My meager attempts at stacking my girls. - Page 1

I tried this weekend to get Apache and Savage into some sort of a decent looking stack and the following is the best I could get.  We are still working at this but, it is hard as I don't have a third person to get their attention and neither of them were very happy with me for continuing to adjust their feet.  Every blessed time I'd get their feet right, they'd sit! 

I believe I have Apache in a half-way decent stack except for those blasted ears.  She was not happy.  But, Savage, well....she just wouldn't have any of it!

How do you all make it look so easy?  And, I'm standing right there in the way because if I moved, it was all over.

Please tell me how you get them to stand still (minus the sit!). lol

Apache (darn those ears).

Savage (once again, not happy ears).  They just wanted me to let them go!

Any hints on how to do this with only two (inexperienced) people?  Thanks in advance.

For me, stacking young dogs/pups for photos is the hardest part of the whole puppy-raising process! Crazy working line pups are tougher yet. It takes three people to get a decent shot of a dog most of the time: one handling the dog, the owner out in front attracting its attention, and a photographer on their knees (dog height) to get the picture.

Just keep doing it so the pups get used to it. Once they settle for a few seconds, calmly walk them in a circle to relieve the stress and try again. Do NOT get all "happy" and throw a toy or anything, but if you have someone else stack the pups, and you stand in front of them, its a relief for the pup when the handler walks them a few feet forward and then lets them go to you for a calm reward. If you, as a non-pro, get 1 or 2 good shots out of 24, you're way ahead of the game!

Good luck!

SS

Thank you Shelley.  I appreciate the advise.  Yes, I'm sure we'll go thru a lot of film (or, room on the sd card!) lol

I still take my best pix with my antquated Nikon 8008X 35 mm with the great optics and telephoto lens. It costs a bunch in film, not so much to transfer the images to CD, but a pain to haul to the developer when I need pix fast. Still, it takes great pixtures and will have to do till I can afford the $2000. deigital version of the same camera. With the speed the heavy old beast affords, I can stop a race airplane at 400 mph/100 ft. so wiggly pups prove no problem. I can blow through a roll of film while my little digital is still trying to auto focus. Ha ha ha. ... and there's no distortion with the good telephoto lens while the handy little digital pocket cameras  generally have at least slightly wide angle lenses.

Good luck!

SS

Thanks Jeff.  I'll work on it.  It was all pretty new to them so, yes I do agree it was confusion.  Poor things probably wondered what their crazy mom was doing this time!  lol

apache's picture is actually very nice, she is not breach or leaning, it is only her ears that are down, but that's a nice pic.  I start stacking pups and playing with them and grooming them on a table when they're ... well easy enough to pick up and put there, at your point, I would say start with just doing it a couple times each day they will get used to the stand and stay and then you can gradually work on foot placement and attention and focus, but I think you did a great job.

Thank you von symphoni.  She is actually the easier of the two to work with.  I believe if I were standing out front as Shelley said, perhaps that would have perked her ears.