Conformation lesson with Vicki (11/03/17)

This is a belated post! I had a private conformation lesson with Vicki Ronchette on 11/03/17. We met at a park in San Leandro. There was an overly friendly cat there who walked right up to me and Terra. She went up to sniff him, then backed away and moved off to the side. Later she felt braver and made play invitations at it. It was very distracting.

Vicki had us start training on a very thick slip lead. That would allow me to position the lead high on her neck, as is done in conformation to guide the head, but the thickness would make it less of a choking hazard if Terra pulled. I'm not sure yet what I'll use for showing. I don't want to use a choke chain on principle, so I'll probably use a thin nylon/leather slip or martingale collar/leash combo. I have plenty of time to decide.

Vicki uses food placed on a chair (or other eye-level object) to give the dog a focus point when training stacking. It also allows the handler to have both their hands free but still reach for food quickly. (Same set up as bucket game, but the dog is required to hold a stand-stay instead of being free to change position.) I practiced leading her toward the chair but stopping a couple feet away. Then I practiced positioning her front and then rear legs. Terra was confused about this during the lesson, but she's fairly relaxed about it now that we've been practicing at home.

I want to use clicker training and body awareness to teach her to step forward and back as needed, but hand stacking is a necessary back up. Vicki said that with giant breeds, they really conserve their movement, and it makes more sense to hand stack than to play around with having them adjust themselves.

We also practiced gaiting, which is simple. I just need to click Terra for trotting rather than speeding up into a run when I move forward briskly.

The plan is to practice on my own, focusing on stacking and handling, until she's totally confident. Then bring in friends Terra knows to play the judge. Then we'll worry about new people approaching her to judge - that will be the hardest part by far. Along the way, I'll take more lessons to refine my understanding of how to place her legs, hold her head, etc. I'm guessing it will be a few months at least before we're reading for the show ring.