Hi All,

I wasn't sure weather to place this in the training section or community section, but I figured since it was specific to showing I should put it here, I apologize if I chose the wrong one.

So, I'm bringing my little guy home this weekend, and he's a show prospect for me. I do want to get into showing, but I'm a little nervous, because I hear it can be very political, but that's a whole other topic. Anyway, Dizzy is coming home Saturday, and is 9 weeks today.

What I want to know is when and how to start training the behaviors he needs to know for the show ring. I don't want to expect too much from him as a puppy, but would like to set myself up for success when we do start the real show training. Once he's old enough, I definitely plan on going to a handling class, but what can I do until that point?

I've heard not to teach them to sit, I've heard you can teach them to sit, but you have to work harder reinforcing the stand. So, I just want to get some opinions and info from those experienced with showing and raising a puppy to show.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

-Jen

The breeder my dogs have come from starts stacking early, to get structure shots of the puppies. I just continued working with the girls from 8 weeks on with just touching them everywhere, desensitizing handling of the legs, showing the teeth, and brief standing practices- like 5 min or less at a time...puppies have short attention spans, if you can make it a game it will keep them engaged longer. After vaccinations exposure to as many people, other dogs, loud noises is essential. Work with them on lead in busy stores to get them used to focusing on you when there is a lot of stimuli around you. Get as many people to put their hands on your pup to desensitize to strangers touching them, handling class is also great opportunity for this as well.

Jen which breeder are you purchasing from?

Nando in Mass. What about teaching sit?

I do not train obedience commands such as sit to a starting conformation dog. You do not want to confuse the expectations and risk a sit in the ring. Later learning of these commands once a more solidified conformation expectation is achieved.

I see. Thank you, I'm sure once I get him home I'll have more questions. I updated his scrapbook with some pictures of his dam and sire if you're curious. She is still puppish in them though, probably 6-8 months.