Firstly you must decide on which
approach to handling you are going to take and
what signals you are going to use. Think
very carefully before you approach training your
dog as if you swap and change, your job will be
impossible.
Think about the other things you want to
teach your dog, will the approach you are taking
clash? For instance, if you are wanting to
undertake obedience work, your dog will still
need to stand on command but this is not a show
stand, it's a very relaxed position. You
can use the same command for both but it can
rise to confusion for your dog. Much
better to have two different commands then if
your dog is standing for show, he knows he may
have his feet placed by you - all back to the
key of consistency.
We'll continue with our method of using the
bait bag only for showing here - the dog then
learns that if the bait bag is on, he's showing
and mustn't do anything but stand. You can
take this up a level by swinging the bait bag to
the left for obedience work and to the front for
show but this is best left until your dog has
got the idea.
Try not to get too hung up on the stand
command itself - the main thing we want the dog
to do is to stay! If you move his feet
manually, a stay command can be more effective
than a stand - again be careful if you are doing
obedience, you may need to use an alternative
command.
Always remember to use consistency with your
hands too - use one hand for positioning the
legs, one hand for feeding - you'll be surprised
at how useful this is! It's also
worthwhile to decide on a special treat and use
this only for the ring, this again provides a
clear signal for your dog on what he should be
doing.
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