What a disaster (dog show related).

[Soubriquet]

I thought it would be a good idea to take my two little dogs to the local dog show today. Used to do it with my old dogs and had fun.

Well it was a nightmare. Madam wouldn’t stop barking. Seriously. From about 11 till 3, she barked nearly the entire time.

Little shit was just terrified and kept huddling up to me.

They wouldn’t go near any other dogs which wasn’t a problem as I packed a blanket and sat out the way but apart from barking they didn’t mind too much if a dog came near them.

Out of the 2 categories we entered, we only manage to scoop a 3rd in young handler which dd was chuffed by.

Im exhausted, especially since there was a bit of false advertising for the show.

It said good and refreshments. Well the food was bacon butties which ran out after the first hour and then cake.

That was it. No actual food supplied.

So by the end, I was hungry, tired, stressed and my ears are still hearing barking.

Never again

That would be the type of thing my dog would get up to to embarrass me.

Bacon butties and cake sound good up me.

It wouldn’t be too bad if it was bacon butties all day, but they literally ran out after an hour

she was terrified so you call her a ‘little shit’ and kept her there for hours?

seriosuly?

If she was that scared, why didn't you take her home?

That’s her nickname

and I was getting her socialised around other dogs

You’re not socialising her by putting her in high stress situations though, all you’re doing is establishing her fear response

Yep, id have left after half an hour of that too. Life is too short for such a waste of a perfectly lovely Saturday.

Well it was a nightmare. Madam wouldn’t stop barking. Seriously. From about 11 till 3, she barked nearly the entire time.
Little shit was just terrified and kept huddling up to me.
Why in the name of God did you stay for 4 hours, annoying everybody else?!

That is not the correct way to socialise your dog and it sounds like it was extremely stressful for her.

One of our dogs can be reactive to other dogs, due to being attacked by an off lead dog when he was young, he is much better now than he was, for example we can take him with us to a pub garden now, but we would always sit as far as possible from other dogs and leave it that wasn't possible. I would never dream of taking him to a dog show, you should have left when it was clear she was uncomfortable.

Jesus christ
Thats not how you socialise a dog
It’s how you traumatise a dog and make it reactive and potentially aggressive forever more

no one can be this dense, surely? It’s obvious that you don’t treat dogs like that

Poor 'little shit'. Terrified for hours.

It doesn't sound like the OP didn't remove the dogs from the main high stress area though. OK ideally she would've left for everyone's sake, but it hardly sounds like the 🐕 will be traumatised.

The name thing is a bit irrelevant, they're dogs, they won't care as long as your tone is pleasant l.

You should have taken her home once it was apparent she wasn't coping.

Flooding the dog to socialise it isn’t how you socialise a dog. It will now take a few days to process and decompress this experience which is a shame. barking also showed that your dog wasn’t coping in the environment, I wouldn’t take my dog to one of these ‘fun’ shows I don’t see the point I know he’s beautiful and clever but I don’t need to get a rosette to prove it. Ask a trainer for a small group of similar dogs to socialise with properly.

That’s definitely not how to socialise a dog.

I gave up on 'fun' dog shows when I realised that 'most waggy tail' 'happiest dog' 'politest dog' etc. were all merely code-names for 'most winsome child handler'.

Total waste of time unless you possess an appealing DC to use as a handler.

Your poor dogs

I was getting her socialised around other dogs

Socialising dogs doesn't mean they have to learn to mix with crowds of dogs.

In fact a well socialised dog is one that has learned to pass other dogs and not react. No dog will learn to do that if it's put among a mass of other dogs and people from which it can't escape, it will just become fearful.

Socialising a dog involves getting it used to dealing with an array of situation that it might come across in its day to day life and each situation should be introduced in a way that the dog is comfortable with.

A fearful dog is not learning to socialise because it just too scared.

A dog that is so overwhelmed and over-aroused that it doesn't stop barking for hours is not a dog that you should be taking to such a busy event. It's not fair on anyone - you, the dog, or anyone else at the event.

Please don't put your dog in that situation again - socialisation needs to be gradual, and at a distance where the dog can cope without being frightened. Either leave them at home next home or pick a different, much quieter and calmer day out.

If you keep putting your dog in that situation it will just become more and more frightened and it may well become aggressive.

I’d have left too after a maximum of half an hour I think! Actually to be totally honest, if I was there with my dog and yours was barking for 4 hours, I’d have left.

Poor dog, she must have been so stressed, what on earth were you thinking of?
I am really surprised nobody asked you to leave.
Socialising a dog is a slow, incremental process not forcing the poor creature to endure it until you decide to leave 😡

You should read up on trigger stacking and thresholds. If your dog is over threshold they will not and indeed can not learn.
socialising is about building confidence in new situations. They don’t need to meet every dog, and they don’t need to think ever my dog is their friend. Just learn to be calm in different environments.
if your dog does quieten down it will just be because they’re either exhausted or they think no one is listening or helping them. This isn’t what you want.

OP, this thread's some bitter but necessary medicine, some very useful ideas that we hope you can take in board. It's hard to do that without becoming defensive. Good luck.