Dogz Posing

This is a dally in a dane pose. I award dane poses in dallies only in puppies. :)

The posing dogz above is in what is called a profile or dane pose. In a profile pose, each dogz must show only one eye & ear. It's feet must be perfectly lined up and even. It's chest will be puffed out and its back will not look twisted and will have a nice curve to it. The tail will be pleasantly curled. The dogz will have an overall happy and noble appearance and will seem to be looking into the camera with one eye. Almost all dogz are asked to appear in a profile pose. In this show, profile poses for every breed are always excepted. Below are some more examples of this pose.

A close to perfect pose. The head is slightly turned.

The head could be carried a little higher in this example - and the legs need to be a little more aligned. Otherwise, perfect.

Its often the case that different breedz of petz will have their own variations of poses. Below are examples of the pose variations that are exceptable in this show for each breed. This page was not only created as a guideline for entrants but for my judges too.

Dalmations almost never look good in the profile pose. Instead, they look best in a face forward pose unless they are very young puppies. Below you can get an idea of what this pose is suppose to look like by mousing over the pictures.

Here is a sgch pose. Notice, however the frontlegs are not perfectly aligned. This isn't a bad thing at all. But another dogz with a better pose might get the BIS and this one only first.

This is the ideal pose. I have a difficult time finding fault with it -but the chest could be more puffed. I really like this color combo, others don't -so he might not get BIS. In the end its a preference thing. But poses like this should at least place in most small shows.

Although the legs are slightly off, self colored ears and matching eyelids can do surprisingly well in some shows. Remember, the important thing is to make sure the dogz is very close to the ideal pose. Let the dogz personality, health and coloring do the rest of the work.

This is a very elegant pose. Notice how the ears fit snugly against the head. The eyes are calm and looking into the camera. The chest puffs out like a pigeon's. The legs align together nicely and the tail is a perfect curl. The body must never look twisted.

There are occations when I award other breeds in a dalmation pose. The challenge is, the dog must look incredible in this pose.

Poodles are very rare in the showing world so I am always happy to see one in my shows. It takes an outstanding pose to get the prize in this event. This is mostly because poodles pose so differently than other dogz do. But it is possible to win BIS with a poodle. I know because I have done it. You can too with work and a few tips.

This puppy won several BIS in both poodle and all breed shows. The biggest show win was BIS against 60 other poodles.

This version is not quite as perfect as the other as the face is just slightly turned. Its still a great pose.

Another really great pose. The head is just slightly turned, but still really good.

This is the only pose that I will accept for poodles. Make sure that the poodle's face and body are in perfect profile. The ears pricked forward and the eyes must be alert, not drowsy. The head must not be thrown back but facing forward. Just imagine these little ones sitting by the door waiting for you to come home. That's the impression you want to make.

As you might be able to tell, the poodle on the far left is posing the best. The other poses are great and if he were not there, they would do just fine. Sometimes that just happens in shows. One great pose on a great dogz blows everyone else away. Luckily, dogz like that are rare and you would be very fortunate to have one.

Not all of the dogz above are posing perfectly. A petz with a better pose might win against entrants like these in this show. Then again, they may not. Good looks, great coloring and a shining personality also count for a lot! All petz must be in a pose... thats true. But its not just a contest of who poses better. Its the overall effect that the judges are looking for. A pose enhances all of those great features and thats why its asked for.

Below are some examples of poses that probably would not win in a large show... or even in a small one. Mouse over each one to read the critique.

Handsome? Yes. Posing? Yes. Winnable? No. He's facing the wrong way, which throws his feet off balance. There are a lot of other things wrong. But lets get him to turn the other way first. At first glance, it looks ok. But the head does not perfectly face forward. The tail is not carried high enough. Also, this eye color is not very popular with judges... so for a dog like this to have a prayer, the pose must be flawless. The ears are not snug against the head and the tail isn't curled enough. Her body is not aligned enough which throws everything else off. Against other decent entrants, this one would have a very tough time. Though, she is very pretty. This is cute. But the chest needs to be a bit more puffed along with a few other problems. I'm not saying she wouldn't win anything... but look out for the other entrants! Errr... no. The head is thrown too far back. Not completely down. Eyes too wide

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