Has anyone used the 'fit and fertile' 'showoff' formula?  If so i would be grateful if you can give me your views, good or bad, on it as their website doesn't seem to give out much information and I'm loathe to throw away money on something that is no use :) I just need something to take the edge off a totally over the top pup :rolleyes:

Hi :)

To be honest I wouldn't use anything on a puppy.  If he's over the top it doesn't matter. Let him enjoy himself in the ring and he'll settle down as he matures :)

Debs

Could I just ask how long you would tolerate ' over the top' behaviour.
I was considering the rescue remedy as our now 12 month old is so apparently untrained.
We d o train a lot, but when it comes to the shows he is demanding, he barks,and  is naughtier than a 6 month old....
You can see and feel all the self righteous bristling from fellow 'show people'. I do understand that it also 'winds up' the other dogs.

I have a 2 year old munsterlander bitch that is just starting to calm down - I hope She used to go round the ring midair most of the time. I don't think she realised just how silly she looked, or that she was supposed to behave :D I ignored her behaviour and laughed with everyone else at her antics. Enjoy your time in the ring. It shows that your dog has character - albeit one you wished it didn't have ;) He will calm down, eventually. Ignore his naughtiness, but make a fuss if he does behave. Train him at home. Run him as if you were in the ring. If he acts silly you have to stop and go back to the beginning with him. Ignoring him. Do not make eye contact. Try again, and again if need be. Once he has gone a few steps being good you can then stop and praise him. Keep doing this until you can go a decent length of time. I had to do this with Seska. It has made a huge difference. She may be silly out of the ring, but once inside she now behaves. :)

:-) Thankyou for the re assurance....Honest we do train, and daily. We are complete beginers, and as daughter does the handling I find it so difficult to know we are doing the right thing. She also goes to junior handling pretty much every week with him and has been since he was old enough to go!
I feel guilty encouraging her sometimes, not that she needs it really, I think had it me I may have thrown in the towel ages ago...I do admire her.
Karen

My Boxer bitch used to bark alot in the ring..
Bored Bored REALLY BORED..
So I started to teach her tricks (high five - low five etc) to keep her brain active whilst
we were waiting to be seen by judge etc...obviously when the
judge was going over us, looking on the last stand and in the beginning we were
standing...but inbetween when he/she wasn't looking..
She's 5 and a bit years old and she may even now have the occasional
bark as she's got bored in the ring...:rolleyes::D
She still bounces in the ring even now :D I'd rather have an animated dog
than a stuffed one :D :D

Agree with the others :)

My first showdog couldn't 'walk' nicely in the ring for the first 18 months and wasn't reliable until over 2 years   I even got asked by one judge if I could peel my dog off the ceiling long enough for her to be judged   We gave everyone great entertainment every time we went out :)

Once she settled tho, what a girl, she'd enter the ring and and had such presence :)  she's a champion now and is  now retired so her daughter can have a go, and she's just as naughty, tho at 2 years she's starting to calm down and not dance all the way round :) :)

I feel if they enjoy it as puppies then they'll get there in the end :)

I don't take mine to ringcraft regularly tho, they'd find it all far too boring  and then they'd be bored in the ring too ;)
I found that local open shows are a great training ground, and they're usually very friendly affairs too :) :)

Sorry I should have explained better.  On the move he is over the top but I would expect that in my breed for a couple of years yet, I'm used to that and it doesn't bother me.  Its when being handled he seems to get uptight when they go round his rear end, now with him being a poodle they are used to that from a very early age with clipping etc, have worked hard with him at training classes and he was almost 100% at the class this week but took him to his 2nd show and obviously they are a bit wired cos classes are nothing like the real thing.  At this show they announced every class to the collecting ring on a tannoy, this totally freaked him out.  I had managed to get his tail back up and him happy again and as judge was about to go over him they announced the next class on the tannoy!!  I know this shouldnt bother him (it wouldnt bother my others).  At home he is used to being handled by kids adults etc and is great nothing really bothers him thats why I was just looking for something to calm him down very slightly when we go to a show so that he is more his normal self.  Any ideas gratefull received

Personally I'd just take him places where there were a lot of announcements on tannoy systems and sit and play with him - make it fun for him.  The tannoy systems can very easily freak dogs out and once they've got it into their heads that they're scared it can take a while to alter their mindset.  What you need to do is associate the tannoy with loads of fun and not being in the ring.

Debs

In addition to the above excellent advice I'd also use Rescue Remedy :)  If both handler and dog take some then both will be slightly more relaxed but without being 'doped' or drowsy, or hyped up :)  I've used it myself, I used to be so nervous in the ring that I couldn't have told you my own name, let alone gone around the ring sensibly ;)  One dose and I was heaps better :)  I've also seen it given to dogs with great results :) :)

I agree with the advice to just sit with him at places with tannoys - make sure you don't make a big deal of any noise or any reaction though. I'd definitely advise against trying to calm puppies down in general, I tried to get Henry to behave properly as a youngster, and he went very flat and bored looking for some time, it was ages before he started to enjoy it again. :-)

he went very flat and bored looking for some time

That's the main problem Lucy.  I'd personally never give anything to a puppy to altar it's natural temperament.  It's such a critical time, you don't want to be masking anything.  They have years in the ring so it's better to be patient.

Debs