# Placing feet for Stack



## CarolinaCasey

I do it the opposite way, hold collar with my right hand, place LEFT leg, switch hands on the collar, place RIGHT leg, place back left foot, place back right foot. People have their own method, I suppose. Just be sure to control the head or they can/will move. Look at some show photos on K9data or in the GR News of the top dogs, see their foot placement. Make sure the dog's front legs are well under him, legs should be straight. 


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## Megora

Thanks<:

I think the reason why I was taught to do the right first was because you adjust the rear feet with the left hand. It's one less switch. 

I went searching the last couple days since our last class and our teacher gave us the assignment to make sure we understand where the feet should be set. I've seen some pictures where it looks like the rear feet are further back and the front feet are further up - than others. 

I was wondering if there is a visual check that you do when you are looking down at your dog? Like with the front feet, what is well under him when you are looking down?


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## Glassbuttercup

I also place the left side first because it's the judges side ......but I'm FAR from an expert handler...ha ha!!


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## Megora

Glassbuttercup said:


> I also place the left side first because it's the judges side ......but I'm FAR from an expert handler...ha ha!!


That makes sense. I'm left handed, so believe me it would be easier to do all four feet with the left hand. : 

When I go up in front of him to set Bertie up - I get the ah-ah correction when I reach to the left side first. 

The guy teaching the classes is a judge (he's very nice) and his perspective on this is getting as fluent and effortless a process to setting the dog up as possible. I think that's where he's coming from. 

Coming from the obedience side where you see people repeatedly fussing over legs to get them right - I do see the point of getting it down to a rhythm and getting it done fast.

*** All you guys are expert compared to me and that is why I so appreciate your help and tips here and to any future questions I may ask (I'm sure there will be more). I know NOTHING at this point beyond what my scattered brain has gathered in bits and pieces.


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## Kmullen

Using left hand (right hand holding collar)-Fix Left front, left rear. Then use left hand to fix right rear. Switch hand to left hand on collar to fix right front and then you have your right hand for baiting in front of the dog.

And I always watch good handlers and they do the same. Why in the world would you set the right side first? The judge would not get a good first impression of the dog, if you were still trying to stack him. Always do show side/judges side first.


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## Megora

Um - that sounds a _lot_ easier to me than starting out with the right.... maybe I'll talk with the teacher at the next class. Or I guess it would be easier to convince him to stop ah-ahing me if I can set up my dog faster using my left hand.


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## Kmullen

I will try to find my YouTube video when Brianna showed cannon. It kinda cuts her stacking off, but you can tell she does right front last and the dog in front and his well known owner/handler stacking.


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## Kmullen

Do Not Listen to me Talking!! Lol


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## K9-Design

Oh yeah -- ALWAYS set the left front first -- that is the judge's side!! 
Typically the dog if walked into the stack will get two feet right, you just have to recognize those two feet and not pick those to mess with 

The front foot should be a straight line below the elbow, and here's a hint, your dog's elbow should not be under his ear 

Most people I feel set the back feet two far apart.

A mirror is your friend!!!


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## Megora

THANK YOU! 

It's funny I kept getting distracted and missed the setup completely a couple times and had to replay. Part of that was how quickly and easily it was done. 

How old was Cannon there? <- I'm smiling here because Bertie is definitely very immature looking right by comparison! (doesn't help that he's been blowing his coat).


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## Megora

@Anney - The main thing I know is I generally have to adjust his right foot to line it up with his left foot.... when I give him the stand signal he seems to set himself up mostly right? But I gather you are doing the left-left-left-right check anyway whether you really move the feet?

Pardon the pictures, guys, I'm too lazy to pull out a camera to do a stand session (I promise I will) -

When he gets set up - his rear generally looks like this:










I gather the fix is you are adjusting the feet so they are more squarely set up. 










Same here.... ? Would his front feet have to be further apart? 

^ IF I put him into a stand (basic moving stand) - this is how he will set himself up.


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## Kmullen

Yep the more you practice the more smooth it will go. The dog up front was walked into the stack and IMO an easier way to do it. Cannon was in the 9-12 month class. I think he might have been 10 months. Yes Cannon was very immature... Nothing like the other pup!


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## hotel4dogs

It's hard to tell from a rear view, but it does look like the front legs need to be farther apart, and also turned so that his left front isn't pointing outward.
The rears need to be pulled back a bit, and a little father apart, too.
Look at where the rears are in relation to the hips. The front of the toes should be directly under the back bone of the butt. An unusual photo, a front view of him stacked. Right front should have been a little farther out and turned slightly. A self-stack outside the ring, which is pretty blurry but you can see when he self stacks, his front feet are too close together, and just for fun 19 goldens in the ring in the Open Dogs class. Tito is the first dog.





Megora said:


> @Anney - The main thing I know is I generally have to adjust his right foot to line it up with his left foot.... when I give him the stand signal he seems to set himself up mostly right? But I gather you are doing the left-left-left-right check anyway whether you really move the feet?
> 
> Pardon the pictures, guys, I'm too lazy to pull out a camera to do a stand session (I promise I will) -
> 
> When he gets set up - his rear generally looks like this:
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> I gather the fix is you are adjusting the feet so they are more squarely set up.
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> Same here.... ? Would his front feet have to be further apart?
> 
> ^ IF I put him into a stand (basic moving stand) - this is how he will set himself up.


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## Megora

Very awesome Barb - that helps a good deal.


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## Ljilly28

Here is an older thread for stacking too

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retriever-conformation-showing/26974-stacking-caryn.html


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## Ljilly28

I trained Lush ( and now Mystic) often with these pods. She now has nice muscle memory and even our junior handler can show her easily and stack her quick. Clean Run: FitPAWS Paw Pods


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## HiTideGoldens

The biggest mistake I made when I first starting showing was inadvertently a-framing my dog, where their front feet are not set up under the elbow but are too far forward. It took me quite a bit if practicing in front of a mirror to stop doing it all the time. I also find it helpful to bait the dog forward so that they aren't racked back on the front legs. 

The best advice I ever received was from a professional handler who showed me that if you don't set up the front correctly and have the ability to hold the dog's head steady while setting up the back feet you may as well not be hand stacking the dog. So focus on getting the front correct and the head steady before you worry about the rear. 




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## sterregold

And if the dog is not being cooperative about letting you get those front feet set, I use a finger tucked into the underside of the jaw, rather than using the collar (thank you Will ALexander!). This is especially helpful if you have a dog who wants to step out and turn one foot--it allows you to turn to head away from the problem foot to open the shoulder and get more control of where that foot lands. Always hold the front leg from the elbow. If the dog does tend to rack back a bit, give a little tug back at the base of the tail and release--a dog's natural tendency is to pull away from pressure so putting pressure backwards will make them lean forwards, whereas tugging the collar forward will make them post even more!! (Thank you Graeme!)
The other really good stacking lesson I got was in an Erik Strikland seminar. He had a metronome going on a slow tick, and made us set feet to a cadence. You can get a digital metronome app for an ipod or ipad etc. Set all four feet in sequence keeping your timing, and then check the stack in the mirror. Walk the dog out and do it again--that drilled repetition made a huge difference to me as it set a routine which both the dog and I could settle into.


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## hotel4dogs

The best way of all to show Tito was standing behind him, holding his tail out, and pulling back and up on the collar (as versus standing next to him). He would really puff his chest out proudly, and throw his head "just right".


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## Megora

@Barb - I'm going to guess exactly like the handler had him set up in the gorgeous winners pic (I love the serious expression on his face - like he's focusing on the birds)


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## hotel4dogs

yes, but picture the handler standing directly behind his butt instead, and his chest puffed out proudly!


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