Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil Harrison
Hi. Ive got Alfie a male 2 year old collie who is very very laid back in normal everyday life. We have started entering some agility shows and the problem is that he gets so excited watching the agility he shakes all over, bounces and nothing distracts him.Ive tried treats, turning and walking away, blocking him. watching from a distance and waiting untill there is no one else in the queue but nothing will distract his attention and his excitement.Once in the ring he will do everything but at 100mph. I have noticed towards the end of the day he tires himself out and becomes much more managleble. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions, I have thought about calming pills but dont know enough about them. Any suggestions please. Thanks
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Hi,
My friend has a simular problem. Her collie goes completely looney watching the others in the ring. They tend to keep him in his crate in the van until about two dogs before he is due to go, as they find that him watching two gets him ready to go but means he isn't so overexcited that he looses his focus.
Another friend has this also to a lesser extend and she put her collie on a down whilst they are waiting and just drops treats by his nose, does "leaves" with them etc and she says that tends to do the trick.
I know some people who also play tug to distract their dogs.
It's most likely the movement that drives them mad, plus their wanting to be out there in the ring. Collies are bred to be really sensitive to movement. I have taught my collie a "watch me" command which works well but I have yet to use it in an agility competition environment as we are still in training (working on contacts in particular)
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Hope that helps
