Jeb's Rally Weekend(a little long)

[jebsmama]

This was our best weekend. We finally broke the 90 mark. He did well on Saturday, completing all signs with only having to repeat one, ending up with a 92. Sunday he got 91 (not sure he deserved it). He tried to play with his leash during the serpentine and almost tried to hump me. I have come to the conclusion that this is stress-induced behavior. We arrrived Saturday about 1.5 hours before our run and Sunday it was 3 hours before. Any suggestions for stress reduction prior to entering the ring?

[Belles mom]

Congratulations on the Q's and better scores!

Some of the things I do are "ups" where the dog jumps up to touch me hand, spins, or tell Kodi to "Bite me!" which means jump up and "bite" my arm. Sometimes I will give them the "raspberry" right in the face, or do a push game with them (I shove their shoulder or butt and then have them come back at me to touch my hand (initially get a treat from my hand). If Jeb is not used to these teach them separately and use them at the end of a particularly good practice or exercise. I should like a cheering maniac both outside and inside the ring. At some point a judge may comment to me about it but so far I can turn it off instantly and it keeps their moral up in and out of the ring

[Milesmom]

Nice job!

[3TailsWaggin]

I thought you and Jeb looked great. Mom even commented to me how much better Jeb is doing for you.
Hey, you beat Ruger's 89 score in Excellent (turdball stood up on his honor!!)

Great seeing you at the show. Can't wait to do it again

[windycanyon]

How young is he? I just went thru this with Kiku a couple months ago, and in her case, I realized it was a manipulative behavior as she'd start it toward the end of training. Since I do field work and advanced obedience and all my pups are FF'd at ~8-9 mos, I don't tolerate my dogs taking the lead role after that. I knocked her down a few notches one evening, made it clear that it wasn't a behavior I enjoyed, and guess what? Shes been a perfect angel ever since. She won her Nov B class both days at our shows early in the month at 13 mos (scores 97 and 96).

Prior to that, I had taken the positive approach thinking it was stress or a fear stage (she also would start to "hug" me, or lean into me bumping me terribly on left turns esp). When that was clearly failing, I remembered back on training her Great great grandma, my first lab.... we had a few sessions concluding w/ "come to Jesus" meetings, and voila.... perfection the next day.

Every dog is different, so you need to learn to read them if you don't have a breeder/mentor who can guide you. I see folks all the time wanting to do the PC thing in dog training and in many cases, it just doesn't send a clear message. Our dogs want guidance, imo, and if you dilly dally around waiting for them to give you the "right" answer, you lose valuable time. And, it's not fun.

[ObedienceLabs4Me]

Congrats on the Q's! All dogs have stress behaviors in the ring--secret is finding what works for them to help calm them. Caleb gets some Oxyfresh Stress Relief stuff before he goes in the ring. I also have really stepped up the playing with him in the ring. Still working with Micah to see what he needs.

[patm]

Emilu started out her first year of showing, very happy and upbeat, and then , for whatever reason, she became much more stressed and subdued in the ring. She also became dog reactive. I tried various things, and finally, what is working for us now is -don't get there too early, have one "pee" before we go in the building and don't go out after that - I find that sniffing around where all the other dogs have been stresses her out and we don't work outside because she can't concentrate on what we are doing. Then I used to work her a fair amount before our show time, but no more. We get there, I put her in her crate, then walk her around the show area and the ring we are going to be in. Do just a few simple things like "sit", a couple pivots or something, and that's about it. If we're going to be there awhile, she likes to sit outside the crate with me, and I scratch her tummy (very relaxing for her). I have also decided to treat her alot before we go in - hey - that's what gets her happy! In the rally ring I could talk to her the whole time, but in obedience, since we have to be "quiet" during the exercises, I have started making it fun between them. I used to be very nervous myself, and would "heel" her to the next site, thinking we had to be "serious", but it is more important to me right now to keep her happy in the ring. I also talk to her more between the exericses, and when we get to where we're supposed to be, I tell her what we are going to be doing - "you're going to get your dumbell", "we're going to do drops", because she was always nervous and waited for a second command - which of course doesn't cut it. I might be doing something different the next time you ask - we're certainly a work in progress!

[jebsmama]

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement. To answer windycanyon's question Jeb is almost 3-1/2 years. And he is a work in progress as I am.

[windycanyon]

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement. To answer windycanyon's question Jeb is almost 3-1/2 years. And he is a work in progress as I am.

We all are (or have dogs that are!), lol.
Do you have any fun matches around your area? They sure help. I wish my area had more so I've started to drive for more opps w/ other clubs but I've found if starting w/ a puppy, it really doesn't take much more than sneaking them into a show or 2. I also try not to let my dogs think they are the center of the universe since I've got multiples. Sometimes they go to places and just sit in a crate all day other than potty breaks, so they get very used to it like it's just another day... Anne