# SV Rating Show Advice Needed



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Hello! 

I'm hoping to bring my WGWL boy to our first show this upcoming June and I had a few questions. From what I've been able to research, it suggests you must hire a handler unless you yourself are very experienced. Is this true for a general club-level show? I have a friend who has shown Rotties in Sieger style shows who is willing to help me double handle. But it seems the GSD show environment is quite different? I'd appreciate any general advice as well! Thank you!


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Find a show handler to help you train him and to handle him at the show. I found, and many others with working lines, that we need to be totally out of sight or instead of gaiting they'll dig in trying to come to us. 

Make sure you've exposed him to gunfire. I had no idea they were going to shoot off a gun and did it right directly in front of Seger. The first shot he perked up. The second shot, he zero'd in on the person and decided his best response should be a bark and hold.

If this is a predominantly show line conformation show, then get him to the club that is holding it and get him used to all those people screaming and whipping balls around the ring. Seger had never seen it before and it all had him soooo ramped. 

And last, make sure you know which direction your dog will be stacked in front of the judge. you need to in the same direction so you can get his attention if need be. I was stuck behind a couple of chairs and had no way to get to the other side. They didn't put up any blinds for handlers to run too until our event was almost over. The handler stacked him exactly as she should have but I was on the back side of him and he kept turning to look. So put yourself in good position to start with.


----------



## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

I would hire a person with as much experience in GSD SV shows as you could find. I was lucky to have the availability to do so, and I think it makes a world of difference. In the meantime, we practiced gaiting and tried to best figure out how much double handling is really needed. 

The handler knowing the drill and the dog being trained for the ring (and all of the known distractions that come with it) will get you the best rating. I know that the judge I showed under was offended by some of the WL dogs that were entered without proper preparation , and would call it the equivalent of showing up for your BH without a trained dog and having never read the rule book.


----------



## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

I know of a name of someone in Sac if she is still available. You can pm me. Then there are a few others to try...


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

GatorDog said:


> I would hire a person with as much experience in GSD SV shows as you could find. I was lucky to have the availability to do so, and I think it makes a world of difference. In the meantime, we practiced gaiting and tried to best figure out how much double handling is really needed.
> 
> The handler knowing the drill and the dog being trained for the ring (and all of the known distractions that come with it) will get you the best rating. I know that the judge I showed under was offended by some of the WL dogs that were entered without proper preparation , and would call it the equivalent of showing up for your BH without a trained dog and having never read the rule book.


 Thank you for the feedback. Looking unprepared was definitely a big worry of mine.Thanks to mspiker03 I was able to get a hold of a very nice handler who was surprisingly close to me!  We're going to work out training prior to the event.



Jax08 said:


> Find a show handler to help you train him and to handle him at the show. I found, and many others with working lines, that we need to be totally out of sight or instead of gaiting they'll dig in trying to come to us.
> 
> Make sure you've exposed him to gunfire. I had no idea they were going to shoot off a gun and did it right directly in front of Seger. The first shot he perked up. The second shot, he zero'd in on the person and decided his best response should be a bark and hold.
> 
> ...


This will likely be my problem! He tends to dig in and pull when he wants me or a toy. I always taught him to pull into a harness for his toys from a young age. I'm glad I'm able to meet with them and train ahead of time, hopefully we'll sort it out.


----------



## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

When I was in a club that hosted a SV style show we all handled our own dogs and helped handle each others. We started practicing months before the show by taping off sections of the field set up like a ring. We also worked on conditioning our dogs(and ourselves as there is a lot of running!). We had experienced members who would help instruct so we didn't need to hire any outsiders.


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Unfortunately, I do not have any clubs anywhere close to me that train for these. The club that's hosting this is the closest I know and it's nearly a 5 hour drive unfortunately.


----------



## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

Who's the trainer and when/where is the show? Maybe we will play too.


----------



## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

Jeremy - sent you a message


----------



## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

There's a club in Redding that has conformation classes. Its not that big of a difference between AKC and SV type shows. 

shastakennelclub.com


----------



## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

mspiker03 said:


> Jeremy - sent you a message



Thanks!


----------



## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

Cschmidt88 said:


> Unfortunately, I do not have any clubs anywhere close to me that train for these. The club that's hosting this is the closest I know and it's nearly a 5 hour drive unfortunately.


Oh wow. I hope someone reaches out!


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

The things you can do ahead of time are:
1) make sure your dog is in good show condition 
2) I would not bother training your dog to stack or practicing stacking yourself but make sure your dog is OK with someone else touching him, placing him for a stack, and checking teeth and testicles. The handler will stack the dog correctly so the dog just needs to be accustomed to this and know to stand still and not keep rocking backward or bucking around.

If you don't have a club to practice with, get to the show early and you can practice with your handler. I've never seen a club have a problem with people going in the ring before a show or during the lunch break to practice with a handler.

During the show, the number one thing is to PAY ATTENTION to your handler and do what he/she says. The handler will instruct you how far ahead to be, when to call the dog's name, when and where to hide out of site. Depending on the size of the class, age of the dog, and how the handler wants the dog doubled be prepared for a LOT of running. Being on the outside of the ring, you often have to run almost twice as far to stay the same distance ahead of the dog.


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Steve Strom said:


> There's a club in Redding that has conformation classes. Its not that big of a difference between AKC and SV type shows.
> 
> shastakennelclub.com


I am a board member of that club  There is indeed a big difference between AKC and SV shows. I've done a little AKC before.


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Liesje said:


> The things you can do ahead of time are:
> 1) make sure your dog is in good show condition
> 2) I would not bother training your dog to stack or practicing stacking yourself but make sure your dog is OK with someone else touching him, placing him for a stack, and checking teeth and testicles. The handler will stack the dog correctly so the dog just needs to be accustomed to this and know to stand still and not keep rocking backward or bucking around.
> 
> ...


Thank you!

My boy has been doing handling classes since he was 4 months old and has done a little AKC, so he's great with stacking and handling.

And I lucked out, I'm going to sort out meeting with the handler ahead of time to practice with them at a different location as they are close enough to do so easily.  

The running is my biggest concern to be honest, though I will probably end up doing the hide method since he gets pretty amped. But definitely planning hikes and treadmill before hand so I don't die!


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Cschmidt88 said:


> I am a board member of that club  There is indeed a big difference between AKC and SV shows. I've done a little AKC before.


Sorry, I didn't mean to sound snarky. I did not realize that until I went back and read it. Of course, too late to edit it.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I agree, there are huge differences between AKC and SV type showing.

That is great you have a handler lined up! I've seen people try to handle their own dogs and unless they have experience handling dogs in these types of shows, it generally does not end well. Even if the dogs have nice conformation, if they do not know how these shows work, the judges get impatient. It's like Alexis said, you could have a national level Schutzhund dog but if you show up for an IPO trial and don't know the BH routine, you will not score well. You can have a fantastic dog, but if you are not prepared to exhibit the dog in the way that these shows are run, the dog will not place well. I handle my own dogs in other conformation rings and I have handled other peoples' dogs in SV shows, but I use a handler for SV shows with the exception of one of my dogs that I can handle myself (but use my husband to double handle). I'm saying this more as a general statement for anyone reading the thread, not *you* specifically. It sounds like you have everything lined up and your dog should do well


----------

