Hi all, i'm abit losted on this so i need your help, when i'm in the house training Nina goes great but at ringcraft she becomes shy, at first it was all the other dogs and walking, now it just seems to be walking up and down what she doesn't like, i thought the more she goes she would get better but the opposite seems to be happening she's been going since she was 13 weeks old and the same thing happens when i take her out on her lead, so last week i thought i would take my mums dog Bella who is very well behaved so she could teach Nina a few tricks which did help but this week i never took Bella, she did go worse.  Has anyone got any suggestions?

Some dogs just dont enjoy showing Frank :(

i can understand that some dogs dont like showing but not even like going for a walk is going a bit far dont you think.  I've always had the otherside of the coin where my dogs love to go out and they pull not shy and retiring.  In my opinion i believe alot goes on the handler to if the dog is concentrating on you then it shouldn't be bothered about it's surroundings in an ideal world.

Warm regards Susan

Hi, i've just been looking at Gwen Baileys web site and i'm going to buy her video training for life, so i hope this will help me.

Warm regards Susan.

Is her appetite and weight normal?

Is she normally active or lethargic?

Might be worth having her checked for hypothyroidism if she is trying to refuse walks.

The same thing happened with Idõ at ringcraft, of course the first week he was quite shy and just wanted to hide under my chair but then he started to get more confidence....then the same happened again after a few weeks, he would move up and down the mat but it was obvious he was not happy, he had his tail down and he was looking around in an anxious sort of way.

Anyway I told his breeder and she suggested to keep going but not make him do anything, the idea being that he was coming to that age where his mind was telling him to be more wary of things. So we went and did nothing, he actually fell asleep and the next week he was back to normal and now he bounds in with all the confidence in the world and loves it :D

So my advice would be to keep at it, just don't make her do anything, it may take a few weeks, just have a little 'go' in the interval(if you have one)or at the end when its a bit quieter, then you can gauge how she's doing. Keep practising at home, so many people don't bother and then expect miracles from their dog at class ;)

Good Luck

Emily

Thanks Emily Rose, she's normal at home, she does sleep quite alot but has energy spurts but i think thats normal.  In the intervals she will go to sleep she just lies flat out on the floor and it's hard to get her back up, i'm glad you've just said that though not to do anything when we go to ringcraft because on Gwen Bailey's web site she says not to push them.  I'm so excited now about get this training for life, it has a video and i'm sure it will come in handy more than just once.

Warm regards Susan.

I think the key is not to push them, if you do then it becomes unpleasant therefore not fun. His breeder also said not to go for the whole evening, our class runs for 1 and a half hours so I just took him for 45 mins, took a blanket for him to lie on and just sat and watched. I think part of it is that is so boring, they see the other dogs getting fusses and treats and want to join in...aren't we sneaky?!!
Keep at it and good luck when you start showing, I'm counting the days....17 to be precise til mine and  Idõ's first show!!!
Emily

Thanks for the help Emily and good luck with your show.

Warm regards Susan

Thanks Susan, the waiting is the worst part, once we start showing together regularly we'll be ok, I have a show with my youngest girl on the 29th, probably her last for a while, so thats a good little practice run for me as I haven't been in the ring for about a month!
Emily

Susan does your girl actually feel uncomfortable in the place where you are training?  I have a not very good ringcraft which is in a very small space and althought it is fine for the beagle it is not very good for the dallies as they are much larger.  I found Molly became very scared with wondering if she was going to trample a small dog or have one nip at her. 

My Tigger is a natural show of which was a breeze but I have had many embarrising moments with the other two!

Try and stick with it.

Yes it is quite small it's a social club so all the training is done on a square dance floor on rubber mats, i've just received my video on training for life by Gwen Bailey so i've been watching that, there's loads of good tips,  I've also received a lightweight showing collar from accolade collars, so touch wood with a bit of practice we will be fine, i'm going to take Emilys' advice take her but i'm not going to join her in, that way i can also practice handling on my mums rottwieler who is very good for training on as i need experience to and while we are doing the classes Nina can sit and watch. Thank for everyones help it's much apprieciated.

Warm regards Susan

I think that was one of the problems at ours, the one I used to take Kayla to was huge, as they use it to do agility in so you could really stretch out and do huge circles and proper triangles :D At this one there is only one mat for 'up and down' and when we do a traingle it means going very close to the other dogs round the edge and those that may have just walked in the door...not ideal. But at least it gets him used to be close to lots of other dogs but I wish it was like the other one I used to go to :(