My young girl has her first show next weekend. She is doign well at home and ringcraft, but the one problem I have is she will not prick her ears at all. (well, she does, just when it suits her, not when I want her to!)

I have tried putting my hand in my pocket, which works for my younger pup, rustling a plastic bag, waving tissues around, a ball, even the dish sponge, as she loves to 'steal' these. Saying 'wassss ziisssss?' which usually gets her attention, but she still will not prick her ears!

She is quite laid back in general and I wonder if thsi si part of the problem? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

What is the breed?? And how old?

I know with Yorkies, but this might be different, they sometimes take a while for their ears to actually rise, so we use tape to tape them up to stop them flattering, also sometimes its the case where the hair weighs them down.. so make sure there isnt too much weight on them

Other than that, bribary and constant high pitch fun noises should do it!

Thanks, she's a Golden Retriever. I am not sure how important it is, but obviously they look so much nicer if they look interested an dalert! I have no idea why she won't do it.

Do you mean prick the ears upwards so they are facing the sky... if so, i am not sure if this breed is supposed to have their ears in that place...

I know from our golden (which we dont show) his ears tend to go outwards and raised, but not fully up, so im a little lost now

Goldens are a happy breed as it is, so it shouldnt take you much to really get the ears and the her looking happy and like she is enjoying it....  have you tried clicky toys and things like that or just a little tap and "come" "thats a good girl" etc, really happily?

At ringcraft, could you try

(a) not baiiting her/using toys etc but standing behind someone who does and see if she responds to them? or
(b) getting someone else to handle her?

This way you can observe if there is a change to her attitude/interest.  I see you say she is quite laid back so that's why I suggest something that might bring on a 'ooh, what's going on here then' response :)  It may or may not make a difference but I'd say give it a try.

regards, Teri

In don't think you SHOULD do this with a Golden -for a start it can make the ears look too high set. Look at all these photos of Golden winners from a recent breed show and you'll see how not one of them holds their ears like that. :)
http://www.thegoldenretrieverclub.co.uk/Ch%20show%202008.html

If you're free standing I'd rather concentrate on getting a wagging tail. :)

>Do you mean prick the ears upwards so they are facing the sky

No, she means to 'use' the ears, not just have them hanging flat against the head. An alert dog will raise its ears up and away from its head.

> In don't think you SHOULD do this with a Golden -for a start it can make the ears look too high set

Ah, see, I didn't know that :-D  Definitely agree about the waggy tail - so typical of GRs

What a cracking website that is!  Lovely to see individual pics of class winners added.  I saw a RC one like that before and think it makes a world of difference, especially if anyone would love to have been at the show but couldn't make it.

I gathered that afterwards Jean, thats why i added the comment about putting the ears to the side of her head and raised a bit, but not too high, just in my world of yorkies, pricked ears mean to the sky! lol

Lovely pictures on that site, i do however prefer the goldens to be more goldeney than some on there, but they still look fabulous!!!

Thanks all.

Marianne, maybe I'm not explaining mysel fcorrectly, or maybe I am just worrying about someting I shouldn't be?

in the link you posted, I aim 'aiming for the same sort of thing as is shown int he pictures of 'Monchique Chasing Dreams', where the ears are more forward and the dog looks more alert, rather than where the ears are more 'back and down' as shown in some of the other pictures. Obviously the 'back and down' is perfectly acceptable as these dogs have done well, but is it more prefrable to the dog looking more alert? I have seen a mixture of both in the actual ring.

Am I being an idiot? I can see what you mean about it possibly making the ears look to high set. I guess this is one of the perils of having to do thinsg by myself as my breeder is miles away.

Just to add, waggy tails are definitely not a problem. :-)

With one of my danes, shes got a habit of not putting her ears forward, so I mention "pussy cats" and make a hissing noise, and usually that does the trick, or ready, steady, go!!!
Thats what I say when were out, and she pays attention to me then!!
Silly little things like that often work, usually GR, are held under the chin anyhow when shown ,so speak to her, or try to get her excited about something!
Good luck anyhow!

Going OT here but I often browse the net looking at dog pics and love sites with pics of individual class winners like the GR website. I think I have seen the Collie one you mention Teri - that's one of my faves :-)

I (attempt to) maintain a website for our regions breed club and I took pics of class winners at our champ show as I thought it was a great idea - especially as you say, good to look at for those who can't be at the show. Unfortunately our website is extremely difficult to maintain but thats a whole different story and going even more off topic - but just wanted to say I enjoyed looking at the GR pics on that website :-)

Jackson I don't think you're being an idiot, you're wanting your girl to look her best!, but I also don't think you really need to worry about this either. :) Now in Belgians (and Papillons too, so both breeds I now show) it's essential for their pricked ears to be up, used well etc, so we're forever throwing things in front of the dogs, doing all we can to get the ears to look right in the ring -but none of all that (low flying pieces of liver and furry toys LOL) would be acceptable in a Golden ring.  Also most things work to start with, then the dog will lose interest. (Although one thing you can try is make one small toy VERY special. Never let her have it unless you bring it out, keep it in a drawer at home, make the games really exciting, always finish them soon, so she's dying to get to the toy (try a furry mouse for cats, made with real fur) -then if you have that in the ring she's bound to get interested. (And once you're finished in the ring, let her HAVE a quick game outside it! So it's not just teasing her with it.) I've done this with one of my Papillons, a small ball -he goes NUTS when he sees it, BECAUSE it's not freely available.(Same with one of my Goldens and his dummy, although a dummy is a bit too big to carry in you pocket LOL.) So I know your problem, but if I was you I'd forget it -that was one thing I did like about showing Goldens, I didn't have to worry about getting the ears right. :-D

Don't stress!. Keep things simple not too much practising. Your dog will pick up any stress from you before you even know you are stressing.
Relax, keep it fun, do 5 minutes a day at most, with a ringcraft class if you can. Usually once the dog is in the ring and amongst its peers it will pick up more interest, especially if you make yourself FUN to be with and are relaxed. Who knows You might enjoy it a bit more too!

If you free stand her, what about teaching her to catch. I use bits of food and say ready, steady, catch. That way if I want my golden to use her ears I can say ready, steady and she pricks them forward in anticipation of the catch game. At first I just tossed bits of food until she was catching really well, then I introduced the ready steady and threw a bit of food as I said catch. Gradually you can build up the time delay, and chat such as "are you ready, ready ready, steady, catch". In the ring if you don't want her moving to catch the food, you could literally post it into mouth. At home make it great fun, varying just how long you withhold the food for. If at any point she loses interest, don't make her wait as long next time. I think the uncertainty of when the food will arrive adds to the excitement. Hope this makes sense.

If all else fails pretend to find something on the floor and threaten to 'eat it'. Only works in dire emergencies or when judge is torn between your dog and another. Desperate measures :-) dont I know...Cavs must use their ears or it's curtains :-(

even the dish sponge

I thought I had the only one obsessed with the dish sponge lol

> I thought I had the only one obsessed with the dish sponge lol

More than ten years ago we had a Golden Retriever x Labrador puppy (guide dog pup). At the back of the kitchen sink we used to keep a sponge - the rectangular brightly coloured cellulose ones. One day this disappeared....couldn't think where it had gone, looked everywhere.

Next time puppy pooed it was full of brightly coloured bits yes, there was the missing sponge!

After that we always made sure they were pushed right to the back of the kitchen unit, but she still managed to eat about three more before she went for her advanced training!!

always a worry that she will swallow it but mostly just taers them to bits! angela

Glad I'm not the only one with a dish sponge obsessed dog!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'll simply stop worrying about it for now and maybe try some of the ideas in future.