Well, here we go! Our first official photos of my stacking attempt. My conformation class doesn’t start until March, but I’ve been trying to practice with him every night anyway. I look a bit silly; I need to figure out how to stand in the background, but that’s ok! So my big thing is, once I see that his front feet are not lined up properly, what do I do? I’m also not sure how far apart his front feet and back right foot should be. So I’m open to any constructive criticism! 🙂
Doesn’t he look nice and shiny though? His new Vellus brush is wonderful; it doesn’t actually pull out his hair! 😉
Carole will give you great stacking tips- I just wanted to say he is a real cutie-patootie. I like his shiny coat. What is a Vellus brush?
Yes, I am interested in this Vellus brush as well!
I don’t know a darn thing about stacking but Schumi looks lovely to me, Becky.
🙂
Well, Joe and I have a FURminator, but we went a little crazy with it and it pulled out/broke off a lot of his handsome fur. So Julie suggested that we buy this brush, and I got it from vellus.com. It’s the “Vellus Natural Bristle and Nylon Brush.” It brushes without breaking his fur, so I’m loving it!
Does the vellus brush remove the dead undercoat or does it just glide over the top coat like a finishing brush?
Vellus is a brand name, they carry nice products aimed at show people. The brush Becky bought is a boar bristle brush with some plastic bristles to make it more affordable. It is the type of brush you would use for brushing your dog everyday massages the skin to stimulate hair growth and help redistribute natural oils.
I think he looks good, I like that he’s looking straight out. I have a hard time with that. Nikon wants to look at me or if I have food he just jumps for it, he doesn’t want to look at it. I think his front feet need to go a tad more underneath him but it’s so hard to get it right when you can’t see it from farther away!
Here’s the best stacking tip of the day that most handlers are not going to tell you:
Go to Big Lots, Wal-Mart, any discount place and buy a large, inexpensive mirror! Should be at least 16×20, or an inexpensive vanity mirror that you would hang on your bathroom door. Prop the mirror against the wall, at floor level,lengthwise, positioned so that you can SEE what you’re doing. If they are cheap enough, buy two! Use the mirrors to set up your dogs. Then you’ll see exactly what the judge will be seeing.
Same as for a dancer—a mirror serves a great purpose.
I need to find a photo and then I’ll be back…
Great tip. Carole. I also use the mirrors for checking precise positioning (handler and dog) in obedience training. I have found some big beautiful cheap dresser mirrors at yard sales.