“The Training and Handling of Show Dogs” by Leon Warren
Download this page in PDF formatIn discussing handling, what I am going to do is to make this a sales meeting. When you show a dog-when you take him in the Ring-you are a salesman. You are trying to sell that dog to the Judge, against your competitors who are also trying to sell their dogs to the Judge. We’re not speaking strictly of money. Some people enter a Dog Show to win a First Place Ribbon to hang on the Wall or maybe Mrs. ….wants to beat Mrs…..dog just to show that she can do it. But basically there is money involved for breeders when you show a dog. If you win, if you finish Champions, if you make a record with your dog-it helps you sell puppies and stud services which meet some of your kennel expenses.
Any of you who have ever attended sales meetings know there are certain things that a good salesman must know. In my opinion, the first thing he must know is his product. He should know it thoroughly. He should know its good points and he should know its bad points in regard to the competition that he has to meet. In order to be a good salesman, he has to bring out those good points. Secondly, in order to be a good salesman, you should know your customer as much about him as possible. In this instance, the customer is the Judge in the Show Ring on that particular day you are trying to sell your dog’s good points to him.
When we start, let’s evaluate our product-let’s evaluate the dog. Have somebody else gait the dog -then you gait the dog for him. Find out how he looks his best, first in gaiting and movement. Watch out for dog that moves close in the rear, and a lot of them do!! I’m not speaking of cow hocking; I’m speaking of moving too close to the rear. The faster you move him, the closer he will move-so that particular dog we move away from the Judge slowly. We practice and practice until we find the gait that looks best coming at you from the front and going away from you in the rear. A litte tip here, if you have a dog that tends to move a little pigeon toed and more or less moves on the outside of his feet-you will notice the ouside nails will will wear down much quicker than the inside. You can help correct that situation if those outside nails are left alone. Let them get a little longer than you like and keep the inside nails cut just as short as you can-shorter that the outside nails if possible. This will tend to straighten him up a little bit.
Topline is a variable thing also. In my opinion, very few Dachshunds move with a level topline . They will stack with it, but they do not move with it as a rule. A dog that moves with an absolutely level topline to me has no drive in its rear-he is more or less pulling himself along with his front. But the Judges like a nice level topline-as level as possible when the dog moves so let’s try to see how we can do this. Some dogs will move better -the topline will straighten up somewhat -on a real tight lead, others on a medium lead , some will even move better on a loose lead. Check your dog’s movement and learn which way will suit him.
If you have trouble stacking your dog on the table, the best way that I’ve found is to pull back-don’t hurt him though-but gently take his back legs and pull him off the table until his feet slide off. He doesnt want to fall! He’ll get his feet up on the table and strain to get towards the front of the table.
Practice leading, stacking-leading, stacking and have someone else go over the dog-strangers if possible-so that he gets used to being handled.
If you’ve decided that the dog is showable-that he has a chance to win-the first thing to be considered is, “Is the dog mature enough?”. In my opinion, most Dachshunds are not ready to show until they are about eighteen months old. There are exceptions to the rule: once in a while you have a “flyer” that can win as a puppy.It is not my intention to discourage anybody from entering a dog in a show. But let’s take a point show with a class entry of twenty, ten dogs and ten bitches. When you entera dog mathematically your chances of winning are one in ten. It isn’t really quite that bad because I believe (and there are no statistics on this) that nine times out of ten in an all breed show or under a multi-breed Judge, the winner will come from the Open Class. So, if you have an oen class of four and the other six are in the other classes, you have just reduced those odds to one in four if you are in the open class.My advice is, in most cases,unless it is your own Specialty or a Judge you are very desirous of supporting, keep your dog home until he’s ready! And , when he’s ready, enter him in Open class and take off. You know he has to beat the Open entries anyway,no matter where he is entered.
It is difficult to pose an individual dog, every one is different. You know what they ought to look like, if you’ve studied pictures or watched dog shows so you try to make’em look that way! The only way is practice, practice and practice. ( I might add that you can ask people who have been around longer and been succsssful what THEY look for in those pictures or in the Show Ring. They will tell you-Dan Harrison)
Seek advice about the dog before you show him. Get somebody who knows, if you possibly can, to help you work with him and to help train him.
Getting back to selling-in order to sell something, you have to get the customer (Judge)’s attention. Our dogs are not judged by computers or robots. Dog Show Judges are human: they have feelings! Anything you can do to call attention to your dog over your competitor’s dog is a plus mark for you. One of the first things that I advise -and it’s an old saying among handlers -is that when you go into the Ring, if you can’t be first-be last!!! There is a a simple explanation for that: if you are at the head of the line, or at the end,you have either no dog in front of you or none behind you. There is room to maneuver your dog -to turn him , to set him, to move him back or when in the lead, you are free to move him forward and reposition him when it’s necessary. Of the two positions, the front of the line is, I suppose, the best, because it’s only human nature that a Judge uses the first dog on the table as a yardstick. If the dog that is first in line is a pretty good specimen-though the second one may be just as good-if the Judge doesn’t find some reason to change that order, he won’t do it. Why should he?
There are some exeptions to this-depending on the competition. If you know there’s a certain dog in the Class that is the one you have to beat, e.g. the Judge may have put that particular dog up at a show a month previous and he has never seen your dog-get next to that dog. If you have to get behind him, fine-if you can get in front of him, fine-show your dog against that dog. Let the Judge compare the two. Another thing is size. After you show awhile , you get a mental picture in your mind of what different Judges like. If you know the Judge likes big dogs-the thirty pound ones- and you’ve got a twenty four ponder-a good dog but much smaller- dont get next to the big dog! All you will do is make the big dog look bigger, which the Judge likes, and yours look smaller, which he doesn’t like! Get the Customer’s attention!
A Q&A session started after Mr Warren’s talk puctuated by comments from the audience
Q) What is your renedy for a dog that squats when he stops or when you are trying to pose him?
A) Of course, you can’t do this in the Ring, but have you tried just batting him real good under the stomach?
Q) I have tried everything I can think of!’
A) You can try putting a wire grooming brush underneath him. That is not gonna hurt him. Let him squat on it a few times -he’s just liable to quit it. Also, you might try baiting him -he might stand up a little more alertly.
Q) Any suggestions for a dog who doesn’t stay “pulled out” as much as you liked and who moves one foot forward. (Q referring to hind feet)
A) Practice-work with him . Or let him go into the German Shepherd stance. What’s wrong with that?
Q) Is there any percentage of wins over a number of shows which will give you an idea of whether or not you’ve got a dog that has any chance of finishing?
A) Let me give you a “rule of thumb” that a lot of breeders and exhibitors don’t realize , but the professional handlers do: If you have a dog in the classes and he is handled correctly, everything being equal-that dog should win one out of every three times he is shown; that is WD for points. And if he doesn’t do that, there is something wrong with the dog or the way he is being handled. If he wins one out of three, that is twenty four times the dog is shown. (It takes eight shows to finish, based on two majors and the others being one or two point shows). Who said “one out of six”? Then you’ve got to have the dog shownabout fifty times to finish.
Q) You’re not saying that he can’t be finished, just that it is going to be very costly if you don’t win one out of three.
A)Right! You can take any dog, and if he doesn’t have a disqualifying fault-he can’t be crippled or anything like that-but a dog only close to the Standard-properly conditioned and with a good professional handler, you can finish that dog. It may take a hundred shows and a lot of money, but he can be finished! But if you are a conscientious breeder and exhibitor, why waste your money? If you know the Breed, you won’t.
Q) It seems to me you are saying that there is no room for the amateur-it’s all the handlers pushing in the front of the line or waiting for the last-the poor breeder goes goes in with a good dog and has to fight all this professionalism. What are we supposed to do?
A)Well, I didn’t say that exactly.If you have some good dogs and you show yourself and you practice and learn these things, there is no reason in the world why, with your own particular breed, you can’t outshow most professional handlers! …why you can beat the professionals if you apply yourself and work, work work!
Q) One thing that most professional handlers have that a lot of owners do not have is self-confidence. That’s the trouble with most owners- they are half-afraid when they go into the Ring.
A)This is true. But-when I take a dog in the Ring that I really want to win with. I’m just as tied up and taut as the Novice. But I’ve learned not to show it or I try not to.
Q) Is there ever a time you can over handle a dog?
A) Yes. One thing on that. If you’ve got the tail end of the line, watch the Judge. If he starts going over the dogs on the ground at the head of the line, don’t pose your dog. Let him relax. Watch the Judge out of the corner of your eye and when he gets to the dog one or two ahead of you, have your dog all stacked up. There’s no use, down at the tail end of the line, stacking that dog–I don’t think the spectators are interested in how well you can stack him. As a rule, you will have him all stacked upand stretched out and just beautiful; but by the time the Judge gets to you, the dog is tired and he sirs down on you! Another thing, don’t show the Judge that bad topline unless he makes you do it!!
Printed by ‘The American Dachshund in June of 1971