Can anyone recommend some of the herbal potions that you can give to your dog so that he is calm in the ring?

Where can I get them?

Hi Nadia,

My weimaraner bitch wouldn't let any judge near her when I first started to show her! I tried loads of calming remedies but she either hated the taste or they needed to be used weeks before a show (I didn't want to calm her down other than for the showring). I then tried a 'Doreen Paige' flower essence remedy called 'apprehension of known things'. She had 7 drops about 1 hour before going into the ring and it worked for us! It could be worth a try. The phone number for them is 01743 860062.

Good Luck!

Cee Cee.

Hello Cee Cee
I have a similar problem with my staffy,he's fine on the lead everywhere else except in the ring.he's got his stud book number but I'll try anything that might calm him down a bit in those crucial moments.Is it mail order only and do you remember how much it is,oh and is it anything like bachs rescue remedy,I've tried that with no result.Thanks for any help

Thanks a Million Cee Cee,

I also have just bought Bacs Rescue Remedy Today in the hope that it will work. I also have been giving him Serenium for the past few days. The show is tomorrow. I have just went out and bought liver and I have been told to boil it for 10 minutes and to then put it into the oven. Is this right? I am hoping that this will make me soo attractive to him (more so than other dogs and the judges). I also have bought shiney new show leads and am beginning to get nervous

How much of this Bacs Rescue Remedy should I use (oh and the dog as well I suppose)?

Cut the liver into oxo sized cubes before putting in the oven to dry out! Haqve the oven on minimum heat and check regularly or you will end up with charcoal!

Maybe I'm missing the point here, but if you have to drug a dog to get it into the ring then why are you showing that dog? Surely that's putting your desire to show the dog above the benefit of the animal.

Fiona
x x x

Hi, I had a dog that came to me as a rescue and was apprehensive of most things including people, other dogs and almost every new situation we found ourselves in. I needed something to take the edge off his fear and generally calm him down and I found that ''scullcap and valerian'' worked really well. I got this from Dorwest Herbs who are at most of the Champ Shows, not sure of the phone number, but if you want it I will try and dig it out for you later. I found he had to take it for at least 6 weeks before I noticed a difference but he stayed on this more or less all of the 2 years I had him and I believe it played a big part in keeping him calm and helping him feel secure.
Hope this helps a bit,
Gabrielle.

My puppy was only given this remedy to "chill her out" a bit in the showring and help her gain a bit of confidence. She was 6 months and 5 days at the time and only needed the drops for about 4 shows. It was to make her feel comfortable with people she had never met before (judges) going over her. I'm sure we have all needed a stiff drink at one time or another for dutch courage! Weimaraner puppies can be very sensitive and if they get all stressed out about a situation, they never forget it. She is now mature and showing full of confidence.

Cee Cee.

Hi everyone,

I take your point fiona, I think I was more nervous than the dog and more unsure and unconfident. It turned out that I tried the Bacs on Friday night and the dog did not seem any different. The only problem was that Duke kept coming up to me to get a pet and his breath smelt like he was on the vodka all day! I thought that this would not be nice for any judge trying to inspect his teeth. So I decided that it was best to go cold turkey.

Anyway, I went to the show and ended up taking the Bacs Rescue Remedy myself. I had no sleep the night before and was a bag of nerves. It worked for me and we went into the ring armed with smelly liver and high pitched excited tones. I was classed third in the puppy class (against other breeds of dogs) and was placed second in best of breed (Dobermann) catagory. Duke performed impecably and was better than most dogs that I had seen. I was very proud. He was excellent for his first ever show. All in all it was a great day and I know now that there is no need to be nervous as everyone was really nice.

Ended going out that night to celebrate and have a terrible hangover today! Great day out, I'm hooked!

Thanks for your advice guys!