On the blocks

Earlier this week, the puppies started learning how to 'stack' - the term that 'show people' use to describe how their dogs stand in the show ring.  Stacking means getting your dog to do a stand/stay with feet and head in the 'proper' position so that a judge can evaluate its structure while it stands still.

The technique is I learned from Joy Lyons, breeder of Lyons Vizslas in Okeechobee Florida who bred and owned some outstanding show Vizslas, is to get the pups to stand on 4X4 or 6X6 blocks of wood. However, in this case I couldn't find any that size around the house so had to make do with blocks of 2X4's that were nailed together by Hugs for some other purpose.  (PS - the nails are pointing downwards!!)

There are some rather expensive "stacking boxes" that one can purchase for this purpose but I thought it was way too pricey and opted to use Joy's method which is very cheap, with the same results IMO.  The pups have been getting very short training sessions each day (maybe about 30 seconds each). At this point, all I want is for them to stand still on the blocks. I don't care about how their feet are placed or whether their back is roached or whether their neck is stretched out.  All I want is for them to experience pleasure (i.e., treats of tiny, tiny bits of cheddar cheese) for simultaneously placing 4 feet on the blocks. After day 2, all had mastered this except Mr Blue who was more into the reward of the cheese without first demonstrating the behaviour!  Thanks again to my 'assistant' Corrine Sellars who was on the other side of the camera while I showed her and the pups what the stacking game entailed.

I'm a good girlie!

Please, I want cheese!

Mr Turquoise is almost a pro at this

Corrine put together this cute video of Mr Blue who had an incredible nose for the cheese rather than a penchant for stacking that day.