so much easier...I wish we could stack American way...
One more thing, I started training Ingo when he was 2,5, you will do just fine!

[pluto]

My personal opinion is that the german sieger style definately presents the rottweiler in a very powerful way and the pose looks much better then what we see when you use food , and string the dog up or even when one uses a slip lead . That look and the alertness of every fibre of the body is what appeals to me , and my dog is super at that , because he has been trained that way and has won all over europe that way . But i guess its horses for courses , and at all breed shows we cannot double handle and we have a smaller ring etc so we must strictly adhere to those standards and styles.

[aranea]

khm...I think rotties look powerful even without the pose we have to make! And I understand that maybe working rotties would have to stack that way, but for shows I don's the need to stack rotties as we stack them! I went on a club sieger here in Croatia...it is not very nice to see all these people screaming, all these balls that help dogs to stack...they look more tame!