6 month puppy wont stand for judge in conformation

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6 month puppy wont stand for judge in conformation

Posted : 12/3/2012 9:16:04 AM

This weekend at an AKC show my puppy Dani in the conformation ring would not stand still for the judge acting afraid. Oddly just two weeks prior she could have cared less at a show. She is well socialized, friendly, outgoing and is even in a beginner OB class.I think we might be going thru that 2nd fear stage although nothing seemed to bother her at the show except the judge in the ring. Does anyone have any experience with this and what did you do?

Jewlieee

Posted : 12/3/2012 10:16:44 AM

Do a google search of puppy fear periods. Pups go through about 3 of them as they are growing up. Things they weren't afraid of before might be scary to them during the fear period.

griffinej5

Posted : 12/3/2012 10:18:40 PM

It has only happened once at this point? If it has only been once, maybe it was just something about that particular judge, or something that happened at that particular moment. Last weekend, I had a dog stop working in weight pull for me after several pulls. She had been working perfectly fine, and then I think she heard the camera beep before she had actually started her pull, and it totally shut her down. Yesterday we had a dog on the flyball team, who I don't think has ever refused a run, refuse a run. We think it was because at the moment she was going to start, someone walked by with a large white board. I wouldn't get super concerned about something that happened once, but I might try to very quickly get the dog practicing it again. You can assess if there really is an issue, not just some odd thing that happened just that once, and help the dog build confidence for that situation.