Teaching a dog to gait in front- H-E-L-P!!!!!! - Page 1

Ok, am planning on showing my WL bitch puppy in conformation shows and want to know how to teach her to gait in front of me WITHOUT using a "double handler".  Is this possible? If so, how the heck do I do it!!!!!

Please help me figure this out as my first official show is only a month away........ 

I think you need a doubler, Smiley. Or a steak on the end of a very long pole.

Oh, bummer. *sigh*

I taught my showline female to handle solo -- and we've taken several SG1s that way -- and it's pretty similar to teaching a horse to ground drive.

You take a natural behavior, such as walking faster than the human and going infront, and mark it with a cue word. In this case, I used "hike" initially. From there, she learns the association that "hike" meant go. I start adding other things like "hup-hup" (go faster), "on-by" (pass a distraction), "gee" (right), "haw" (left), "easy" (slow), "whoa" (stop).

I ONLY used her show-collar for driving. Since dogs can recognize different equipment, I want Taiga to know that when this collar is on, we are doing a driving excercize; and when it's off, we're not.



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To be honest, a month may not enough time to reliably train solo-gaiting for the ring.

The initial training is a notable investment, but the real the time-consuming part comes in proofing your dog amid every distractions and in all sorts of weather. The hardest thing will be getting the dog to focus on the job, running powerfully ahead of you, and ignore all the other dogs in the ring.

It takes a lot of proofing in places where you can run past lots of other dogs.

I used to go to several nearby dogparks and run laps around the perimeters. We'd pass a lot of dogs and meet others oncoming. Taiga developed a reliable on-by in that environment.

JC- Thank you very much!! That really makes sense to me!! Love the ground driving comment as I ground drove the pony so I recognized the "gee" and "haw"!! hehehe

That is exactly what I was looking for!!!  So, I would just mark the behavior like I would with my regular obedience stuff, huh. I don't know why I didn't think of that!! Duh!!  It just didn't occur to me to do it with motion!!

Thank you again!! I will start on it today and we should have the behavior marked by showtime!!

A HUGE thank you.....

Smiley,

You're most welcome Good luck with the training and keep us updated on the progress! I want to hear how things go at the show ^_^

Is there a reason not to double handle?  I'm not a big fan of it either, but most of the judges do not have much patience for people that go into their ring unprepared (according to their standards). Especially once the dog is out of the puppy classes.  They really expect you to be prepared.  I was at a show this past weekend (with a 13 month working line showing for the first time) and overheard some discussion about how the working line people want to be competitive in conformation but don't put any time into proper double handling and ring training.  As someone currently showing a working line I kind of have to agree and have been guilty of this myself, going in unprepared just wanting a show card for the breed survey.  The dogs really need to be showcased a certain way to do well and get the attention of the judge.  I've seen many dogs that didn't really need double handling but these were adult dogs who have been shown a few dozen times and get used to the drill.  Most dogs would need a LOT of training beforehand (as described earlier) to come into the ring their first few times and show well without good double handling.  When my male fills out more and matures, if I really like his conformation I plan to put more time into ring training so I can hopefully get a high-V placement.

JC...Well, our ship is sunk as, at just 5 months old, she is "Miss Social Butterfly". So, I guess we have our work cut out for us!! LOL

I'll start at home and slowly add distractions as you suggested. :-)

VK- why is double handling even required? Why can't the dogs just gait and show themselves without all the fanfare. It seems like a much more honest assestment of the animal. *sigh*

But, I know you are just the "messanger" and you are probably right about the presentation that the judge would like to see in these shows.....

Smiley, did I see in another post that you were planning on showing in UKC?  If that is what you are talking about then doubling handling is not allowed, nor is it allowed in the AKC ring.  Most people here are talking about the SV ring, where double handling is pretty much a necessity, although I did get SG ratings on my 2 adults without a double.  The ground driving type training works well, and using a "special" collar is a good idea for that too.  If you are showing in UKC, it's not a huge deal if the dog is not way out in front of you, as long as it's not dragging behind you, cutting in front of you, or heeling, lol!

Granville, thanks for that extra information as I am just learning!

From what I gather, about 50% of the UKC GSD people gait in front and the other 1/2 gait to the side.

I wonder if it would help my pup's movement look better to gait in front. I know that when I have her gait next to me..it is not smooth. Part of that is I don't know what I am doing and part is she is just an average mover. Her trot is "workmanlike" but does not have the bling or float that the ASL dogs have in the ring.  She moves much better loose.

But, in breed handling class, when we do the exercise where I would go in front of the dog next to me around the ring and then let the other dog pass and go behind, she pulls out when she is behind and everyone "oohs and aahs" and says she is moving well. So, I don't know.

I guess if I don't gait in front than I just need to figure out how to make her trot out next to me and not look so choppy. I see the professionals of other breeds and the dogs are moving confidently at the end of leash but next to hanler and are striding out.  I try to watch the people in my class as some are pretty bigtime with specialty dogs and such. They all show AKC and I am usually the only GSD person there.

Right now, I have been considering it an accomplishment if I could actually get her to move in some way, shape, or form next to me!! I know one of the other puppies in class (boxer) doesn't move and he gets dragged around ring until the owner gives up and carries him.  Plus, at the UKC Puppy match on Sunday, the winner didn't move either. He walked, then reared up, but he won. I will say that he was AWFULLY cute (and I assuming very close to his breed standard in conformation) and I am not crazy about those dogs (bull terrier) when they are full grown. But, he was *adorable*! The little rat terrier who came in second was a fancy little mover too. You would have died to see this little thing with his big ears and cute little tail! But, his handler is his breeder and she is bigtime and handled her dogs to Top 5 Rat Terrier in Nation every year so she knows what she is doing. She had that 14 week puppy actually free stacking. It was pretty amazing. Have you ever seen one of those little rat terrier puppies..OMG. Too cute.  Sorry...I digress......

Anyway, when I try to teach her to gait she sort of trots next to me but she is pulling out wide on lead or trying to sniff the ground. If I speed up to try to get her to extend she breaks gait and canters.

I have been doing breed handling class since she was 12 weeks but I never get feedback or help. The instructor hates GSDs and says something mean about them every single class. It really demoralizes me.  But, I don't know any other classes that are close by.  Plus, with this class, I can get home to put my son to bed.  It's a catch-22. For exmaple, I ask her how to help with gaiting and she says..I have no idea what the "crazy shepherd people" do.  I ask for pointers and she says "don't run into sh*t or run over the judge".  Finally, I asked one class for her to PLEASE give me advice so I look less uncoordinated and her response was "don't worry. the whole german shepherd ring looks like that so you will fit right in".