[dbrazzil]

I have been showing my toy for 6 months now and she wants to drop her tail every time she goes in the ring. She can be happy, tail up right before ringtime, then bamb, as soon as she gets around the other dogs in the ring she drops her tail. I try walking her when we first get to the site and a few minutes before ringtime to familarize her with her surroundings. At the last show this past weekend, I took her back in the ring after the show one day, and she did fine on both stacking and 2 times around the ring, and I can't recall her dropping her tail even one time. This tells me she is intimidated by the unfamilar dogs and people. What can I do to bring her out of this?:rolffleyes:

 

[dbrazzil]

Thanks for all the suggestions! We have started a weekly training class so at least she can be around other dogs and noise. I am thinking of taking her to petsmart on Saturday and see how she does this time. I will keep you informed of our progress.

 

[dbrazzil]

I have another question...Should I keep my poodle out of the shows for awhile until I feel she and I are more confident? Any suggestions? I just feel that I may be wasting my money on entering shows when I could be doing something else that would accomplish the same thing to socialize her.

 

[dbrazzil]

I took my poodle out to my daughter's house last night. My daughter commented that she seemed very calm. I let her walk around exploring for awhile before we left for home. I think I will take her to pets mart today and see how she does.

 

[dbrazzil]

I have a show brag. This past weekend, I took my Noir to the Greenville, MS dog show with a friend who also had poodles. After 8 long months, I finally put another point on my girl! She was spooked the first day by a large barking dog just right before we went into the ring. After that, I just left her crated except for potty breaks. I only worked on her about 20 minutes so as not to tire her out and I took her out of the wire crate just minutes before show time. She showed very well and kept her tail up the entire time!! I think I finally found something that would work. I was so excited that after I had our picture made I hugged the judge. My friend also put points on her dogs. And to top off our weekend, our picture made the front page of the Delta Times in Greenville. I'm still pumped up from the weekend and I hope we can keep the momentum going!

 

[dbrazzil]

Yea, Debbie!!! Patience and perseverance are the key. And what a reward for all your hard work. Sounds like Noir may be getting the hang of it! Was the judge surprised when you hugged her? That's cute.

Thanks, I don't know if she was surprised, but she was very nice to help me and my friend when we got our pictures made. I just got my picture in the mail this past week and the judge posed both of us so we looked our best.

 

[dbrazzil]

Noir got Reserve in the Pine Bluff AR show this past weekend! I am so proud of her, especially since she beat out some of the professional handlers. For the past 3 times in the ring, she has kept her tail up the entire time. Yeah!!!

 

[dbrazzil]

Hey Debbie,
I'm planning on driving over to Camden on Saturday for the show. Hope to see you and Noir there. Will take some photos of y'all so everyone can see them. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Please come over and introduce yourself after we show. See you at the show.