Has anyone got any tips for calming down an over zealous dog in the ring?
Gus loves everyone and every dog to such an extent that I find myself constantly trying to pull him back and keep him in place :(
As you can imagine a Staffy on the end of your arm constantly pulling is quite tiring .
Have tried using treats , talking to him , stroking him etc . Dont really want to resort to rescue remedy and I suppose it is all to do with maturity and experience but he is hard work at the moment . :(
Lel

How old is he? I had this trouble with Toby someone suggested a Halti collar ( headcollar) on C/D, it worked instantly, but Toby eventually broke it, so i bought a gentle leader its a bit stronger than a Halti.
Heidi

If he is young it may be very difficult and may not be what you would want to do anyway. You could try a halti at open shows if he is still in the baby classes.

Hi Lel,

Is it just at shows or is he excitable around crowds of people whenever he comes across them? If so, you could maybe try desensitising him by visiting markets and other busy places for a while?

Morning Lesley,

Is it just with you he's like this or is he the same when hubby takes him in the ring?

Karen

Do you take him straight from his bench/crate into the ring? Try taking him ringside a couple of classes before his (or if he is first in have a wander around with him) just to take the edge off before he is expected to stand still.

Hi Karen
both of us .
We can get him to stand and to walk in the ring its just the waiting part - when the dogs have been stood in line for the judge and then they are relaxed as the judge goes over each one .
Hard work - especally in a large class where it might ages before the judge sees him

Try getting a small toy, that you can easily pocket and never let him actually have it. Tease him with it, and get him to covet this toy more than anything. When the other dogs are a distraction, produce the toy so his mind is on that rather than the other dogs and handlers. My little girl has a furry mouse that she is dying to get hold of, and all else pails into the distance when she sees it!

Nope never found anything that worked on my Boxer bitch,
I tried everything and she's still as crazy as ever.........
She's now 5 1/2 yrs old and has had a litter and despite some
people saying a litter would calm her down, ROTFLOL it hasn't
she's no better, luckily her daughter is a calmer version :D she takes
after her dad.
I tried all the rescue remedy's, valerian liquid (this stuff just gave her really bad rotten egg farts) :(
and calm tablets on the market...she was away with the fairies and wanted to 'party'
with her own rules.
It was a shame because if she'd have behaved herself a little better she may well
have gone on to do greater things in the ring.
I gave up and she's now in semi-retirement from the ring and I hope when she's a veteran she'll be calm enough to
show...but somehow I doubt it. I can always hope though.
The daughter of this bitch is a 'barker' when she's bored in the show ring so I just go through all the routine obedience
skills that we are learning to keep her mind occupied..it works until you stop asking her to do stuff
and then BARK BARK BARK which goes straight through you.
Good Luck and if you find something that works post it up here :D