Hi Everyone!

I have a 5mo old husky puppy who I plan to show. But this is my first time every showing or working with show dogs and so I'm looking for advice!

We do have a nice handling class about 20 minutes away from where I live, where I plan to take her (as soon as my husband is employed again.   ). In the meantime though, I'd like to start practicing at home if possible.

I did try to stack her with some treats, but she was full of the wiggles so I settled for being happy with "standing still" and treated that.

But I really have no idea what I'm doing and the research I've done online hasn't been as helpful as I'd hoped. So I thought I'd ask here, and hopefully prevent myself from having to unlearn bad habits down the road.   

So...blank slate puppy and owner. What should we do?

Where did you get your puppy?? Does your breeder know you are planning to show your pup?? Normally your breeder would be your first stop for puppy questions.

Definitely check with your breeder. Have him or her evaluate your pup.
IMO, at thus age socialization is most important. She needs to be used to the hustle and bustle of lots of dogs and people milling about and to strangers running their hands along her and looking at her teeth without her jumping up and/or getting overly exited. Take her places frequently. Check to see if there are any matches you can take her to. That's good practice, since they're run like a 'real' show without the stress. Go to dog shows and watch the handlers (so much better than watching on tv). Also, don't let anyone teach her to sit for a treat. That's probably one of the hardest habits to break.
Join your local kennel club. Mine lets members do handling classes or free, and even more importantly, it's a great opportunity to learn about dog shows in general.
I'm sure others will weigh in with more/better advice. good luck!

I have a 10 month old that I wanted to show, unfortunately, I won't be able to for various reasons, but I agree with Eresh, I think the most important thing is to work on socialization. I would say to start taking her to shows just to get her used to being around all that. My pup absolutely loves other dogs and has a very hard time not trying to play with every dog he sees. That would be a hurdle if I were going to take him into the ring. He also gets very excited when he sees other dogs running, so again that would make it difficult to take him into the ring. So, just go to shows with her, as a spectator, and as Eresh suggested, match shows are great. It will teach you pretty quickly what you need to work on! Also, talk to people, make friends, that will help you a lot.

In terms of actually teaching stacking, if she has trouble standing still, starting with treating her being still with all four feet on the ground is a good place to start. Do you have a mirror? Practicing in front of a mirror is really helpful. It's really hard for me (as a super beginner) to be able to tell from close to him (or above him) what he looks like when he's standing (how his feet are placed, and what that would look like from the judges perspective etc.). Another tip I got was to do it while outside on walks, often times, they will stack themselves perfectly when looking at something while alert, a bird or squirrel, for example. Treat when she does that.

Also, something that may help with your internet searching are the terms 'hand stacking' and 'free stacking.' If you don't know the difference, start by learning that. I have found youtube pretty helpful as well. There are some interesting videos up there about stacking, and workshops and whatnot.

Truthfully though, the best thing for you and your puppy is going to be handling classes. Most will allow you to drop in, so maybe start there, drop in and pay for 1 class and that will give you a place to start and something to build on.

@Sheba: Yes, she's the one who asked that I do so. I definitely plan to ask her advice, however, I like to gather lots of information from all kinds of sources whenever I'm working with a new subject. So I thought I'd ask here as well.   

@Ersh: Thanks! I will look into that, especially the kennel club!

@Wp: Unfortunately our current place doesn't have a mirror. I was tempted to start on a table since those will usually calm even the most wiggly dog. But since Sibes aren't shown on tables I didn't want to give her the wrong impression.

Yes! I did watch a couple youtube vids. They were very helpful for somethings, but of course aren't interactive if you have questions.

We do have a local handling class which I plan to attend, unfortunately my husband is unexpectedly out of work right now so we have a tight budget until he's back. I was just hoping to get some work done in the interim, but I don't want to learn any bad habits either, which is super easy when you're first starting. So I'm also feeling somewhat hesitant. Perhaps I just lack confidence.   

May I ask where you are located? I might be able to point you toward some inexpensive handling classes or a good mentor who can show you the ropes.

For my dogs, the first and most basic command they learn is "Watch" and they have to stand and hold it - gradually increasing the time.

A clicker can be really handy for catching behaviors and movements when training.