How to help dog get out of comfort zone?

[Karran]

It would be unfair to say that Mrs Spaniel is a bit of a fretter. She is unfazed by fireworks and thunderstorms, she is happy to be left alone while I go to work and to go and stay with other people when we're on holidays.
However she does fret when she knows we're about and she can't be near us. We've convinced her that its fine to stay in her basket and not try and clamber all over us although she will still get up and follow us about the house, no matter how tired she is.
We took her to a novelty dog show last summer and she completely panicked about not being near my OH, barking for him and trying to get to him, and then when he took her in, she was the same trying to get to me.
She will go and explore and have sniffs in the park but won't stray too far and will come bolting back if we're out of her line of sight, but this is all fine so not really a problem.

However - We go to flyball training. She absolutely adores this, she whines constantly the minute she realises where we're going and is a quivering, squeaking, barking ball of enthusiasm while she is in her comfort zone.

The minute anything changes, she completely downs tools. This can be as simple as today as changing lanes and practising over jumps that were two inches higher than the previous set. (although still within her capabilities - 9 inches where as I've had her pinging over 19 inch horse showjumps whilst playing at the yard).
Changing onto other dogs upsets her, and she insists on being end dog as she frets about the other dog heading towards her which isn't always practical, we have gone to one competition so far and that also really upset her and took us all day to encourage her back into wanting to play.

My team are really supportive and happy to help work with her, but it is frustrating for me (and them probably as it interferes with their training time) to have her working fine but then something worrying her and then having to spend the rest of the session building her back up again.
She does genuinely love flyball and I don't get cross with her when she gives up but she can probably sense the frustration which doesn't help.

So is there something I could perhaps try her on to see if this helps stop her panicking in the first place? I'm toying with the idea of Rescue Remedy at the moment but I don't want to chill her out too much so she doesn't have the keenness to work and run!

If I did try Rescue Remedy, how much would you suggest for a small 10-11kg Cocker and how long would she need to be on it before I saw an improvement and would it be something I'd be able to wean her off of once she has the experience and confidence to know everything is ok?

 

[Booster]

Watching with interest I have a small working cocker Ho is the same with agility , one day happy confident super star! Another day quivering in the hedge bottom impossible to bring her back round :-(
Sensitive souls these cockers, see yours is a bitch too um....

 

[Alec Swan]

The term for your bitch, in gundog parlance, would be 'needy'. Needy would imply that they have a total reliance upon their owner and when outside pressure is applied, and though their focus upon us is initially gratifying, they can prove to be rather testing.

How to break the reliance? It isn't easy, but as it's most probably brought on by a serious level of early bonding, so on the rare occasions when it's happened with me, I've tended to have others do with the dog just what I do. I 'think' that it's all so often to do with a lack of confidence and in such situations, I've had others perform the same tasks that I have, in the hope that the dog gains a level of self reliance.

Cockers? Few dogs are more needy, so I'd approach them with caution.

If this is of no help, then I apologise!

Alec.

 

[Karran]

No I appreciate the input! Needy is definitely how I would describe her!
I put it down to the fact that I rehomed her after a marriage break up when she was 11 months old but maybe it is just a Cocker thing! I didn't want/can't cope with a dog that is too clingy especially working fulltime and therefore was very strict from the start about when we had cuddles and playtime and its only now after a year that I've started to relax this and on special occasions and when I say only, that she is allowed into my bedroom and onto the sofa.

I realise any kind of calmer is only masking the issue but I wondered if a short course of it might help hold her paw a little and let her build up confidence and then could be weaned off? We have only been doing it since October, so maybe after a while and exposure to different scenarios/competition environments I could stop the dosage? Unfortunately I haven't really got anyone else to run her!

She is a working Cocker as well so has that high drive for amusements and being in London I can't work her properly so flyball is an ideal outlet for her energy levels!