My Frenchie finished his ch in the blink of an eye and his handler was thrilled that he free baited like a little mashine. My handler said that while everyone else was down groveling around in the dirt she was standing with her perfect little happy happy statue. Frenchies are seldom freebaited but this guy loved it and did it very very well. I think the secret is that whichever way you choose, be the best at it.

To a breeder judge at an all-breed show, most free bait, BUT, there is also hand stacking! It is a mixture of both, like the above have listed, go with the flow of what others are doing.

Here in Iceland we always do free stack so when I see pics of labs who are stacked by a person they look terrible!! Not good at all.

Like every thing else in dogs, if you ask 10 people, you'll get 10 different opinions!!!

I've only been doing this 14 years, but I do whatever shows off my dog the best.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stacker
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hildur~Draumalands
Here in Iceland we always do free stack so when I see pics of labs who are stacked by a person they look terrible!! Not good at all.

I've seen some lovely photos of hand stacked dogs. And I've seen terrible photos of free baited dogs. You should not make such generalizations.

Well I can make any generalizations when I want For me it's terrible to see hand stacked Labradors .

To each his own. I've seen some pretty terrible free baited Labradors that look like old sway back horses and ears pinned, rocked back off their shoulders. Put a little pressure on the collar and Yes a Little bit and Wow, they pull back over their shoulders, their front comes back, the topline levels off and the rear angles are nice again.
It's all a matter of opinion.
I think people need to do what truly works for their dog and makes their dog look and feel their best. Like it or not, the judge has maybe 3 minutes to see your dog and why not do what makes your dog feel more comfortable and look their best.

Do what works and adjust to the situation. My bitch looks best free baited, which is how I prefer to show her. However, at a show this weekend it was very hot, and she was slumping, did not want to do it and not looking her best free baiting, so I grabbed her collar and stacked her, and she not only got winners but took the breed. By group time she was feeling more energetic, so she was shown free baited and she made the cut down to the final placements. Teach your dog to show both ways and be flexible.

Labradors are shown both ways. Specialty or all breed. Do what makes them look the best. Alot of the professionals who win, hand stack. So am doing both.
And the last points came from a hand stacked dog in an all breed show, shown by me.

Just what I thought, on my dogs good days - he freebaits so beautifully, and then on the not so good days, I just stack

So we'll see how he's feeling. I do know how the judge shows, and I think I will try and follow that.

Thanks everyone!