Dog Training - Training Show Dogs

Over 130 different breeds compete in major dog shows, such as the Westminster in the US or Crufts in the UK. But there’s a good deal more to developing a show dog than simply acquiring a dog of one of those breeds and teaching it to sit or stay.

Within any breed there are dogs that are closer to the ‘ideal’ than others. This ‘conformation’ is an important first criteria. Conformation refers to the specific arrangement of parts - legs, tail, head, ears, etc - that determine the dog’s appearance. Since this is difficult to judge in young puppies, show dogs are often the offspring of other show dogs.

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