Preparing to show a puppy

[luvkoenandBriley]

Hello. I have a 6 month old male puppy who was purchased as a pet. My breeder really wants to show him so I will give it a shot. He was in a fun match when he was about 4 months old, and in September there is a 3 day show she would like to take him to. I have no idea how to start to prepare him. I bought a few books on how to teach him to stand stay, but I would love some more advice. Thanks!

[Skip]

Originally Posted by luvkoenandBriley

Hello. I have a 6 month old male puppy who was purchased as a pet. My breeder really wants to show him so I will give it a shot. He was in a fun match when he was about 4 months old, and in September there is a 3 day show she would like to take him to. I have no idea how to start to prepare him. I bought a few books on how to teach him to stand stay, but I would love some more advice. Thanks!

Does your breeder live close enough to you so that she can work with the puppy ahead of time? Seems like each breeder I know has their own special ways of prepping a young pup for the ring.

[s1960]

Keep it fun. Don't try to force him. Start having different people you know go over him the way a judge will especially his teeth.Some judges ask you to show the teeth, some just walk up and do it themselves so you want to be ready for either. Start practicing moving him in a confined space like a show ring so you will know how fast or slow you need to go. Don't be impatient if he doesnt want to hold still when you stack him, the most important part is that he enjoy it now so that he will later.

[luvkoenandBriley]

They are about 2 hours away. My puppy is going to a school which helps but his next class isnt until July 11th. I was at the fun match with the breeder and she showed me what she would like him to be able to do, but I wasent really into it so I havent worked with him. She would really like to show him so I thought I would let her.

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by luvkoenandBriley

They are about 2 hours away.

If you're serious and the breeder will help you, that's nothing.

[brunie's mom]

See if you can find some conformation handling classes to enroll in. I'm sure that would help.

Gina

[s1960]

Are you going to show him or is the breeder showing him for you?

[luvkoenandBriley]

The breeder is going to show him, because I dont think it is really for me. he is a really nice looking dog so she has really been wanting to show him.

[Sharon Marples]

As with the others, the first thing is to keep it fun!

What we normally tell puppy owners is to work first on just getting the dog to stand and stay. Don't worry where his feet are at the beginning. Just get him to stand and stay for a few seconds at a time, then treat him and praise him up.

Once he has gotten the hang of standing and staying, then gently work on placing his feet so he is standing square. Place them one at a time, telling him to stand and stay with each one and being very gentle about it. As you place the back legs, keep a bit of pressure on them and gently rub them so he gets used to having people work on his back legs. You also need to get him used to the testicle exam. Just be gentle. As he gets used to having you handle his legs, then you can start to extend the back legs out a bit.

Teach him to trot without jumping and leaping around. He should move next to you or he can even be out in front of you just a bit. Just not in front enough where he can cross over and trip you. Most handlers like the dog to gait next to them as they go around the ring.

If you can get him to stand and stay, have him so he will trot next to you and let you look at his teeth, if the handler is at all experienced, they can get the rest done :-)

[luvkoenandBriley]

Thanks Sharon. You always give great advice!

[s1960]

Another thing I did is every time I touched his neck, back, shoulders etc.. I said stay very calmly so that hopefully when a judge touched him he associated that touch with stay. I can't say for sure if it helped but neither one of my dogs ever shied away from being examined.