Kingdom of Pets

Posted by elmariachino
Mar 24, 2008

The GSD is caracterized by his posture on stand up, the head and neck on the on-guard, one of his rear legs is a slightly bent beneath him while the other is stretched to the back. The head, the neck, the back and the stretched leg come in an almost straight line.
My dog has this posture sometimes (no perfect), and other time she stands up square.
How to reinforce the right GSD posture?
Thanks

Posted by Blue
Mar 25, 2008

Hi George,
Unless you are showing her, there is no reason to reinforce this position.

When she stands square, she is standing comfortably and solidly, if you always force her to stand a certain way it would be like asking you to stand on one foot for much of your life because you look prettier that way - not a fun existence.

If however you do plan on showing her (...although I'm not sure where you would seeing the rules of your country of residence ) I would set a command for the posture. Then every time she stands that way naturally, say the command and praise her and reward her for the correct stance. Then you can start giving her the command, if you give her the command and she does the square posture, reprimand her and correct the stance then reward her for maintaining it.

Blue

Posted by elmariachino
Mar 26, 2008

Thanks for your advice,

I'd rather she feels confortable and relaxed than fancy and pretty.
Nevertheless I like the way she looks when she stands the GSD way,
so i will use the command "pose" every time she does it naturally,
but I won't reprimand the square posture .

Thanks again Blue

German Shepherd Posture