Training for Conformation Show dogs.
I heard from several people and from Madeline that instead of teaching a dog to sit, teach it to stand. I feel like it's a ridiculously funny command as the dog is already standing...so it's a freebee treat...  But what else are you paying particular attention to? We're also doing 15-20 min session a day of grooming.. |
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joanna21 wrote: So for those of you showing your pups, and dogs.... what kind of training do you do? I heard from several people and from Madeline that instead of teaching a dog to sit, teach it to stand. I feel like it's a ridiculously funny command as the dog is already standing...so it's a freebee treat... But what else are you paying particular attention to? We're also doing 15-20 min session a day of grooming.. By standing, the dog needs to learn to "stack" to show off it's outline. Feet in a certain position, head held in a certain position, & then they need to hold that stack while a judge goes over them checking for the important things like topline, shoulders, bite, squareness of head, good rear stucture, overall squareness & yes, on the boys, 2 testicles....among other things. So it's a bit more than just standing in 1 place. My suggetion is to find a conformation handling class held either by a kennel club or a private owner. They will teach you how to hold the lead, how to stack your dog, what speed to move your dog, the different patterns a judge may ask for etc. Important thing to remember is an OES is handled & moved quite a bit differently than most of the other breed so the instructors need to be knowlegable in that area. |
And it's an old wives tale that you can't do both obedience and conformation at the same time. They used to (and some still do - misguided though they are  ) that you shouldn't do obedience with your dog when you are trying to show in conformation. Totally not true.Dogs are smart - they quickly learn that these are 2 different sports and actually seem to enjoy it. A busy OES is a happy and well behaved OES.  |
got sheep wrote: And it's an old wives tale that you can't do both obedience and conformation at the same time. They used to (and some still do - misguided though they are ) that you shouldn't do obedience with your dog when you are trying to show in conformation. Totally not true.Dogs are smart - they quickly learn that these are 2 different sports and actually seem to enjoy it. A busy OES is a happy and well behaved OES. This is true. All my dogs have trained in both at the same time. |
| So you think it'll be ok for us to start obedience training at home, (sit, down, stay, heel....) before we start conformation training around 6mo? Schubert came to us already knowing to "sit" and he sits and wait for his meals. I found that really cute, but wasn't sure if I should encourage sitting with treats as well. He easily picked up on the "down" and "bang" (play dead) from the down position..... It'll be wicked Cool if we can do obedience AND conformation!!! Thank you for the wisdom  |
| For sure you can. And I'd be looking at classes for both around 4 months, rather than 6 months. As long as you take it easy and fun (remembering you have more of a baby), it's actually a better route than waiting until 6 months. They adjust easier - they grow up thinking it's a normal and fun part of life. It strengthens your bond and working relationship as well! |
| I've been doing both obedience and conformation with Teddy and it's no problem at all for him to know the difference. We train at the same Kennel club for both. We had been doing obedience for about a month before I decided on also doing conformation. Cindy |
| Joanna, Jen and I just spent the day with our mentor; a breeder who is wanting to help us get started on the right foot, all four of them. She's the best source of wisdom you can find. If your breeder showed or still shows, get her to take you under wing. We were there for about four hours and now I'm SO stoked to get started I can't stand it. We'll be looking into a local kennel club that does obedience and also does have some conformation training tomorrow! Vance |
Thanks everyone for such fantastic advice!  Vance that is so exciting!!! Caitlyn can be Schubert's show buddy~  Our breeder wants us to enjoy the puppy and just love it till all the vaccinations are done... at 19 weeks. (Schubert got his first vaccinations at 7 weeks). She said we could teach him/not teach him whatever we wanted before conformation training. Meanwhile, I really want to start some sort of training regimen with him at home and was curious as to how everyone is training their show dogs.... Today we had two 15 min obedience training sessions, and a 30 min grooming session. He is so food driven, it'd easy to train him with kibbles but grooming sessions are tough because he's so wiggly!! |
4 my OES wrote: I've been doing both obedience and conformation with Teddy and it's no problem at all for him to know the difference. We train at the same Kennel club for both. We had been doing obedience for about a month before I decided on also doing conformation. Cindy Are the training rooms for obedience and conformation different? I think it's cool that the puppies don't confuse what they are supposed to do! (I think I'll be more confused than the puppy) Is Teddy still progressing through both obedience and conformation? Or did you switch over to conformation after basic obedience? |
ChSheepdogs wrote: By standing, the dog needs to learn to "stack" to show off it's outline. Feet in a certain position, head held in a certain position, & then they need to hold that stack while a judge goes over them checking for the important things like topline, shoulders, bite, squareness of head, good rear stucture, overall squareness & yes, on the boys, 2 testicles....among other things. So it's a bit more than just standing in 1 place. My suggetion is to find a conformation handling class held either by a kennel club or a private owner. They will teach you how to hold the lead, how to stack your dog, what speed to move your dog, the different patterns a judge may ask for etc. Important thing to remember is an OES is handled & moved quite a bit differently than most of the other breed so the instructors need to be knowlegable in that area. Marilyn, thank you for the tip!!! So, should I stop giving the command "stand" to an already standing (not stacking) dog and popping treats into his mouth?  Also, how can I know whether the instructors at the kennel club are knowledgeable about OES in particular? Should I be up front and contact them to ask? |
joanna21 wrote: ChSheepdogs wrote: By standing, the dog needs to learn to "stack" to show off it's outline. Feet in a certain position, head held in a certain position, & then they need to hold that stack while a judge goes over them checking for the important things like topline, shoulders, bite, squareness of head, good rear stucture, overall squareness & yes, on the boys, 2 testicles....among other things. So it's a bit more than just standing in 1 place. My suggetion is to find a conformation handling class held either by a kennel club or a private owner. They will teach you how to hold the lead, how to stack your dog, what speed to move your dog, the different patterns a judge may ask for etc. Important thing to remember is an OES is handled & moved quite a bit differently than most of the other breed so the instructors need to be knowlegable in that area. Marilyn, thank you for the tip!!! So, should I stop giving the command "stand" to an already standing (not stacking) dog and popping treats into his mouth? Also, how can I know whether the instructors at the kennel club are knowledgeable about OES in particular? Should I be up front and contact them to ask?I suppose it depends. You really only want to treat them when all 4 feet & the head is being held in the correct positon. otherwise the dog thinks it is going to gt a treat for standing any old way. Timimg in training is everything. |
| I find dogs learn to separate "show work" from other work when you put the show lead on. If you train for show using a show lead your pup will learn those particular commands are expected when that collar/lead is on. On pups I like to use a small nylon slip lead (collar and lead all one peice) a little thicker than the usual show lead but not nearly as thick as a regular slip lead. A handling class will help you learn how to put it on and where to position it. |
Quote: Are the training rooms for obedience and conformation different? I think it's cool that the puppies don't confuse what they are supposed to do! (I think I'll be more confused than the puppy) Is Teddy still progressing through both obedience and conformation? Or did you switch over to conformation after basic obedience? The Kennel Club I'm at is just a big open building. The rings are set up just like at a show. They adjust the ring size to the class size. I use his show collar and lead for conformation class just as if I'm in the show ring and he does know the difference. I'm using different commands for each situation. For the show ring I use the command "let's go" and for obedience "heel". Since I was doing obedience first, he learned to sit whenever we stopped walking. He did that in the first conformation class but after that first class he got the hang of it and knows we work different with that show collar and lead on. And your right, you will probablly get more confused than the puppy!....lol Good luck and have fun with both obedience and conformation! Cindy |
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