Dash 5 months(*updated*)

Tell me what you think of Dash so far. He is 5 months old and we are both still learning how to stack. Getting a picture of a pup that wants to sit is a real pain in the butt lol.

This is a real tough stage for him right now...he is all legs and growing!! Nice topline and ribbing looks good....ribbing should be 3-4 fingers between end to hip or rear leg...lol!
Couldn't say on his front....lol....your hand is in the way......have someone else hold a treat for him to chew on but don't give it to him...let him lick & barely chew the end of the treat til you are done with the pic then let him have it and tell him he is a good boy the whole time!! I would of thought he was kinda use to stacking by now coming from Jen.... !!
Nice pup....when his chest drops he won't look so leggy!!!

I know my arm is totally in the way lol, no one else was home today to help me though. I should've just set up my tripod and set my camera to continous shots haha.

Leggy/hocky was what the handler had to say about him when we met last week, so we are just waiting for him to grow into them. Hopefully he turns out nicely

He's leggy, but that's the age, and possibly the lines (if he's out of some of their Grandgables lines, they're a little higher on leg when they're young). The upside is that despite the legginess, he's got very nice structure. His rear looks very nice, and his layback looks better than average to me. He might be a bit rounded at the croup, but that also could be him humping up his back a bit because he's not happy about stacking again. He looks out of practice-you should be doing that with him at least every other day if you intend to show him (hard when you're busy, I know). He's got a lovely length of neck and his ribbing looks acceptable to me, and so does his keel. They could both be a little better, but minis in general seem to be short in that area, so it's not unique to him. The only thing I'm not really wild about are his feet. They look a little flat and splayed.

All in all, he looks like he'll end up finishable, in my opinion. Work hard on socializing him, take him to conformation classes if you can (weekly or every other week) to help both of you out, and put him up on every surface and stack him every chance you get. Have other people go over him, but don't have them check the teeth unless they know dogs very well (they can accidentally pull the lips too hard and ruin the dog for that part of the exam). And it's going to sound weird for sure, but regularly put your hands lightly on the family jewels. He HAS to get used to them being handled if you're showing him.

Ditto to what Kathleen said.....I'm not so great with the proper words.....LMBO!!

Thank you for both the advise. I do try to stack him every day for a couple minutes on every sturdy surface in the house. We will keep practicing!!

He is 6.5 months here. Getting better at stacking, he is no longer afraid but stil prefers not to hold still for more then five seconds lol. I got my arm out of the way in this pic I don't think his front feet are set right in this pic though. We'll keep practicing and updating!!

He looks much nicer and more relaxed!!

Agree with Karen. Much more relaxed, so you can see the structure of his rear. He's definitely not rounded in croup. You'll want to pull his back legs a little further back-you can put a towel or a rug under him if he's slipping for traction. Tell him to stand, and then use cheese or something like that to bait him to lean forward a touch and when he does, say "yes!" and give him a treat. It teaches them to pull up over their front legs properly when you tell them to stand. They'll learn how to fix their rear on their own eventually too (kind of), but concentrate on getting him to fix his own front and then you can fix his rear for him until he learns how. He's looking very nice for the age!

Thank you for the advice Kathleen. I do tell him to stand, but what i've done is waited for him to hold the position for several seconds before i will give him the treat. I will work on him leaning forward a bit now. He often moves his back feet forward if he attempts to reach for a treat though. I suppose thats where stackers would come in handy since they can't really take a step unless they want to fall. Do you think i should try canned goods to prevent him from taking those steps forward with his back feet??

I didn't have good luck with cans-they kept falling over for me. I know some people use them fine, so give it a try. At Lowes, in the tool department, for about $14 you can get something called "bench cookies". They're bright orange and there are four to a pack. They're about an inch and a half tall and have the grips on both sides and they worked okay for Millie. Not as good as the stackers, but a heck of a lot cheaper.

Here's a link:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_323309-36580-10-035_0__?newSearch=true&catalogId=10051&productId=3142627&UserSearch=bench+cookies&Ntt=bench+cookies&N=0&langId=-1&storeId=10151

Cool and thanks!! I use the cans of sweetened condensed milk (I make homeade fudge with) since some of my dogs will stand and some won't. Depends on how much I work with them....hehe!!

I need to go to Lowes anyways for some boards!!!
When the weather gets nicer I can use my railing on my deck....hehe!!