[bludsoe]

Hi!

My family and I are new to the conformation scene - we've only started to show our Siberian Husky in 2018, and thankfully before this whole stay-at-home order happened, we've finally gotten ourselves a Champion! We're campaigning her to be a Grand Champion when this ends! Yay!

Anyway, I've seen how expensive training a dog is since we hire third-parties to train her for gaiting and stacking since we brought her home from her breeder, and I myself am interested in showing my own dogs myself. I currently have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who isn't really meant for conformation shows, but I'm teaching myself to train him in stacking and gaiting. It's a little bit of an extra challenge since he's more than a year old and untrained, but I really am very determined to teach him properly so I know how to teach our future champs soon.

I've gotten the hand stacking down since that's the one thing I focused on rather heavily during this pandemic. At first, I used a regular table and praised him and give him treats when he stayed still for longer than 5 seconds, then did the same when he stayed still up until a minute or two. Now, I've taken to using two chairs with a gap in between as some sort of "show stacker machine" so he would stay still until I've given him the command. He's gotten that down, too. The photo below is my Ham, by the way! He's ungroomed, but I'd love to hear some of your inputs about his form! So far, I don't like what I'm seeing with his front paws, but I like his rears very much. I think his topline is decent for a non-conformation Corgi.

What I have a little bit of problem with is the free stacking and the gaiting. Whenever I practice him for gaiting, he gallops. He's always too excited even when he's worn out!! There are times where he gaits decently, but his foreleg and his hind leg of the same side don't really meet like in the photo below. (Courtesy to Keelmt Corgis)

It's like no matter how I do, he never wants to gait properly! His free stack leaves lots of room for improvement, too, but I found it easier to teach him how to free stack than his gaiting.

Anyway, I'd like to know how you all taught your show dogs to gait and stack properly. Tips and tricks would be very much appreciated, and what kind of bait you guys use to get them to be very alert and eager to learn! Ham's a very picky Corgi and turns his nose up a lot of food, so it's really difficult motivating him! He's very toy motivated though, so I suppose I could use that?

Thank you very much! I hope to get some tips from you guys soon! It's been my dream for a while now to handle my own dogs in the show ring. I've always wanted to breed my own show line as well in the future, so this would help a lot!

 

[LeoRose]

One big thing to remember when gaiting is to make sure you aren't going too fast. Going too fast makes a dog either get out of sync and show poor form, or else break into a canter or gallop to try and keep up with you.

I know of some self-study online classes for conformation training. This is the first class. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - DS230: Conformation Skillbuilding 1 This is the second class. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - DS240: Conformation Skillbuilding 2

This class isn't specific to showing in the conformation ring, but is very helpful in understanding conformation and how it affects movement. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE238: Structure and Movement

 

[DaySleepers]

You're more experienced than I am! Our puppy (now teenager)'s first show was scheduled the weekend everything shut down over here, haha. We were lucky in that his breeder ran ringcraft classes fairly locally to practice everything, and doesn't charge for dogs from her kennel because it benefits her if her puppies get titled. Having someone who knows the showing your breed looking over your handling is super useful, if you can find someone corgi-savvy willing to watch you in person or on video.

Fenzi is a great remote resource; I haven't taken any conformation classes offered there, but no complaints about the classes I have done! Show Dog Prep School is another remote training website that, as the name suggest, focuses on showing specifically. Like Fenzi, they follow a philosophy of force-free, scientifically supported training methods. I've taken a trick training class with them for fun, so I can't speak to their show training courses, but I liked the course I did take and appreciate their approach to working with dogs. They have some more personalized one-on-one options compared to Fenzi, like their mentor program, but you'll have to decide for yourself if that looks like it'll work for you. Like I said, I don't have personal experience with anything but their basic trick dog course.