Teaching my Italian Greyhounds to "Stand"

Why should I want to teach my Italian Greyhound to stand?

Dervisch Absolutely Irresistible on 

her´s debut in the dog show.

There are many occasions when standing is preferable to sitting or lying down.

• Rain and muddy puddles outside
• Check-up at the Veterinarian
• Groomung your Italian Greyhound
• In the Dog Show ring

I have not been to good with this kind of training from my 2 Italian Greyhounds were puppies. But its never to late :) And the greyhounds love to do all kind of training and its good brain excercis.

To teach you Italian Greyhound the stand, I use food in the right hand with the lead in the left hand. I tell my greyhounds to sit, and quickly go standing beside my Italian Greyhound so that her´s is on my left side. Then I place my food hand at the dog´s nose. Hold the treat with the palm of my hand facing the ceiling. I drop my hand slightly below the dog´s eye levee so she can see the treat in my hand.

As soon as my Italian Greyhound sees the food in my hand, I slowly move my food hand forward about 30 to 40 cm as I say "Stand". My dog will reach her head forward to get the food and then, as my hand moves further forward, she will stand up to follow the treat.
As soon as the Italian Greyhound is standing on all four feet, I stop moving my hand, release the for and praise lavishly :)

I do not put any pressure on the lead in my hand in order to help the Italian Greyhound to stand. If I do, the dog will normally resist my, and, in doing so, she will pull back away from me and remain seated instead of standing. I only try to use my food hand to get my Italian Greyhound into the standing position. My food hand is slow and deliberate, and my left hand is still and not attempting to guide my dog in any way. If I have trouble remembering not to pull forward with the lead, I just drop the lead and work with my food hand only.

I now practice in short periods of time, with all of my enthusiasm and treats :)