HANDLING

This page we want to dedicate to all those Newfoundland-friends who want to learn more about dog-shows. Because every show is also a beauty contest, you should give your dog the chance to present itself from its best side.

There are some necessary basic rules for the behaviour and the presentation of your dog in the arena:

For every exhibitionist their own dog is always the most beautiful one- this attitude is a basic must to go into the arena.

The success of a show is depending on several factors, though – the state of your dog, the handler and the judge.

It could happen that you have the feeling of being in the lead but then things turn out to be different. Regardless of how the judge decides, one has to accept the ranking. Don’t forget to be fair and a sportsman- the next time it could be you “at the top”.

There are always ups and downs in the business of showing, regardless of “success” or “not so good this time”- there is always a next time!

And now some hints on how to present your dog properly in the arena:

After you have entered the ring and have been greeted by the judge, your actual work as a handler begins:

Your dog is always to the left.

First of all slide your left arm under your dogs’ chest to take hold of the left foreleg and lift it up a little bit – but be careful not to lift it up too much otherwise you will throw your dog out of balance. Afterwards, you bring the foreleg down straight.

Then with your left hand you take the collar and lift up the right foreleg like you did before with the other leg. The distance between the forelegs should be approximately one hand.

Bringing the backhand into the right position is the next step:

To accomplish that, you take hold of the backhand, gently lift it up and put it down again slightly behind its former position. This procedure will be performed once on the left and once on the right side.

Now you should pay attention to the collar. It should be up the dogs’ chin- otherwise you would choke it. Through pulling slightly, the neck and the chest will be accented.

In case your dog gets bored by standing around and starts to shuffle its feet, just do a full circle and start over.

One of the main-judgement factors is the rating of your dogs movement.

It should be fluent and easy but never to fast or hasty. The dog is shown “trotting” or “cantering” and should not hop, jump or gallop.

For better understanding we implemented a video here:

For Video playing click here please

And very important: don’t forget to reward your dog in the arena!
We hope we could help all the newbies and wish you success in the future!