Puppy Antics and Ring Training Part 6

Gaiting Your Dog Part 2

Side Gait

In my last few columns, I discussed baiting, hand stacking, and free baiting your dog. In this column, I am going to talk about gaiting your
dog in the ring. Because this topic covers so many aspects, I broke it down in more than one column so this is the second part.

SIDE GAIT
Many judges and spectators give a lot of attention to the dogs’ side movement. The gait should appear effortless with little wasted movement and one should feel the dog can cover a good deal of ground with minimal effort. This is important for stamina and the dog being able to hold up doing the job the breed was created to do.

What some of us handlers are unable to accomplish is our own movement that sets the pace for the dog.  Interestingly, a dog will move differently depending on how the handler moves. Short mincing steps by the handler will be matched by short mincing steps by the dog. A leisurely short strided trot without covering much ground in one’s steps will be matched by your dog, and that is NOT what you want to present to the judge!

So if you are prone to taking short steps, or running on your toes, practice really making big strides, landing on your heals, and bringing your back foot up almost as if you are trying to kick your own butt! Believe me, if you are mincing your way around the ring, moving with the thought of “big step, heal, kick my butt” is really not going to look like that, but it will result in a better stride. And your dog will stride out too. Something else to think about as you run is that you need to run from the hips, not from the knees. If you practice with short strides looking down at your dog, chances are the dog is also moving along at a slow pace with little reach and drive at all and looking up at you as well. Practice moving at home and concentrate on your stride being long, from the hips, and landing on your heals.

Also when you practice, take your show lead with you and hang a set of keys on them. Hold your arm straight out to the side from your shoulder and gather the lead up to the point where the keys are about at the height of your dog’s neck. Then practice moving out (big step, heal, kick your butt) but concentrate on keeping those keys from bouncing. If they are bouncing, you would be jerking the dog which would come off as a correction and interfere with the dog’s ability to concentrate on moving out.

Most novice handlers are bad about taking mincing steps or running on their toes. But one can also move too fast and create the same interference issues mentioned in the section on the down and back in a previous column. A dog sidewinding when viewed from the side is not quite as noticeable, but a dog crossing over can be seen. If a dog is over reaching their front footfall with their hind foot, that dog is probably being moved too fast for that particular dog.

Lead position on the neck is also important on the side gait movement. It is more common for the handler to put the lead to the side to get the head up and a slight head tilt is not as crucial, but you will want to experiment to know which position makes the dog look best. Also the type collar can make a difference as a chain is better for some while a nylon or leather choke, or even a Resco, may work better for others. I typically don’t use a chain choke in the ring, but a dog that needs more control is probably better with a chain. Some dogs are bothered by the sound of it, though, so be sure to know the dog.

In a George Alston seminar, Mr. Alston had us all move our dogs with the lead particularly long and our hands held well above the level of our heads. While he wasn’t actually advocating moving this way, he wanted us to observe that the dogs moved with bigger strides this way and it was because they were being moved some distance away from us as a result. Therefore, moving a dog on a short tight lead close to the handler is typically not conducive to optimal side movement. While you will see some handlers doing this, it is often because a dog is not in control with a looser lead and this is better than allowing the dog to wander from side to side, break gait, or do other things a dog that isn’t behaving can do. Mr. Alston told us that sometimes we will see a handler moving a dog on a short tight lead because it may be a ringside pickup that the handler has not had the time to train and it is better to have control than a longer lead with a dog all over the place. So practice moving your dog on a longer lead some distance to your side with big strides and don’t look at the dog as you move or they will look back.

Having someone help you and let you know what the dog is doing can be very helpful. If you have to practice alone, taking occasional glances at the dog will help you know what is going on, but don’t get in the habit of looking at the dog continuously or they will return the admiration!

So in conclusion, practicing moving YOURSELF with the weighted lead can be valuable practice to start with. If you practice with your dog and take short mincing steps constantly looking down at your dog, you run the chance of teaching your dog to move with short mincing steps as well while look up at you. And that is NOT a pretty sight nor will it get you many wins! Once you can move yourself correctly, then you can practice moving the dog and paying attention to the position and type collar that work best with your dog. The movement is an important aspect of your dogs’ ring time and needs to be given the time and practice it deserves to really present the best your dog can offer.

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