# Constructive criticism needed - puppy stack



## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

They are so awkward at this age, make it fun and help her relax. She looks tense in the stacked photo. Her hind feet could probably come back a tad more.


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

Tagrenine said:


> They are so awkward at this age, make it fun and help her relax. She looks tense in the stacked photo. Her hind feet could probably come back a tad more.


Thank you! I realized this as soon as I posted it…lol we are trying to keep it fun and light.


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## livduse (Dec 14, 2019)

alexyandthegoldens said:


> This is my newest show prospect Bellini. She just turned 5 months on the 29th and we’re working for her first show at the end of this month.
> 
> She moves well and stands very nicely - this is an attempted free stack. We are working to break the baby squat she gives me on her rear.
> 
> ...


What a darling face! Do you have a stacked photo closer to 8 weeks or so? I can't tell if the faults I'm seeing are due to an awkward stage or true structural faults. This is a difficult age to judge. Her rear could also be set a little farther back.


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

livduse said:


> What a darling face! Do you have a stacked photo closer to 8 weeks or so? I can't tell if the faults I'm seeing are due to an awkward stage or true structural faults. This is a difficult age to judge. Her rear could also be set a little farther back.


Here she is at 8 weeks - I had a much nicer stacked photo but dropped my phone on the beach and my cloud wasn’t backed up when it happened. All of my other 8 week photos are lost  

I know she is at a very awkward stage - I’m curious if she actually has faults or if I need to wait and watch her bloom.


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## livduse (Dec 14, 2019)

alexyandthegoldens said:


> Here she is at 8 weeks - I had a much nicer stacked photo but dropped my phone on the beach and my cloud wasn’t backed up when it happened. All of my other 8 week photos are lost
> 
> I know she is at a very awkward stage - I’m curious if she actually has faults or if I need to wait and watch her bloom.


The main things I’m seeing is that she seems short in lower forearm giving her the illusion of falling forward in a way. Her top line almost looks roached in both pictures as well. This could be due to placement. I like her head. She seems to have good bone and coat as well, but I can’t tell much more from these photos. I’d try to get a better stacked photo for evaluation. Was she sold to you as a show prospect? What is her pedigree?


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

livduse said:


> The main things I’m seeing is that she seems short in lower forearm giving her the illusion of falling forward in a way. Her top line almost looks roached in both pictures as well. This could be due to placement. I like her head. She seems to have good bone and coat as well, but I can’t tell much more from these photos. I’d try to get a better stacked photo for evaluation. Was she sold to you as a show prospect? What is her pedigree?


She was - I am hoping it’s me in positing her improperly causing these issues.

Here is her pedigree:



Pedigree: Goodtime's Champagne Celebration TKN, CGC



we will work on a better stack photo and report back and hopefully get good feedback. I am still studying the standard and not able to pick details out like that - to me she’s a star but I want to remain humble 😂


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

livduse said:


> The main things I’m seeing is that she seems short in lower forearm giving her the illusion of falling forward in a way. Her top line almost looks roached in both pictures as well. This could be due to placement. I like her head. She seems to have good bone and coat as well, but I can’t tell much more from these photos. I’d try to get a better stacked photo for evaluation. Was she sold to you as a show prospect? What is her pedigree?


Thank you so much for giving an honest opinion it’s appreciated immensely


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## livduse (Dec 14, 2019)

alexyandthegoldens said:


> She was - I am hoping it’s me in positing her improperly causing these issues.
> 
> Here is her pedigree:
> 
> ...


It looks like she has some really nice dogs in her pedigree! I assume that if your breeder chose her as a show prospect, they evaluated her structure at around 8 weeks and liked what they saw and felt. It could simply be a matter of bad positioning and the awkward stage that she may be going through now. I’d love to see some more stacked photos of her. The best way to get these with a puppy is record your stacking session and screenshot the best moments. There are lots of videos online about how to properly stack a dog that should be helpful. The camera should be level with her as well. Honestly, I’m new to showing and get it wrong all the time haha! It’s hard to get a photo that truly captures how great they look in real life. That photo that you posted first of her sitting is really adorable though, I love her expression!


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

I think if you move her rear back and get her to relax, she'll look like a different dog. 5 months is a super awkward age. You want her rear pasterns to be vertical and the back toes placed under her butt bones. In the photo above, her toes are under the middle of her croup if you draw a vertical line up from the toes.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

5 months must be about the time puppies stop looking like puppies and to a new owner's eyes, they are adults now and ready to be serious. Nothing is further than the truth. 5 months is probably the WORST time to evaluate any dog. Come back later!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

5 months is a good time to work on grooming the baby girl (hair cut and bath) and training and building up her confidence and social manners...

It's not usually the best time to get constructive criticism that's _fair _to a growing dog. Especially if you are new to all this.

The little girlie appears to be very long in body and going through a gangly phase. And she's insecure while you are stacking her (hunched rear/back). Now is a good time to train her to relax and shift her weight forward and upward... but take your time, give her 2-3 more months to fill out.


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## Emmdenn (Jun 5, 2018)

I agree with the above posters. Make it fun for her, try to teach her a “stand” command that’ll eventually turn into a free stack. Try not to fuss over her until she’s grown into herself a bit more.


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

livduse said:


> It looks like she has some really nice dogs in her pedigree! I assume that if your breeder chose her as a show prospect, they evaluated her structure at around 8 weeks and liked what they saw and felt. It could simply be a matter of bad positioning and the awkward stage that she may be going through now. I’d love to see some more stacked photos of her. The best way to get these with a puppy is record your stacking session and screenshot the best moments. There are lots of videos online about how to properly stack a dog that should be helpful. The camera should be level with her as well. Honestly, I’m new to showing and get it wrong all the time haha! It’s hard to get a photo that truly captures how great they look in real life. That photo that you posted first of her sitting is really adorable though, I love her expression!


She does! I researched forever and was offered a puppy from a different litter but loved these lines. I have no doubt in her - it’s all on me. I don’t expect her to be perfect right now, we’re in prime “puppy uglies” but needed this feedback for my own work.
The breeder was very thorough with me and covered what she liked structurally and her attitude before she sent her home. I wish I had those photos to show..can’t wait to show her off when she matures a bit and I’m better polished in stacking!


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

I’m back! Same puppy - not so concerned about her structure since she’s so young but would love opinions on how I am stacking her! I am terrible at it and practicing as much as I can.

PS - spare my angles, it’s just me, video mode on my phone and some stacked Amazon boxes.

last photo is an attempt at a free stack


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

You need to stack on the floor.


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## goldielynn (Sep 5, 2020)

If you're first show is at the end of this month, will she be in BPUP to 6-9 months? If you're showing her in BPUP, I wouldn't try to strive for perfection. It's supposed to be super fun and relaxed -- all BPUP puppies are shown by their owners anyway so if you fall on your face at your first one (like we did), it's almost to be expected. I would just try to have fun with it.

And as previous commenters have said, she's only a puppy. The biggest training hurdle that we had to get through was not the stand/stack (like @Emmdenn mentioned, we didn't teach him how to stack, just a "stand" command at that age), but the standing still for examination is really the hardest part for golden puppies. We started him in a conformation handling class at around 8-9 months where he got more used to us just moving him and staying still. To this day, we're not huge on making him hold a perfect stack, he free stacks on his own beautifully, and as long as he's okay being manipulated, that's a win for us at this stage (12 months).

Here was our puppy at his second show all in big smiles (in BPUP at around the same age as your girl is in now). He made it to the "best in puppy" competition which is why you see the malamute behind him.


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

goldielynn said:


> If you're first show is at the end of this month, will she be in BPUP to 6-9 months? If you're showing her in BPUP, I wouldn't try to strive for perfection. It's supposed to be super fun and relaxed -- all BPUP puppies are shown by their owners anyway so if you fall on your face at your first one (like we did), it's almost to be expected. I would just try to have fun with it.
> 
> And as previous commenters have said, she's only a puppy. The biggest training hurdle that we had to get through was not the stand/stack (like @Emmdenn mentioned, we didn't teach him how to stack, just a "stand" command at that age), but the standing still for examination is really the hardest part for golden puppies. We started him in a conformation handling class at around 8-9 months where he got more used to us just moving him and staying still. To this day, we're not huge on making him hold a perfect stack, he free stacks on his own beautifully, and as long as he's okay being manipulated, that's a win for us at this stage (12 months).
> 
> ...


I love your feedback thank you! Actually I ended up putting her in 6-9 as opposed to BPUP as she will be of age during the days I show her.

I need the reminder to relax and let it all come with age. I am just super awkward and uncoordinated myself and terrified I’m going to teach her bad habits. We’ve already completed puppy and intermediate class and she can stand and stand stay on command. I take her weekly to an ongoing class where we practice movement and being examined by all different types of people to prepare for shows.

this is just me, being neurotic…I for whatever reason can’t understand a perfect stack.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

alexyandthegoldens said:


> I for whatever reason can’t understand a perfect stack.


No one is born good at stacking. It takes time, practice, and patience. You’ll get there! The perfect stack will change over time as your pup matures too.


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## Tagrenine (Aug 20, 2019)

If you want to watch my stacking struggles and some of the great advice I got, you can follow my master thread for Felix!








Masterthread for Felix Stack Progress - Advice?


I don't want to keep making new threads for stacking advice, so I'm going to update this one as I go along :) Being on quarantine has given me a lot of time to practice his stacking and I find I'm getting slightly frustrated. I'm also slightly confused. I'm frustrated with a few things. The...




www.goldenretrieverforum.com


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## alexyandthegoldens (Sep 29, 2020)

Tagrenine said:


> If you want to watch my stacking struggles and some of the great advice I got, you can follow my master thread for Felix!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I love this! Thank you!


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