Stacking

How do I go about training Ruckus to stack? By time I started working at the kennel all the puppies already knew how to stack and they were just 3 months old. So thats one thing show dog related I dont know (not saying I know it all of course!)
at the kennel we just put our fingers together over there heads. we run our fingers together and say "watch it" and boom, they stack.
I try that with Ruckus and he sits down. well, of course he would he doesnt know what I want of him. How do I should him what a want? And getting him to actually stand strait is proving a problem.

have you ever seen stacking blocks before?

I built some for Riot not too long ago and ever since then - he stacks naturally.
They are amazing!
I'll try and get a pic of his stacking blocks sometime.

There are magnatized stacking blocks that you can usually buy at the shows in the stands as well - they are SOOO awesome!

I wish Red was still here - she knew everything about the Stacking blocks - she bred Rotties and showed them. She doesn't frequent this board anymore.

Anyways, just try and teach him stand to start off with.

Riot knows Stand wait - that is his show stack command.

I'm starting to teach him Stand Touch - which helps him put his front feet further apart from one another. He has a narrow chest at the moment and his front feet used to touch when he tried stacking lmao But his chest is now starting to drop which is helping it, but I'd still like him to stack a little wider.

So what I do is tell him to stand(he knows this command from Rally and confomation training) then I hold my hand out and tell him to touch, he'll walk up to it touch it and then stack himself.

no i actually never heard of stacking blocks

I found the link!

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=227254&postcount=8

take a look here too

http://leansnslobbers.proboards92.com/index.cgi?board=ring&action=display&thread=1157343408

Stacking blocks are so cool, I wish I'd have used them with Dakota.

Since I didn't have the blocks, I used a clicker to shape his stacks. I started off by rewarding a basic stand. Then, I stopped rewarding him when he had his legs all splayed out or scrunched up, and jackpotted him when he was a little more neat. Once he was reliably giving semi-neat stacks, I moved on and tried to get things "just right". It didn't take him long to stand nicely with all four feet spaced perfectly and facing straight ahead.

What took FOREVER was his "presence". He would stack beautifully, place his feet perfectly and hold his tail right, but he wouldn't lean forward or straighten out his back. It took a lot of baiting to lure him into the right position and reward (I did this gradually too. Told him to stack, baited him to lean forward slightly and marked the instant he leaned towards it) and it still takes some baiting to get him to keep his head up, neck arched and ears forward.

From a total noob at this game: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am more grateful for that post than you can possibly know.

Gillian

Since he's a pup and a Sheltie, they're shown on the table. This is where you'll start. Ruckus needs to be comfotable with the height and you need to work his stand-stay with proper foot placement first. On the table before you struggle with it on the ground) Important he start learning that once you place his feet/paws, he's not to reposition. So it's important you know where that placement is. The owners of the kennel you work at will show you. Noticing Ruckus' paws. In order to have proper placement you're going to want to dremel his nails back as far as you comfortably can and keep doing this so he's up on his toes verses rocked back. When they rock back it hollows their back and changes appearance of topline/how level his spine is. Once his feet are cleaned up, you can start using the grooming table or top of a large crate to stack him, but first, best to get those nails very short so he can come up on toes, balance properly and won't fight you when you place him, his feet under himself and he tells you "ouch" that's not comfortable and shifts. That's where I'd start from looking at his picture. How is it going, running the kennel by yourself? Hope all went well.

thats otch. I run the kennel alone from the 7-18th of october.
So helpful!