Regardless of the breed, when a dog nails their free stack in the ring… it is the total WOW factor! In this class, we will take free stacking, handler mechanics, fitness, gaiting and more to the next level. We will be breaking down the behaviors and building the muscles that go into developing a SHOWY show dog. We will also work on a conditioning routine meant to keep your show dog in show shape. There will be work on both ends of the lead.
We will breakdown how a ring is set up & why it matters, gaiting practices, do’s and don’ts of the down and back, how to support your dog during the judges exam, how to establish a pre-ring routine and more!
Teaching Approach:
This class is taught using written lectures and voice over video demonstrations/lectures. Two - three lectures are released at the beginning of each week.
Ashley Escobar (she/her) has been training dogs and their people for 20 years. She is a retired college professor of mathematics and is a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer (CCFT) as well as a Certified Human and Canine Physical Trainer. ..(Click here for full bio and to view Ashley's upcoming courses)
c. Equipment needed – 2 individual foot targets and 4 individual foot targets
C. Transitions from ground to table and ground to ramp strategies.
Week 2
A. Handler Mechanics
B. Handling corners in the ring
C. Continued working on stacking.
a. Weight shifting exercises for building strong muscular structure for our show dogs.
D. Rear Foot Targeting 101
Week 3
A. Dissecting the Diagonal
1. Turns matter here. Let’s break this down!
B. Adding more criteria to our balanced stacking stands on props.
C. Growing our rear foot targeting skills
1. Exercises for building rear muscles to support our dogs in the ring
2. Cavaletti poles for rear work, front work
Week 4
A. Confidence during the judge’s exam. How to handle lacking and ways to build confidence specific for the show ring.
B. Catch up week!
C. The beginning to Graduating from 2 foot props to 4!
D. Rear foot targeting
a. Backing up on the flat
Week 5
A. Cavaletti work for that eye catching topline!
B. Installing free stacking push buttons
a. Using your lead to support forward and backward movements
C. How to start fading our individual 4 foot targets
D. A workout routine in a small space to take on the road, keeping our show dogs fit and mentally stimulated matters!
Week 6
A. Supporting your dog during the judges exam in the ring.
B. Transitions from hand stacking, gaiting, free stacking
C. Proprioception exercises to maintain a dog that uses their bodies accordingly.
Prerequisites and Equipment
This class is taught using written lectures and voice over video demonstrations/lectures. Two - three lectures are released at the beginning of each week.
This class will have a Teacher's Assistant (TA) available in the Facebook study group to help the Bronze and Silver students! Directions for joining will be in the classroom after you register.
Let’s review. Hand Stack – sometimes called “hard stack”. This is where we physically place our dog’s feet into the proper placement and the dog remains standing.
Free Stack (Free Baiting)
The Free stack is mostly required for the end of the down and back or a pattern. In group or best in show, you may be asked to “showcase your dog” and you will need a free stack. This can often be a determining factor.
A free stack gives you a chance to really stand out in the large line up or while waiting for the exam. It’s an extra tool to have a lasting impactful impression on the judge.
As an owner handler, having a flawless free stack shows your dedication to your dog’s training and conditioning program and sets you apart. Trust me, it really adds some sparkle!
This is when we gait our dogs into a stacked position, but we do not use our hands to place the dog’s limbs. The dog uses muscle memory to get into this stacked position.
Any dog can learn how to free stack regardless of the breed.
Everything starts with our hand stack and teaching our dogs muscle memory. Is your stacking box sitting in your garage? They still have use, trust me! All my dogs are taught free stacking with a stacking box since it teaches muscle memory.
Your dog must be familiar with being hand stacked and holding the posture before you can train a free stack. Please read that again We cannot skip the hand stacking portion. Your dog must know what a stacked stand feels like, in order to, recreate it on their own.
Even dogs that are traditionally shown with free stacking must be taught how to hand stack first.
We will be using bait for this skill. This needs to be high end bait, something you dog will want. As your dog is focusing on the bait, you can step into your dog’s space and out of encouraging them to step forward to backwards with just your body pressure. Once the back feet are in place, you can use the bait to help your dog get balanced on their front.
Training sessions for this skill need to be short and energic on your part! This needs to be fun to help bring our expression and character in your dog.
Your dog needs to be able to hold their stack for 1 minute. Your dog can ideally hold this position while you move around them, go to the front, go to the side. We always want to find places where we can just have the dog’s profile be seen. You should always be hand stacking for the judge’s exam.
Even breeds that are shown with a free stack, ie collies, shelties, cavaliers etc. still need to be taught a hand stack. Your dog standing “naturally” is not good enough for the show ring, we have to teach our dogs. Rewarding your dog for just standing
Remember the end goal, don’t be to picky with our dogs learning how to do this. We won’t get perfection the first time out ;)
Put the bait where you want the head placement to be. This is breed specific.
Head placement can use a target stick to help create and train that.
Hand stack
Look at bait
Incorporate this into everyday life.
Sessions must be short and fun
Don’t over train and don’t make it boring.
Reinforce the dog for just looking at the bait!
A timeline reference, remember each dog is different but this will help you align goals.
Week 1
Consistently looking at the bait with a verbal cue.
Looking at the bait with good posture.
Hand stack then holding it looking at the bait. Handler starting to weight shift away from dog. Happy legs
Giving and holding tail placement and or ears.
Holding the correct posture while also giving ears and tail with handler taking a big step off the dog.
Holding the position with handler moving to the front and or side.
Creating the outline.
It matters how our dogs stand when they stop naturally. If we work their muscles on foot props and reward them for standing in the stacked position, we will develop muscle memory for the desired profile.
A sampling of what prior students have said about this class ...
A fantastic course for show newbies and experienced show handlers! As a professional trainer for 15 years but brand new to showing, it has been wonderful to learn how to apply the training methods I know and love to this new hobby I have taken on. I would recommend to anyone just starting out or those who have been breeding and showing for many years!
I loved this class! The instructor was more knowledgeable and helpful than any other conformation class or seminar I’ve ever taken. In person or online. The feedback to gold students was amazingly detailed and watching them improve was an eye opener. I’ve never seen conformation taught this way. If you offer it again I would love a gold spot.
Fantastic course! So refreshing to see force free training applied in the show world. I am hoping to try and run classes at my training facility so I can help others apply force free training methods to their own show dogs. I will be first to sign up to any future show courses on offer with this instructor.
Thanks so much for the fun course! There's lots to keep practicing and I've learned a lot!
Thank you for the feedback, and thank you for a great class! We made super progress and we have tools to keep improving. I so appreciate you offering this class and that we were able to take it. I'll be referring to it for many months and years to come. Take care!
I can't thank you enough for helping me with my two dogs over the last 6 months. Wait till you see how they did this weekend, you will be so proud!
Thanks for a great course! I hope you will be on the FDSA schedule again soon. I really appreciate all of the time and knowledge you put into the feedback to all the golds. I learned so much from all of it.
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Instructor: Ashley Escobar
