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Bench Shows

Hey everyone

What are your favorite leads and collars to use during bench shows? Any tips or training methods for training pups? And what age do you usually start working with pups?

Thank you much!

I like a full martingale slip, or a 3mm jewel cut chain on either paracord or kangaroo. Snake chains are nice on older well broke dogs but can be a piano wire on the young ones that still tend to pull.
Tips would just be repetitiveness. Just like you take a dog hunting on a regular basis if you want to develop it into a coon dog, you have to work a dog on the bench on a regular basis if you want to develop a show dog. Keep it fun while they're young, don't wear them out. In any bench show a dog will never be up on the bench for more than 5 minutes straight on average, and that's in the biggest class.
You can start them as soon as they're walking around well, 6ish weeks. Just work on little things though like keeping their feet in place but letting them look around. Or making them hold their head and tail in place but letting them do 'happy feet'. The worst thing you can do is make them hate it young. I don't start on serious work until 5-6 months, but you can lay the foundation from 6 weeks on. Use bait if you want, while you can't use it in bench shows it's a nice training tool to get them started if you do it every now and then. You'll get a better response and it's a 'happy' thing for them.

__________________
Effrem & Haley Creasman
Thunderstruck American Leopard Hounds
Sylva, NC
creasmankennels.weebly.com

I appreciate the response! It was very helpful. I would like to pick your brain a bit more. The pup that I am starting to work is very people friendly, not that it's a bad thing, I am just nervous that when we get her out to shows she will stop obeying. Are there any tips for breaking these kinds of bad habits and making sure she stays set up on the bench?

Take your pup to every public place you can.when you get them started have a friend go around making noises when they are on the bench just a little at first then work up from there.rember when you are at shows there will be people every were talking etc so you have to practice with noise around.first dog I ever put on the bench I thought she was broke but when I took her to the show there was a big man telling stories in the corner you could hear this guy from the parking lot she couldn't take her eyes off this guy it was a pain.but I leanerd from it and moved on.good luck with your pup

She's very well socialized, a little bit too much I'm afraid. She is all about people paying attention to her, that is why I worry about taking her to a show. She would be the dog to try to jump off the bench to love on people. Hopefully we can get her broke off this habit here soon.