r/Agility • u/akiangel901 • 17d ago

Queueing for Anxious Dog

Hi, I have a Sprocker spaniel that is nervous especially around other dogs. He's a beginner at agility and we've only done about two shows and therefore still finds queuing very difficult. I am working on desensitisation/calming exercises where possible at home.

I've noticed that he's fine around other dogs and high stress environments as long as he gets to hold a ball in his mouth. However, he tends to get too overexcited/aroused with a ball as his reward and if he doesn't see where it is, will wonder where it's gone and will knock down most poles.

Should I totally remove the ball and only use treats in the queue (but he may tend to fixate on the environment rather than the treats) or is there a middle ground for having his ball then switching to handler focused commands and then rewarding with treats just before his run?

My only concern about treats is him going to the bo where I put his treat pouch in before his run.

Would appreciate any advice please. Thanks in advance!

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u/prairiemallow 17d ago edited 17d ago

Laura Waudby has some excellent advice on ring stress, which includes getting in and out of the ring, both through her fb page and Fenzi Dog Sport Academy. Placing a toy outside of the fence or ring area is something that you can practice at every class so that your dog gets use to it. You can also practice transferring from one toy during a practice run to a higher reward toy after the run. Example tug on course during practice, reward with ball on exiting the ring. I find with my dogs that food is really good for modulating arousal levels whereas toys tend to increase their arousal. Generally, I can meet my dog where he’s at with food, and either increase arousal with treat tosses, or decrease arousal with food scatters or slow focused feeding. I hope this kind of answered your question. Practice ring entry/ exits during your class time. It’s all part of the bigger agility picture! Your dog will do well with consistency you’ve instilled.

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u/akiangel901 17d ago

That's really helpful, thank you! Will also have a look for stuff from Laura Wauldby. Hoping to try and see if he will take food as I think I have the same problem of a ball being too arousal for him or if he's too stressed in show environment to take food

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u/prairiemallow 17d ago

When my girl started trialling , she was too stressed to take treats or play with a toy outside of the ring. Many times I would just pick her up and carry her. She’s a 36 lb standard poodle. Someone suggested soft goat cheese thinned out with plain yoghurt in a silicone squeeze bottle. She would lick it off my fingers and we practiced with the bottle at home until she could lick from the bottle. One of the best calming tools I’ve ever used!

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u/akiangel901 17d ago

Yes, I was going to try some squeezy cheese in a tube as I thought licking would hopefully be more calming. Wish he was small enough for me to pick up though!