# Lilly at ~20 months



## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)




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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

Sorry these are so big! Can't figure how to get them smaller! I'm on a Mac so if anyone has any knowledge that would be great!


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

This is the around the same time as the first pic but without flash..










not the greatest stance.. she was giving me a hard time as my kids and other dogs were around..this pic was taken by my 5 year old daughter too!


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## Vinnie's Mom (Jun 9, 2012)

I know nothing about showing but I know she is beautiful!


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

*(I'm no expert)* But I can tell you what I like and don't from what I know. 

When trying to stack her, get her to "lean" into her self. Which is pretty tough to do and requires some practice, but placement of feet helps a lot in accomplishing this. 

Is she food motivated? (this really helps, but you can be successful even if she isn't). 

But I think in my experience practicing the free stack really helps when you are hard stacking, because if you can get her to walk into a stack with 2 or 3 paws already in the right spot, your job got a lot easier and you can work on baiting her to lean into her self, and presenting her head. 

She looks nice, I'd like to see her rear set better, you get a better picture of how her croup looks. 

I'm not really good at judging loins in a picture, so I would really need to get my hands on her to make a judgement about that. 
The same can be said about her front, I would get her leaning into herself and her rear set up right, the front will be easier to judge. 

Good luck, she is very very pretty. Entering the AKC ring is pretty intimidating as an owner handler, but just hold your head up and stay calm and you'll do great.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

I know nothing about AKC, but I think Lilly is a beautiful girl.

On a Mac, you can make your pictures smaller, in iPhoto, go to file, export, select JPEG quality, select file size, your can change the file name if you wish. Then export to another location--I export to the desktop. Then when you download an attachment use the file you exported to the desktop.


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks for the compliments and advise so far! I really appreciate it! I know I need to practice more on stacking. I am trying to visualize the leaning into herself..does anyone have a good picture or something visual to see?

Thanks Max's Dad..will try to try that out! I just got it in the beginning of the year and it's my first one! I haven't played with it as much as I should be!


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## LJack (Aug 10, 2012)

Yes, their is a good visual comparing a framing to standing in to the body using German shepherds in the conformation thread "Stacking" use the search feature and it should come right up.
Since this is your first show dog, have you considered "practicing" at UKC shows? Here is a link to conformation shows, hopefully their is something in your area. United Kennel Club: Upcoming Events
I also have my first show puppy she is 10 months and I took her out to UKC at 4.5 month old and had a blast. In Az everything shuts down in the summer, but I am looking forward to getting back out to UKC an AKC in November. The best part of UKC, handlers can only show if they own the dog, so normally no handlers. It is also way more relaxed. I have even had judges take the time to give me pointers.
I think you girl looks lovely. Other than that I can't say. I need hands on body and eyes in movement before I would render an opinion. Fortunately you will have 3 people doing that in two weeks!
Good luck, Lilly blows them away!


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

You will learn exponentially more by going to handling classes. I was lucky enough to attend a class when I was young between the ages of 14-18, and the handler was tough and honest and was always rushing us. It really gave you the feel of what being in a show was like. She gave me a lot of tips. A lot of tricks and tips will vary from dog to dog ( someone who has been showing multiple breeds and dogs for years will know most of them). You might even stack a dog slightly differently based on his or her strengths. So it would truly be impossible to give great advice over the internet, as we haven't seen her move, or put our hands on her. (fur hides a lot, good and bad). 

I'm not in your area, but hopefully someone can point you to some close by handling classes.


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

Oh I've done handling classes, it's been a while. I've been thinking of going soon for more practice and get us back into the ring before starting up again. Our last show was in July. Lilly had just come into heat. During her heat she decided to rip out her feathering off her one side of her rear. So needless to say we haven't been showing. Didn't want to show a bare butt dog! The closest class is about 50 mins away (on a good travel day). 

We kind of took the summer off from everything and just recently started back into the rally class (new instructor and new place). We had done 2 rounds of obedience elsewhere but timing of the class was a little harder to do. That instructor was geared more towards the obedience ring,she didn't do any rally. 

We've also done a couple of match shows but it's been hard to get to them because of time and distance. Also why we haven't done any UKC events because they don't have them much around here! I will check into that again just to see if anything is coming up. 

I will try to come up with a video of moving her. Not sure if I can ..might have to have you all look at it through my Facebook page. Ill try my camera first and see if it will work. 

Thanks for all your help and insights. I really can't wait for the CCA and the feedback I get from that. I'm pretty sure shell pass but would love to hear where she may be lacking or excelling in so I know for sure!


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

Vinnie's Mom said:


> I know nothing about showing but I know she is beautiful!


Same here.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

You want the collar up, just behind the ears. Where the collar is, makes the neck look short. In the stacked photo without the collar, hind legs need to be further back and as Kim said, she should be stepping forward into her toes. And because I am sensitive to it, you needs to trim the paws,up,better. Her toes look very long... Imam sure it is the grooming...


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## OnMyWay2MyDreams (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions. I had groomed her a week earlier soo her feet looked better then.. I will try the collar up when I'm stacking. I always forget to do that! I'm hoping in 2 weeks can attend a handling class. But always depends on work.


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## golden_eclipse (Apr 1, 2011)

I noticed all the pictures were taken at an angle. Its best to get a head on shot and in shorter grass, looking at the hock is really important to see how her rear angles are and if she is stacked ok. But yet again, a picture never really tells the whole story about a dog, so I always hesitate on giving real critiques on a dog's conformation from just a picture.


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