One of the core behaviors a show dog needs to be taught is how to free stack and hold it. When time is taken to train the behavior it is a fairly straightforward set of behaviors to teach. In this article I am going to share a few ideas and ways to go about teaching the stack stay that allow the owner and dog to enjoy the process and have success at it.
Contrary to popular belief you can train a show dog to sit you just have to make sure that you spend as much time reinforcing stands, which is where people go wrong. I teach my show dogs that my finger pointing out is a target for them to spot and that this signals standing, not sitting. If you have never worked sits with your dog, you may have less of a sit default and will have to do less clicking for standing, but it’s still a good idea to reinforce some stands. As you may have guessed I teach stacking and staying with the clicker. I begin by capturing the dog standing. Capturing means I don’t lure the animal I just wait for him to stand and I click. I may move around to prompt standing and then when he does, I click and treat. If he continues standing I will click and treat again. Maybe even a third time. Initially, I just want the dog to learn that standing is reinforcing. You actually have to do more of this (reinforcing stands) for dogs that have had a lot of sit training. During this phase, I do not use a cue or word yet, I want to build the behavior before naming it.
Once the dog is standing pretty reliably (not on cue, just offering stands), I can begin to build how I want the dog to stand. I teach the dog the cues “back” which means to step backwards and “step” which means to move a front foot forward to meet the other one. “Back” and “Step” are taught separately, do not teach them together or the dog will just learn a back and forth pattern, which isn’t what you want. To teach the back I use Kay Laurence’s method. For those of you who may not know of her Kay is a highly skilled trainer from Learning about Dogs in England. It’s a bit challenging to explain, but I will try. You sit in a chair that has an open bottom (like a folding chair). I usually position the chair so that I am sitting sideways beside a wall. You then place a piece of food just under the chair, the dog will eat the food and then back up to get out, just as the dog is leaning back to back out from under the chair, you click and drop another treat under the chair, the dog will reach for the treat, then you click moving back again and drop another treat under the chair and so on. Once they realize the game you can say “back” just as they go to back out and begin delivering the treat from your hand. I have had dogs offering steps back in the first session. It’s a really brilliant way to teach the back. Another method is the more traditional way of stepping slightly into the dog and then clicking and treating as they step back. Once they are easily doing that you can say “back” just before stepping in. This isn’t a great method for small dogs or sensitive dogs, but can work ok for some of the bigger dogs. I still prefer Kay’s method however.
To teach “step” I simply move my body slightly away and at an angle which will cause the dog to step toward me, then click and treat when they move the foot. I don’t put pressure on the lead to move the dog; I want the dog to realize what he is doing and learn to be responsible for moving the foot without much prompting from me. Once the dog understands to move the foot when I move my body, I say “step” just before the body prompt and click and treat when they do it. It is important for the “back” and the “step” that the dog understand what you are reinforcing, this is why I want to use the clicker, it tells the dog the exact moment he made the choice I am reinforcing and allows me a moment to deliver the treat. Allow the dog to experiment with what you will reinforce; this makes it fun for them. I will sometimes just wait a moment and let the dog think about it without giving all kinds of input. I want the dogs I train to know that they are free to move their bodies and see what I like and what I will reinforce.
Once the dog has been trained to get into position I’d like him to learn to hold the position. There are a couple of ways to do this. Usually I start pausing in between clicks. So, the dog stacks (I ask him to step or get back if I need to) then I click and treat, then I say “stay” and after just a moment, I click and treat again. I will do this a few times, and then start over. I then build duration in between clicks and treats.
Another method that I think is brilliant in teaching the dog to hold the stack is Marj Brooks’ 1-2-3 game (from Handling Secrets Uncovered, CDOC). Marj will stack the dog then say 1…2…3 and deliver the reinforcement right after saying 3. The 1 and 2 become like a keep going cue and the 3 cues the dog that the treat is coming. The great thing is that she can then begin to add duration in between the 1, 2 and 3 to teach the dog to hold it longer. This keeps it interesting and fun for the dog.
Another helpful tool is Happy Legs. When used correctly, Happy Legs can be a positive training game to teach a dog to stand. Unfortunately, many people have turned Happy Legs into a torture device by putting the dog on a grooming noose with no slack and forcing the dog to stand for extended periods of time (sometimes an hour at a time). This isn’t training, its torture and not how they were intended to be used. I contacted Susan Catlin, owner and creator of Happy Legs about the correct way to use Happy Legs as well as the practice of forcing a dog to stand on Happy Legs for long periods and she gave me this statement (along with permission to publish it):
“That is NOT what Happy Legs are for. They are a fun game that should last no longer than 1 minute!! A dog does not need any longer than a minute to understand the game of “hold your feet still”. Can you imagine standing in the grocery line and having to stand squarely on both feet without shifting your weight for an extended time? That’s what they are asking the dog to do. People are missing the opportunity to have fun with their dogs, to do something that’s easy and encouraging for the dog, something the dog can win at immediately and feel empowered by. Our dogs enjoy this game so much that I will open the box on the floor and my dog will go and get in the fox and actually put his front feet on the stilts at look at me for his reward.” She continues, “Humans have this natural instinct to think if an inch is good then a foot if better. So, if one minute is ok, then an hour will get me Best in Show. Add the human element and you get people that want shortcuts and quick fixes.” And, “Why would anyone think you could put a dog on stilts, leave it on the table for an extended time and have a happy dog?”
I think she said it perfectly. She also thanked me for attempting to educate people on the proper use of Happy Legs. The idea of Happy Legs is to have the dog stand on them and reinforce them while they are staying in place on them for short periods of time. The website actually gives detailed instructions on how to use them and as I said, used correctly they can be a helpful training tool.
The most important thing is to take the time to teach the dog what you expect him to do. If the dog can easily perform the behavior you have requested at home and is comfortable and sure of what you want, he will have a much easier time doing it for you in the ring when both you and your dog are either nervous or excited. Taking the time to train a good stack stay really pays off!
