# GRCA National 2018 - who is going?



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Tito and I plan to be there, along with 10-12 of his offspring!


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## Kmullen (Feb 17, 2010)

I am going!! I have a 6-9 puppy boy and a girl in breed.


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## Goldens&Friesians (May 31, 2014)

So I've been watching snippets of this show on the AKC facebook page. Something I noticed that I've never seen before (granted, I don't watch too many shows) happened when the dogs were standing in the line up. I've always seen the dogs stacked head to tail around the ring, but I saw a few dogs here and there who were stacked with their head facing the middle of the ring. I would've assumed they needed to be stacked head to tail to give the judge a good overview of their structure. Just curious as to why a dog might be stacked facing the middle of the ring? Is is to hide a somewhat lacking topline while showing off a stronger front end or what? Very curious as I'm kinda interested in possibly showing conformation someday! Thanks for your help in advance!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

When you have a really big class, you don't have to keep the dog stacked the entire time. People DO stack from time to time when they think they can catch the judge's eye or they do different things to catch the judge's eye. Other times they let the dogs stand as they are - but make sure they aren't slouching or looking bad (in case the judge looks). Other times they duck behind other handlers to give the dogs a break (they literally hide the dogs).

The routine though is - when you go into the ring, you stack the dogs. The judge will go down the line and look over all the dogs as a group. They may be looking for something or somebody that stands out at this time. 

The dogs then gait as a group and then the first dog set up for the individual exam. 

During the individual exams - unless it's a small class (1-3 dogs), people will do as mentioned above. Keep the dogs alert and generally standing nice - but not necessarily totally stacked the entire time. 

When the last dog is getting their individual exam with the judge - that's the point when everyone lines up and does the final stack. The judge will generally go back to the middle of the ring and look everyone over - especially if he's making his cuts. Some judges pick out their placements right off. Others whittle the placements down by seeing individual movement again (esp breeder judges). 

Because everyone is digging in and really fighting to the very last (LOL) - the dogs are kept stacked this entire time while the judge is making picks.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

We had a blast! There were 20 dogs in the AOH class, 3 were Tito offspring out of 3 different bitches. All 3 made the cut down to 8 finalists! One took second in the class


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## rooroch (Nov 7, 2012)

Brilliant result for Tito's children. You and he must have been very proud.


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