Ok, enough is enough!

Took Isla to a ESS Champ Show today and she was, to put it mildly, a complete g*t!

Took her outside for a few practice runs and she was ok, a bit bouncy, but moved well. Took her in the ring and she spent the entire time trying to attach herself to the side of my trousers!

Now yes I could sort of see the funny side of it when she was young, but now she's nearing 18 months old I've had enough. The gloves are off!

So I've had a bit of a think and have come up with two possibles:

A] I could put a treat in my left hand and have her concentrate on that instead of my trousers.

or

B] I've been teaching her the "watch me" command on walks and she now knows what it means. Could I train her to "watch me" when moving in the show ring?

At the mo I'm favouring A cos I know it's the easier option! We've been concentrating so much on the Gundog training of late, Show training has sort of gone by the by. As such she's got into such a bad habit I know it'll be bl**dy hard work training it out of her!

So any suggestions people? I'd also welcome any ideas other than the two I've listed.

Cheers peeps.

I use Watch when on the move with Wilson so I don't see why not!
Becky

I am not entirely clear on what is happening, - are you saying she is grabbing at your trousers or leaning in to you leg?
I wouldnt teach 'watch me' for moving her in the show ring as it will spoil her outline and possibly throw her movement out (I was watching an ESS at a show yesterday, which was concentrating so hard on 'watching' its owner on the move, that it was pacing! its a very nice dog too, and one that has done very well in the past, but it threw the class away).
Is she likely to get over excited for a treat - if so, might this cause you a different set of problems?

if it is just a case of you wanting her to look ahead rather than weld herself to your side, i can offer a possible solution, but will wait to see if I have the right end of the stick first!

i think the watch me is okay if you're doing competitive heel-work, but not for showing cos i think it would spoil her outline when she's moving out. maybe you could try using a target stick for her to follow? i do heelwork to music with sam and i used to use a target stick to get him trotting straight next to me, now he just does it automatically. i have it on a cue, and just say 'trot', and he goes into this lovely flowing trot. just an idea

I agree wouldn't use watch me as said above will ruin the outline.

I would also avoid the treat - she needs to learn that she will get a treat but only if she does it right.

It sounds like excitement to me - my 22m boy can still be a nuthead in the ring and bounce around - basically I would stop go back to where the last corner and start again each time and only reward when she does it right - continue when she does it right.

Do you have her lead loose/or have the lead high on her neck not strung up but you do get more control this way?
- it doesn't need to be a tight type hold but I find you do have better control and they can't be as silly although Angus does try?

Remember at 18m and a springer she still has a long way to go in the calming down stakes

Off topic - thandi were you at Hampshire gundog? so were we! My youngest got BPIB and was shortlisted for BPIS? How did you get on?

Watched a bit of the junior handling - my daughter got 2nd in the 6-11 yrs? Didn't see all the 12+ - but saw most of the adult classes - boy she has a lot to learn still!

Awww bless Isla, I have a simular problem with Alfie, only its with him trying to 'attach his nose to the ground' lol ! Particually if theres some interesting smells !!!
He's very food orientated so i do use treats for standing him,hes learnt what i expect of him and gets a treat when hes done,I don't use them when hes 'on the move' though but he knows he will get one afterwards.
Having said that now hes a little older he is much more 'settled' in the ring and goes into 'show mode' as soon as we get in there as he so enjoys it.The treats are more of a back up nowadays....just in case the beagle nose takes over !!!!
Whatever you decide i'm sure she will get there sooner or later !

I've always used "get on" when running as I don't want the dog looking at me but looking ahead therefore moving at their best. I'm trying to think back how I did it, think when the dog was running right I used it so he realised what it meant. So you could try doing something like that. I would not encourage the dog to look at you or use a treat when running. You see so many dogs that run round with their head turned out to the owner, at some angles it's like a headless dog, ruins the line of the dog and does hinder their movement.

Well, i think you only have yourself to blame - You shouldnt have got an ESS!!

They always look so playful and cheeky at the shows... But yeah, by 18months she really needs to move out next to you nicely to do some good winning!

This is just what i do when training the babies so may or may not help...

Get something stinky like sausage or smelly cheese, hold it in your lead hand and lower your hand so its infront of her nose and just practice at a walk.. She needs to learn not to grab at your hand though so give her little bits after a short time if she's good, gradually getting longer.. Then you should eventually be able to do a triangle or whatever, and just give her a treat when its done..

It works for my piggies anyway!!lol

(sorry if its already been mentioned, had to skim read as i gotta get sorted for work...lol)

Thanks Becky.
Yes, definitely grabbing and not leaning!
I can see what you mean, although I do feel pacing tends to be quite heavily influenced by genes and thankfully Isla's lines don't seem to have this problem, thank god!

Possibly, yeah?

Ooh pray tell woman!

Thanks for that suggestion, it's definitely possible. I used clicker training to back chain her retrieve, so I can see using a target stick working quite well.
Yep, it's definitely excitment. But you know thinking about it I think it's the indoor venues that are exacerbating problem. Outdoors she seems to be much better, I think being indoors she gets a bit bored as there's nothing to occupy her mind and I think the atmosphere could be making her worse too?

I run her on a tight lead, but not strung up. I HATE seeing dogs being strung up! Doesn't make much difference though, she's very strong!

True, I still want her to have fun, but I get the distinct feeling she's begininng to take the Michael now!


I think I will have to use a different command. I use "heel" at the mo as that's how she's been taught to walk nicely, but I think I'll have to start a fresh. Can't use "get on" though cos that's her command to hunt and I realllllly don't want her to do that in the ring! :smt043

Thank you.

Thanks I'll try that one.

You should try getting an ESS, it's sooo much more fun when you've got Labs. Springers can teach them sooooo many naughty tricks! :smt043

I would practice running up and down but use different sides, sort of have her wondering which side she is to run on, that way hopefully she will get out of the habit of leaning on a particular side, just a thought.

Mo