Conformation Tool

5/26/11: Revision to post: Originally this post had a picture of a homemade conformation tool that we made out of scrap lumber to train our Newfoundland dog Louie's legs to stay in the proper stance in the show ring. Back in 2009 the creator of a product called HappyLegs (click the link to the left to go to her site) contacted me to tell me I was infringing on her patent by posting the picture. I am still not convinced that I did anything wrong by posting a picture of Louie standing on a tool that we made for our own personal use. However, since the creator of that tool was very confrontational about my original post, I honored her wishes and took down the picture of Louie. I will say that I have seen her Happy Legs in person and she has created quite a lovely tool that would last you for a lifetime of dog shows. If we were showing more than one pet dog we may have chosen to invest a couple of hundred dollars in her tool which is much easier to use and adjust than our clunky tool that we made literally from garbage. Her concern was that she thought we were trying to sell this product which is total b.s. My original post, which I have archived, said nothing whatsoever about selling any version of her product. In fact, we have never sold anything on this blog and have never even placed a single ad on it. Can you tell even 2 years after she contacted me that I am still a bit ticked off about this?

Here is another choice for people looking for a less expensive option: Steponz These are much more cheaply made than Happy Legs. I think they are overpriced for what they are, but if you can't afford to spend $200 and don't have a handy husband to make your own this might be a good option for you.

And here is a link that shows a homemade set that a woman's husband made for her. This one looks to be quite professionally made.

Now back to the original post...

The picture at the top is Louie in his first fun match at 3 months old making GooGoo eyes at the judge. He won best in Working Group that day.

We have no expectations of Louie completing his championship, but who knows what might happen. Our main goal is to go to some shows and have fun. but I do believe that showing is somehow in Louie's blood. When he gets in the ring he just turns on the charm and has a fabulous time. Louie seems to take after his greatgrandfather Josh in the charisma department.

Here is a little video of Louie's GreatGrandFather...