how would you aproach some one at ringcraft that pushes other dogs out of her dogs way, will actually put her foot up to stop another dog sniffing at her puppy and be saying in a very panicky voice go away go away, to your own puppy,or any other dog that aproaches her pup, and her pup is very nice and out going and wants to see everyone and say hello, but the person in question keeps picking it up and putting it over her shoulder, saying i do not want it to have a bad experience with any dogs, i just feel sorry for the pup, as she is going to make it so insecure if she keeps doing this and it is really a nice pleaseant young dog, any ideas how i should broach the subject with her when sitting next to her, she would not even put her pup on the floor when anyone was near her,when someone tried to explain to her that at shows the dog would be mixing withothers she said no she will be put in a cage until time to be shown, as everyone does that when they go to a show, the lady at club said at some open shows you may find you might not be there early enough to put up your cage and she was adamant that even at open shows there are room for cages it is allowed.
any ideas as how to start up a conversation about how it is good for her dog to get used to other dogs etc and that she is putting her frears of the unkown onto her young pup,
thanks carolann

I would first ask someone to hold your dog, as you go talk to this person.  If you go over with your dog, then she is just going to pick her dog up straight away.  Also, dont do it infront of everyone, as she may get defensive.

Ask her how she thinks it is helping her dog to be picked up.  Not in an accusing manner, just generally.  She may have a good reason, maybe she was told to do this by the breeder.  I dont know.  Listen to her side of the story.  Dont just go over with a lecture. 

Then tell this person, that at a dog show, there are quite a lot of dogs, and even in the classes there are hopefully a good sized entry, and she wont be able to pick her dog up there.  The dog will have to learn how to behave with other dogs, or it wont be a show dog. 

If your dog is calm, and you and her can agree, then ask if it would be alright to take your dog over for an introduction.  Or you could suggest puppy socialization classes.   

HTH

She needs to realise that, in the class itself, her dog will be on the floor and moving round with the others all on the ground together, so for the dog's sake it needs to be accustomed to this. Are you the trainer at ringcraft? If not, perhaps the trainer could have a quiet word with her out of earshot of the rest of the class (perhaps when he/she's going over the pup as they do at the ringcraft classes I've been to) that the pup needs to be used to interacting with dogs of all shapes and sizes if it's to do well in the ring.

Do you do the exercise where you all weave in and out of each other, or have half the class going round in one direction and half the other so that the dogs are passing in close proximity? If not perhaps you could suggest it?

As someone has already posted, I'd have a word with the trainer, people are more inclined to listen to someone who is "in charge".

There may of course be another reason, like she's concerned her dog might catch something or have something?  I know that if I hear a dog coughing at ringcraft or obedience I tend to wangle it so my pup doesn't go near or say hello to the coughing dog.  But then I'm a bit paranoid as my old girl has chronic bronchitis & can't afford to catch it :-(

Maybe she's had a bad experience with a pup or dog before? Maybe the pup is all she's got and so she is over protective? It sounds like this is her problem not the dog's from what you've said, and maybe you could open up a conversation with her about how we all feel protective of our dogs and ease into the subject like that?

Good luck whatever you do as it does sound like she's a bit OCD about it. (I mean Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - not the joint problem there :) )

Why is the other dog that close anyway?  I always like to have a distance between dogs, not because my dogs are nervous in any way but this is how I feel that things should be. 

I have always viewed ring craft as a way for pups to socialise, and always suggest it as socialisation for puppies.

All the fun for the pups is being able to meet and greet their canine chums, which carries over for when they start being shown so they enjoy the social aspect as much as their owner.

I agree with getting the trainer to have a word, it's ok to want to control how much contact the puppy has, they do have to learn to ignore each other and stand at shows etc, but she also has to learn loads of people will expect her dog to be well socialised and happy to have a quick sniff hello.