I'm puzzled and don't know what to do

[Gabby's Mom]

Okay, I'll try to make this as short as possible while including all the important details. I am competing in Obedience and having a very difficult time getting my 19 month old female to refrain from acting like a total goofball as the shows.

I'll be the first to admit that I didn't do nearly enough homework before I went out and bought my first Rottweiler and as much as I love my girl, she may not be the best match to fit my needs. When I got her 17 1/2 months ago, my only intention was to have her for a pet, however, after I began obedience training I became addicted. When she was around 8 months of age I began thinking that I would compete her in obedience, because at this point she was doing very well with her obedience. So at 12 months we competed in our 1st trial and got a 4th place and a qualifying score. And then about 1 1/2 months later and 2 obedience trials later she got her CD title. I showed her 2 more times during my 60 days left in Novice A and got qualifying scores of 186 and 187. I recently took her to a Rottweiler only obedience trial and we bombed big time. I understand that there are going to be days that those things will happen, but when I get to the obedience trials she has no focus. In the show atmosphere, where she knows she cannot be corrected, she pulls on the leash like a crazy woman, she lunges towards people because she wants them to pet her, she lunges towards other dogs because she wants to play with them. She is very jumpy at sounds around her and dogs approaching from behind. At the few moments she does pay a tiny bit of attention, her head is basically twitching back and forth between quick looks at me to see where I am and then back to look at EVERYTHING else going on around her. I have socialized this dog very much. I take her EVERYWHERE I go. The biggest problem is that it is difficult to find places that mock the dog show atmosphere. (My son, the dog and I got kicked out of Lowes a couple of weeks ago) Outdoor shows aren't quite as bad as the indoor shows. I have talked with several different trainers in my area. All are puzzled and not sure what kind of advice to offer me! As I said this is my first dog and I am obviously lacking a bit of experience, but my gut feeling is that the problem is either her nerves or that she just gets extremely excited to be around all that is going on. I want to show this dog and take her as far as I can go in Obedience with her, but is it possible that I just don't have the right dog and this dog isn't cut out to go further in the show ring. She is a wonderful pet and does her obedience very well, at home, at class, at parks, just about everywhere except when the distractions get as intense as they are at the trials. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? I know she is still very young, but I am afraid that if I don't get control of the way she acts at the shows now, it is going to worse as she gets older.

If I left out any important details, please let me know and I will appreciate any help/suggestions I can get. As I said, I want a dog that I can be competitive with and that I can take to the level of UD and possibly UDX. Obviously, my short term goals are to begin working towards the CDX and get out of the Novice ring.

Thanks-Andrea and Gabrielle Von Bauerhausen, CD, CGC

[DNeff]

Originally posted by Gabby's Mom
In the show atmosphere, where she knows she cannot be corrected, she pulls on the leash like a crazy woman, she lunges towards people because she wants them to pet her, she lunges towards other dogs because she wants to play with them. She is very jumpy at sounds around her and dogs approaching from behind. At the few moments she does pay a tiny bit of attention, her head is basically twitching back and forth between quick looks at me to see where I am and then back to look at EVERYTHING else going on around her. I have socialized this dog very much. I take her EVERYWHERE I go. The biggest problem is that it is difficult to find places that mock the dog show atmosphere.

While it is important to get your dog used to the chaos of dog shows, It is much more important to train your dog to work through distractions in a calmer place (your training building) first. Once you have the exercises pretty well in place you should be introducing small levels of distractions and gradually increasing the intensity of them, all in an easy setting. Teaching her how to work through noise, excitment and other dogs should first be done in your class. You could have kids playing on the other side of the ring gates, someone tugging with a noisy excited dog, people clapping and laughing loudy, etc...

Every exercise you do; heeling, attention, recall, stand, needs to be proofed with lots of different distractions in your familiar training place. Teach her how to be right, what you expect from her and that it is possible to cope with lots of other stuff going on and still remain working. The key is to gradually increase distractions and once you can handle lots of heavy distractions in your building start taking it on the road.

Places like Petsmart are great for practicing. Also considering working on the sidewalk outside of your grocery store, hardware store, etc... You don't need to go inside, and probably shouldn't until she is proofed to handle much heavier distractions. When you take your girl out ask for the easier exercise first that she knows best, gradually ask for more and more difficult behaviors. Work the perimeter of the area and as she is better and better able to cope start bringing her closer to the action.

At a place like Petsmart, I might start out in the farthest corner of the store that doesn't get any foot traffic, and I would work sit with attention. As she gets better and better, I might work sit w/attention in a more busy area, until I am working sit w/attention at the front door. I then go back to the farthest (quietest) corner and work attention heeling, then I move to the middle of the store and then to the front.

I would find some UKC obedience shows which tend to be smaller and somewhat calmer. Take her to a few of those and warm up and practice some outside the ring. UKC is much more liberal about allowing a more thorough warm up. Show n go and matches are also great places to practice in a more distracted setting. Agility trials are also a great place to work. You start at the edges and gradually work in as she has success.

When you do go to a show site, I try to show up early when they are still setting up. I bring my guy in and let him sniff around and check out the scene. I put in the truck for a while and then bring him back in as the action starts to pick up. I find a quieter area and sit down and just relax with him. So he can get acclimated.

Also IMO 19 months is still not mentally mature for most rotties. Don't push her too much until she truely settles down mentally!

Hope some of that helps!

Dawn
U-CD Cammcastle's Mystic Riven CDX OAC OGC NA NAJ NJC TT CGC
http://members.aol.com/dplantier
http://members.aol.com/rottweilerworld

[Gabby's Mom]

Dawn,

Thank you for your reply! I value your opinion and suggestions as I know you are doing very well with your Rottweiler. I guess for her age, we are doing well. We did score a 191 at Friday's trial and tied for 6th place out of 36 dogs, most of which were much older than my girl. I will try to be a bit more patient and in the meantime keep working and exposing her to distractions, first at a distance and then gradually (as she progresses) moving closer.

Thanks so much!

Andrea & Gabby

[fbkeays]

My first rott would act like she wasn't even leash broke when we walk into the ring. She finally got her act together when she was about 3. She started her obedience trialing career at 9 months:D
She sounds a lot like your girl. I would put trialling on the back burner for right now. Work on your distraction training first. I know that is hard when she does so well in a familar enviornment. Right now she is a baby. Let her growup and mature a little first.
If trials/shows are close enough by, why not go and just practice in the parking lot? Do that until she behaves and then work your way on the show grounds. Work in a quieter "corner" of the show and slowly work your way in to the vendor row. It may take six months, but at least you are not wasting entry money and you get the show excitment. You can do some correcting at a show (outside the ring of course). You just can't do harsh corrections.