How to Stack Your German Shepherd Dog

You have dropped by this blog because you have been looking form information about German Shepherd Dog. This post is about stacking a German Shepherd  - making a GSD stand in a pose that you often find in dog shows. German Shepherd Dog has a unique stack position that features one rear leg under the body and the other stretched backward, exactly contrary to the conventional "square stack", featuring parallel front and rear legs or "extended stacks". The question is how to correctly stack a German Shepherd Dog.

Stacking a German Shepherd Dog

 First off, I will suggest you not to try stacking your GSD on sleek or slippery floor. Rough floor is appreciable; grassy lawn is highly appreciable. My next suggestion in this regard is not to stack your GSD on over grown grassy field, because the grass will hide the dogs feet. A freshly trimmed ground is the best option that any German Shepherd guys would look for.Remember, a freshly trimmed ground works best for trotting German Shepherds as well.

Stacking German Shepherds is probably a bit more technical than other dog breeds that have conventional "square stacks". Start of with slightly tiring the dog by trotting him for a few moments. How much to trot him before making him stand in stacked position? That's really an appreciable question that any new GSD owner would like to know. Trot for a few minutes until his tongue hangs out. Please note that over tiring the dog will not yield you desired result. After the trot,walk him a bit to bring him to a normal stance.

The next step is making him stand in the desired pose - staking. Place your palm under his chest, lift him a few inches from the ground and gently release him, trying to place his front legs down vertically straight. Viewing right down the shoulder to make sure the front legs are perfectly straight and feet are not twisted outward, which is why I suggested freshly trimmed lawn that won't hide his feet.         

Don't remove your hand from under his chest; reach around the hind part of the dog and place your foot just under the dogs belly, in order to mark the position where his inside hind paw will be placed. Place the inner leg, i.e. the leg which is on your side, by gently pulling it to the mark - your foot-point.

Next step is to place the outer leg stretched backward. Gently stretch the outside legs backward and place it such that the hock is positioned exactly at right angle to the ground. It is not advisable to pull the leg back too far, as doing that the hock cannot be positioned straight, and that will be a faulty stack.

The whole process is quite tricky and you need to be immensely patient as the dog may repeatedly remove its hind leg that is placed inside - under the belly. Without being patient you cannot make a dog stack properly. Once your German Shepherd gets used to with the process, things will turn out to be a lot easier for both - you and your dog. A poorly stacked GSD will display a faulty anatomical view, even though he may have a very good structure. This is where the knowledge of staking German Shepherds properly comes to play a very vital role.