# Need help showing animation



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

My girl Lucy is cute and has a sweet expression. Her sister Caly is obnoxious and ill-mannered and full of spunk. Lucy is quite serious and careful. Caly is a wild thing in the ring. Guess who wins? Caly every time. Everyone tells me it's Caly's animation and spunk. So while most agree that Lucy is a nicer looking dog, judges seem to like Caly's spunk more. So does anyone have an idea for teaching Lucy how to cut loose a little more and show some animation? It's hard to get her ears up and interested. I'm in a handling class trying to get her peppier. I'm about ready to bring in a bird wing. My husband suggested spreading duck blood on a toy, since she only seems to care about ducks. Anyone else have this problem or have a suggestion? 

I think it's Lucy's turn to have a BOW instead of her sister!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

My dogs go B-A-N-A-N-A-S for a treat called Boulder Dog Co. Bison Wafers. Seriously, you'll be thanking me.  We also use it in class while training obedience and everyone who can't get their dog to do something for any reason uses my treats and "magically" the dog responds. 

On another note, are you serious in the ring? Nervous? The judge may be saying in his head, "All else between these two bitches is equal, but Caly is asking for the win." Maybe there is something you're not doing- is the other handler a professional or seasoned breeder or handler? It could just be in your presentation and ease in the ring. I'd be interested to see you switch dogs and see what happens. There is a reason the breeder kept pick bitch so I am sure in some subtle ways she may have some strengths that you do not perceive. I wouldn't worry, keep up the good work!:wavey:


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

Please don't take this in offense it's not meant to be.
Is she not happy showing? I know that dogs are placed in to homes after they show no happiness in the show ring. Just wondering if that might be her case.

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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Being in the show ring is definitely about connecting with your dog. Miss Lucy prefers fieldwork over anything else in the world. I don't blame her, running around a silly ring for a few minutes is not very fun, chasing birds is far more fun. I do think her personality is much more serious and being happy in the show ring doesn't really happen for her. I would like to finish her conformation and get a Ch on her. If it doesn't work out and she stays unhappy, I would stop showing her and just focus on fieldwork. Honestly the only reason I want to show her is because I'd like to breed her. We have been in the show ring for obedience and rally competition. I would say that overall, she really wants to just chase birds.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Have someone else handle her and see if it changes. Let's face it, conformation is EASY. There's no reason for the dog to be confused, bored, stressed, etc. They get to stand there and eat treats and run in a circle. There's nothing to it. The only dogs I've seen that truly dislike the ring are those who are really poorly socialized OR have BORING handlers. That doesn't mean you can't train a dog or your no good handling. It's hard to find the right balance of handling vs. training when it's your first dog. 
Have someone else who has animated dogs of their own show her. I bet you see a HUGE difference!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

The other thing is really confab with the owner of Lucy's sister and pick up tips from her as far as how to get Lucy to loosen up out there. IF her owner is doing something RIGHT with her dog, figure out what it is and see if you can use it.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Caly has always been shown by a handler. I showed Lucy myself the first 2 shows. The last 3 times she was shown by a handler. The 2 handlers Caly's owner and I used are actually mother and daughter. Our handling world here is pretty small. I didn't enjoy the politics of pro handlers. I also thought I could have more fun handling Lucy myself. Sitting outside the ring watching Lucy spin around wasn't a lot of fun,I'd rather be inthe ring with her. After I showed Lucy myself the second time, Lucy's breeder said I should consider a pro otherwise it will take me a long time to finish her.

Annie,
I'm surprised you say it's easy. Do you show your dogs or do you hire a handler? Or does it vary depending on a venue? Do you groom your own dogs too? To me it looks easy too. But knowing how to get the best out of the dog isn't always that easy. Not everyone can be Tonia Struble.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Yes I groom, train and handle my own dogs; I've finished two CHs and pointed many more, have never used a pro. 
The PERSON learning to do all that -- is NOT easy!!! But what the DOG is required to do -- IS easy. That's why I say the show ring shouldn't ever be stressful or taxing for the dog, what they have to do is easy. The handler's job is a lot more complicated. It's REALLY HARD to learn on your first dog and NOT wear the dog out. Trust me we've all been there and burned up our first dog practicing too much. The best thing you can do is practice on a DIFFERENT dog then when you think you've got it down, take Lucy in the ring.
Once the dog knows the basics of stacking, gaiting and freebaiting I don't practice it with them any more. Doing it in the ring is enough. But if you're a new handler you need to practice obviously more than that. The catch-22 is, the DOG doesn't need it and they can get bored with it. Find another dog to practice on.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Annie,
That's a great suggestion. Both my boys like to eat and are much steadier than a bouncy puppy, so I bet they wouldn't mind running around the ring with me. They will be easier to stack and position as long as I have food. So I'll try running the boys around the ring instead. Now I just have to make sure they don't get fat!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

So yesterday was show handling class. I took the old man Hunter instead of the puppy. Hunter has never been in the show ring. He's super obedient and sits every time you stop walking. So it was a bit difficult to get him to stand and stay. He's also 20# heavier than little Lucy, so I couldn't push him around to get him into position. I think not being able to push him around was good, I had to work with him to get him into position instead of just picking him up, like I do Lucy. He was also a bit difficult to get the right speed when moving. He's a lot faster because he's a lot bigger. So moving him was interesting. I think it was a good practice for me to try another dog. next week I'm looking forward to trying Lucy again to see if I've improved after working with Hunter. It did make for an interesting class discussion about the merits of working with different dogs to see how we can get the most out of them.


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## Gwen (Aug 9, 2007)

I have (4) Canadian Champions with (1) having his AKC Champion as well. All of my boys loved going to shows & all showed very well but (3) of them didn't have the showy, "look at me", attitude which sets them apart from the others. 

Then along came Robbie - Mr. Show boy! This boy is like a race horse at the gate as he waits to go in the ring. It also helps that his handler, Chris Pollen, works it to the limit. Chris is showing Robbie 100% of the time they're in the ring. Even when the judge is looking at an individual dog, you'll catch him/her giving a quick glance @ Mr. Robbie who is performing! 

Does this attitude/professional handling help???? Most definitely! How many times have you watched a handler glancing around at the other rings when the individual inspection is done???? They're working in YOUR ring with YOUR dog & they should be doing exactly that - 100% of the time! 

I also believe that the dog is born with that attitude & something that you can't teach! Robbie has both a sister & brother with the same attitudes!

I've attached (2) unstacked pictures of Robbie with Professional handlers Chris Pollen (blue suit) and Katrina Carruthers (white suit). Robbie is 10 1/2 mos with Chris & 7 1/2 mos with Katrina.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I love the first photo. The free stack is excellent. The second photo is definitely showing his attention with his handler. Robbie makes it look very easy.

I've used a pro 3 times. Not so much fun. I won't get into the specifics why, but I'd like to get back in the ring myself. 

A few months ago I was at an obedience trial that Lucy's dad was in. His breeder had finished him at 16 months, so it had been quite awhile since he had been in the ring since he was now 8 yrs old. She very easily put him in a free stack for me to show how nicely he fell back into the habit. He looked good and had that presence that I'm looking for.

We're back in class on Sunday afternoon. Thank you for your thoughts.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

You mentioned earlier that it was harder to push your old guy into position like you do Lucy... What have you tried to teach her to be more of an active participant? I've seen a lot of dogs somewhat shut down when physically manipulated by handlers. Maybe she needs to be more in the game, i.e. teach free-stacking as a game ... or even teach her to stand and wait as you sort of "stalk" her and then quickly release her to jump to a treat.

Disclaimer - I don't show in conformation. I'm just thinking of how you might get more "life" out of your dog... my ideas might need some tweaking to work for conformation, but overall, behavior is behavior...


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

You are so right! I need to make it fun. I have spent so much time training Lucy for obedience and fieldwork that she isn't having much fun with me, just working. It is a bad habit to fall into. So I've spent the last few days playing with her. I even have her jump up and put her paws in my hands. She's a pretty serious girl so it will be good for both of us to remember how to have fun. So I practiced your idea yesterday of getting her to stand stay as I held out a toy and squeezed it. I'm getting a better reaction now. 

I never thought conformation would be so hard for me. I'm not a natural dog handler like some people are.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Today for class I had a cat toy. It had feathers and a small plastic jingle bell. Total ears! Tail up too! I could free stack her over and over no problem. I hardly used any bait, she just wanted that toy. All that prey drive kicking in. So now I have to walk into the ring every time with a jingle bell cat toy and I'll have her full attention. I didn't even have to place her feet, she just stood so nice. I actually left the ring with a bunch of treats in my pocket. Never had that happen before. So now I know her secret.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Bertie loves his cat toys too.


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