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Puppy Antics and Ring Training Part 5 Gaiting Your Dog Part 1 In my last few columns, I discussed baiting, hand stacking, and free stacking (also called 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 am breaking it down in more than one column. This aspect of showing your dog may appear to be simple from outside the ring, but there are many things that the handler does that can either enhance or detract from the dog while moving them. There are many things handlers do in the ring at this time that require different procedures for different dogs. I certainly don’t claim to be a great handler and I’m still learning these things myself but I will share some of the basics. Again, many of my comments are based on my own mistakes and the things I learned over the years. WHEN YOU FIRST ENTER THE RING The first time I showed my first show dog in the open class, I won my first major. Yes, it was definitely a case of beginner’s luck as I had a wonderful bitch that finished easily. She was one of those dogs that moved out from step one and always moved the same way no matter what, so she didn’t require work to see what worked best. Good thing for me, too! Anyway, after that win, one thing that stuck in my mind was when I was getting a picture, the judge told me she picked my bitch out as she entered the ring and my girl didn’t disappoint her. Yes, that first impression can be important! Over the years, I have often remembered those words and thought about them when I saw dogs entering the ring. So when you enter the ring, do it making your dog look good! Don’t slump your way in with your dog pacing. It is true that sometimes you can’t move the dog as you are being walked in and the ring steward and/or judge are checking the armbands. But if the opportunity is there to make a grand entrance, take advantage of it! Of course, if the judge is only looking at arm bands of the person entering the ring, it is a moot point. As with all aspects of your time in the ring, you need to be aware of what the judge is doing and where their focus is. THE GROUP GO AROUND Each judge will have their own ring procedure and you can usually get an idea of how they will do things by watching previous classes, if possible. Usually at some point, the judge will have all the dogs in the ring move around the ring together. An important aspect of this is to be aware of how fast the dog ahead of you is going to move. Allowing the dog some lead time is advisable and the amount of time will be contingent on if the dog is fast or slow as well as how your own dog moves out. If you begin moving around the ring and realize the dog(s) ahead of you are moving very slowly, hold your dog back at the time the judge is not looking your way so you will have enough room to let your dog move at their best gait when the judge is looking at him/her. Conversely, if your dog is a slow mover in general, don’t leave a huge space because you don’t want the judge looking at the dogs ahead of you, then have to wait for yours to catch up. Ideally, when your dog is being looked at by the judge, you would like to have a nice space between your dog and the one in front of you so you are neither appearing to lag way behind of run up on the dog ahead of you. Remember that this first go-around may be the judge’s “first impression” of your dog and you need to make it a good one. Some judges will mentally pick out ‘the ones to watch’ at this point and choose their winners from those dogs. If you made a bad first impression now, you may have some obstacles to overcome with the individual exam. THE DOWN AND BACK Typically as part of the individual examination of your dog, the judge will move your dog to see how true their “coming and going” is. I personally feel a lot of structural faults are obvious on the down and back so I believe it is the time you want your dog to look good and move correctly. Most of the time the judge will request a simple down and back done either on the diagonal or along the side of the ring. Pay attention to how others are doing it ahead of you. Some judges will use a different pattern like a triangle or L pattern. When moving the dog for the judge to see the dog’s movement coming and going, you will typically not be going as fast as when the judge is looking at side gait. This is a time when you want the dog to converge nicely but not so fast that they need to make compensatory steps because they are over-reaching. Not all dogs do over reach when moved too fast, but if yours does, the dog may compensate by side winding or even throwing the back legs to the side to prevent interference. They can also avoid interference by flipping the front feet (padding) or swinging the front legs to the side. These are faults the judge should be looking for and it would be a shame if you as the handler created them because you moved the dog too fast. On the flip side, you don’t want to start the dog too slowly if they are prone to pacing. If you have a dog that paces at times, it seems to me that a slow start on a loose lead where the dog has its head down will start them out walking and they will fail to actually trot, rather falling into an ugly awkward pace. If your dog does pace at times, I’ve found that getting the head up and starting out at a nice easy trot will prevent the pace most of the time. Along the same lines, when coming back towards the judge, you don’t want the dog to have it’s head down as this can tend to make many dogs move wide in the front (not converge towards a center line). But you also don’t want to string the dog up as dogs will often flip their front feet when moved with the head strung up. A tight lead can restrict reach and make the legs flail to the sides. You need to practice moving your dog and look for these problems, then work at moving the dog in a manner that resolves any issues you find. So you need to know how to make the dog move well in the ring. This is often influenced by what lead position is best for this dog before you get in the ring. Some dogs will drop their heads on the move so putting the lead at the side of their head will help keep the head up. But some dogs will end up holding the head up slightly on the side of the lead on the side and throw their gait off as a result. This can result in a sidewinding action or throwing the front foot out as the head is tilted. Some dogs will shake their head with the lead on the side. In this case, sliding the lead clear around under the chin, then back under helps prevent the head shaking. If your dog tends to move crooked but does not put their head down, the lead coming right off the top tends to help them move straighter. Just be aware that in this position, some dogs will move with their head down too low and this can create a wide (non-converging) gait coming in. This issues are definitely something you need to determine by practicing with your dog before you get to the shows. It is really helpful if you can have someone watch you move the dog and have them also move the dog so you can watch as well. A common error handlers make when gaiting, and especially on the down and back, is looking at the dog. This makes the dog look up at you and they don’t move straight. Sometimes they will lag back looking for clues from the handler looking at them, or bounce and play with the lead. Sometimes they will side wind as they look at you. It is best to set your sites on where you are going and move along. At the end of the ‘down’, look up at the judge and move straight back at them. Perhaps the most highly critiqued part of moving your dog is side gait. While I’ve touched on this briefly in this column, there is much more to say about it. I will cover many aspects of side gait in my next column. |
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