Dog calmer??

[MagicMelon]

So Im assuming since you get calmers for horses, you get the same for dogs?? Basically we have a labradoodle so she can be hyper as you can imagine of this type but she is an extremely good dog who is actually pretty chilled most of the time. She loves her weekly agility training and is really good at it, however we're having big issues now we've started fun agility competitions... she basically gets so wound up with the atmosphere (she goes a bit mental when there's lots of other dogs around anyway) so she just tanks off in the ring She was ok at the weekend in the first class but in the second class she took off full pelt round the ring not jumping anything, once we caught her we just had to leave the ring. This happens a lot. We dont ever take her to shows where the ring isn't enclosed as a result. Its driving us nuts as its not something we can recreate as such - she is fine in training even with strange dogs in the ring etc.

It would be brilliant if there was some sort of herbal type calmer we could give her in the morning of a competition just to take the edge off her, does something exist for dogs though??

 

[CorvusCorax]

There are plenty of dog calmers on the market but it is important to help her through the stress/avoidance as well.

I have used Vetspec Calm and Focused in the past but I was also going to lots of competitions and shows and fairs and public events and sports things (I mean literally stopping the car as soon as I saw a crowd anywhere) and doing nothing...just hanging around and feeding the dog until it wasn't that big a deal anymore. Then eventually asking a bit more once the dog was ignoring distractions. You may not think that is 'training'...it is boring and it takes you away from competitions, but for me it's some of the most important training there is!

 

[Britestar]

You could try Zylkene, Nutracalm or an adaptil collar. Other calmers are Yucalm or adaptil tablets.

All natural. Nutracalm probably best f you just want to use it in the morning.

 

[I.M.N.]

The adaptil tablets were a life saver when my GSD decided he was no longer going to be a good traveler, couple of trips on the tablets and he's good as gold again. I'm now trying the adaptil plug is as I've just moved house and he's a bit of a worrier. It's only the first day so not sure if it's helping yet. I tried the collar on him for a bit but it didn't make much difference sadly.

 

[blackcob]

I would possibly consider taking her to a competition without actually going in the ring - just walk around the venue, reward any moments of calm and focus (however brief!) and let it all wash over her and become as mundane as weekly training is.

There are unaffiliated competitions where it's possible to train in the ring to a certain extent, if you enter NFC you might be able to take a toy in to focus on and do as little as a start line wait or 1/2 jumps and then immediately leave the ring. Even better if you can rope someone in to catch them at the finish with another toy or a treat. No opportunity for zoomies and an instant reward.

I have every sympathy, at our first KC show without a fenced ring I had three members of our club positioned strategically to catch the devil should she decide to make a swift exit.