Positive Training for Show Dogs

The use of bait in the show ring is very common. Most handlers,

including myself use bait in the

show ring. For conformation, using bait

in the ring in AKC shows is perfectly legal and acceptable.

You may

meet the occasional judge who will ask you not to, but that is rare. Most

judges have no

problem with it provided you follow a few guidelines,

which we will go into later.

How?

I rarely show a dog without using bait

You may wonder why I don’t

just

train the dog to do the

behaviors without

bait. The answer is that when I

am showing a dog I am asking that dog

to do

something very unnatural

to him. I am asking him to be in an

unfamiliar place with many strange

dogs and people and perform to the

best of his ability for me. Because

want my dogs to actually

enjoy their

ring experience and want to be

there, I reinforce them while in the ring.

Of course I can

teach the

behaviors that I want them to do, but I want to

condition them to love the

ring and frankly,

feeding them while in there

can be very effective for

that. This is simply classical conditioning (think

Pavlov's dogs), I want

the dog to "associate" the show ring with great

things.

When using bait in the ring you want to make sure that you are

court

ous

about it. If you put bait on

the ground or toss bait to get the

dogs

attention, be sure to pick it up so

that

it doesn’t distract other

dogs

and

handlers.

When you are using bait in the ring, you want to be thoughtful about

how you are doing that. Some

handlers will get nervous and wave the

bait around wildly causing the dogs head to move around

trying to follow

the bait. Don’t do this! Be aware of where the bait is and where you

want the dogs

head.

Don’t use bait as a lure the whole time and then never reward the dog.

If you are going to use bait

in the ring, feed the dog sometimes. In other

words, it isn’t fair to lure him with a piece of food and

then never

give it

to him.

He will quickly learn that you never pay off and stop paying

attention.

When using bait during the examination you will want to be aware of

where the bait is and what you

are doing with it. Again, don’t mindlessly

wave it around. I will sometimes use the bait to get the dog

stacked (the

dog gets to nibble while I position him) then I pull the bait away while the

judge

examines the head and mouth, I then give the bait back and then

put it away when I move the dog.

Judges get very frustrated if you give

the dog food right before they are going to examine the bite or

if you are

waving the bait around, so be sure that you are not making the judges

job harder with how

you handle the bait.

What?

The bait that I use is completely dependent on the dog I am showing. I

tend to use roll dog food

(such as Rollover, Natural Balance or Pet

Botanics) most of the time. It is easy to handle and the

dogs like it.

Also, I sometimes hold the bait in my mouth momentarily so it helps if it is

something that

I can stand having in my mouth. However, I modify the

bait based on the dog that I am showing.

For dogs that are extremely food motivated and can’t handle the high

value of the roll dog food, I

may use a lesser value reward such as a

jerky treat or something a bit less meatlike. For dogs that

need more

motivation I will use liver or chicken. You can play with this and use what

works best for

the dog you are showing.

Here is a list of some bait ideas:

Higher Value Bait Choices (in order of value based on my

experience)

Liver

Beef

Roll dog food

Chicken

Cheese Sticks

Lower Value Bait Choices (in no particular order)

Carvers

Jerky Treats

Pupperoni

Take Outs

When?

As mentioned before I use bait in the ring as a rule. It might not always

be necessary but I want the

dogs I show to love the ring, and the plain

fact is that feeding them in the ring helps me accomplish

this goal.

have had a few dogs that generally seemed to love the ring and that get

overly excited

about food, and with those dogs, I might consider not

using bait in the ring.

Using toys can be

reinforcing too and I will do that

when I have a dog

that likes toys but doesn’t get overly fired up

about

them.

If you are going to use bait I recommend you use it during the

examination to get the dog set up and

then while the judge is going over

the body beyond the head. Again, do not feed right before the

judge

goes to examine the bite, wait until he has done the head.

You might also use bait to get your dog in position upon returning to the

judge after he is examined

and moved individually. And, during the line

ups with the other dogs in the class.

Guidelines

Keep the bait steady and be aware that where the bait is will affect

where the dogs head is.

Do not feed right before the judge examines the dogs bite.

Do not lure the dog around with one piece of bait without ever feeding

him some.

Use a bait that is appropriate for your dog.

Pick up any bait that you throw or drop in the ring.

Positive Training for Show Dogs.com

Bait...How? What? When? By Vicki Ronchette