Hi
I have an 8 month old puppy who I am planning to show but have 1 big problem he won't bait.
His great at home he stacks up and keeps his head straight but thats because there are no distractions. When I take him Ringcraft or to the park I need the bait to try and keep his attention. The problem is I can't find any food that his interested in enough to ignore whats going on around him. I've tried Liver cake,chicken,etc as far as I know absolutely everything. Had lots of tips for different foods from people but nothing has worked as yet.
Wondering if anyone has had this problem and if so how did they manage.
He has been to one Champ show but the breeder took him in for me still had problems keeping his head straight but where he hadn't seen the breeder since he was young he was better behaved.(plus breeder is experienced)
He came 2nd in his show so he did really well. I've got a couple of shows coming up and am panicking on how he will behave.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

hi have you ever socialised him or even taken him to ringcraft?  you really need to start training him for the shows with lots of distractions around so when he does go to shows he's not overwhelmed by it all.

warm regards susan

Does he have any interest in toys?

Hi
Yes he does have favourite toys but when his out he forgets all about them. If you throw it he'll leave it and if you give it to him in his mouth he just drops it and walks on. He's a very difficult one!!

Have you tried Markies? I usually cook liver and hotdogs for bait but I won a box of markies in the raffle at ringcraft and they really grab my pups attention, he'd do anything for on :D They are quite big tho, puppy markies may be better for using in the ring HTH :)

I'm going Tescos in a while I'll grab a box and have a go tomorrow. Fingers crossed they'll work but I'm very doubtful.
                   Thanks

Hi
Tried the Markies...no such luck!!..Thanks anyhow.

Hi Susan
He goes to Ringcraft Training once - twice a week and he socialises well..he meets lots of dogs over the park but his mind is still always somewhere else looking for mischief.
Any idea what Target training is?..A lady over the park said she'd heard of doing this instead of baiting but didn't actually know what had to be done!

Have you tried cheese???

my rottie was and is still the same flamin well nosey, he knows what he has to do and when he does it he looks brilliant,but if someone happens to walk past with an interesting looking dog or bag or anything his mind wanders and his head is all over the place usually followed by his body, i started at home teaching him the watch, it mean look at me and then when he did this i clicked with a clicker and he got a treat, then this progressed into the garden we would just walk about and then i would say to him watch as soon as he looked at me click and treat, then came the outside test, and yes we where back to square one he would watch me when given the command then as soon as i gave the treat the head would wander, or he would totaly ignore the treat and be looking around, i found making him go hungry before a show worked well for a while, then i found liver cake with loads of garlic in worked for a while then garlic chicken you can buy ready cooked from asda or tescos worked for a while, then as he got older and more and more acustomed to shows, he started to settle into what he was supposed to be doing, and he started to realise  oh another dog show same thing last week nothing new hear lets get on with the job in hand, so i found out of months and months of training he just settled the more we did it the more he wached me,but i know how frustrating it is, they work good at home and in ringcraft classes but you could cry with the frustration when it comes to outside training, people use to say play with his favourite toy, he lost interest in it outside, use his favourite food, he lost interest in eating when he got outside.
But please perservere, keep taking him to the shows and keep trying the more you go the more it will become the norm for him and it is a long process.

carol

HI Carol
Thanks for your advice your dog definately sounds like my boy. I might look into the Clicker training I'm willing to try anything. My breeder has said that he will get better in time as he gets more acustomed to going in the ring. The problem is I've just started and am really nervous so the thought of going in and everything going wrong is making me blow the whole thing out of proportion.
Got a show this week and the closer it's getting the more the nerves are playing up!!
I will keep going and hopefully one day it'll all come together like your dog has.

Hi Carol
Would you think more Ringcraft training would help? He plays up when the person comes up to go over him..I have had some advice from someone I know and they said cut the training down...getting a bit confused. I thought the more practise he gets the better he would be but I was told it could have the opposite effect?!

I wouldn't go with cheese unless you want it melting in your pocket and hand :d

Arrrr but if you use a rubbery cheese such as edam it just gets sweaty and not crumbly...
:D
I've found if you borrow someone else's bait that normally works better...:D :D
I had that today with my youngest bitch.
She didn't want her normal fav which is edam cheese....nor did she want my other girls pork sausage..
sigh instead she liked her breeders liver!!
LOL. Didn't do any good mind she was binned..

Well, usually I keep my bait in a small plastic bag, within me bum bag!!! So it don't do dat in my pocket!!! LOL :D

At 8 mths does it matter that he won't stand like a statue and moves his head about because he is interested? I wouldn't worry at all, but when you discover a bait that he loves ONLY EVER feed him that in the ring when he behaves

When he moves his head then the backend will slighty twist. When I've been to watch a few shows most of the pups seem so well behaved and thats what makes it harder when you think your going to be the only one in the ring doing everything wrong.

Hi
When he was alot younger he really loved cheese but as his got older he's got so fussy. Would eat it at home but won't bait on it.

A couple of suggestions -

Garlic Sausage, it stinks, but it is the only thing that works for a friend of mine.......we make her sit up the end of the hall mind :D

A small latex toy that only gives a small squeek, if you find that turns him on, you can't squeak it in the ring, but showing him it might do it.

As someone else said, whatever you find that works, only use it in the ring.