I have an 8 month old bulldog who I bred. She has always been a nervous dog from 8 weeks old. She is afraid of anything that is different or out of place. I brought her to a dog show which she was entered and she barked, growled and lunged at every dog there. We did bring her in the ring where she did ok until she hit the mat. It scared her and she had to be carried out. I have 2 other bulldogs which she gets along with. She does not like her grandmother though who is very toy crazy and wants to play but doesn't do well if someone wants to play. Any good idea's on how to work with her? I have her in a basic manners class where she is just putting up with everyone so far.
Roanne
Bulldogs

To clarify: she is from a litter that you bred, she has not been bred herself, correct?

Can you give more background on her early socialization and exposure to novel situations when she was younger?

She was born here from a champion mom and dad! She is my pick puppy who I would like to show.She has been nervous since 9 or 10 weeks old. I got her into puppy socialization class where she did well. Then my husband got a hip replacement along with a terrible winter so socialization was few and far in between. She knows all her commands and is now learning to ignore her grandmother when she barks at her. She is still quite nervous if something is out of place or looks new. When I take her to class where she sits it out to observe she gets very stressed out and will bark and lunge at anyone walking by with their dog. When I took her to a place where there is alot going on she just couldn't settle and we left. Took her to see some horses, geese and pigs where she did ok at times.
Roanne

If you bred her yourself you must know her parents. Are they nervous? Are any of her litter mates nervous?

How much of the problem might be genetic vs. insufficient early socialization?

as much as i value the importance of " socialization " , and i do , i'm kinda ambivalent about " classes " . . . as in , " group classes ". i think it is a little unreasonable to expect a pup to do something in a roomful of distractions that it hasn't yet fully learned how to do on its' own .

i'd prefer to do early engagement work with the pup one on one in a distraction free environment so that later on i'd have a reasonable expectation that the dog would rather be interacting with me and not whatever else might be going on . i mean , i'd have the dog at a stage where she is very comfortable in it's dealings with me to the point that other influences become background " noise ". that comes before i'd start exposing her to distractions that i thought had the potential to unsettle the pup.

of course , i have no idea about how a dog being raised primarily for showing should be brought up . . . to me a dog at 8 months of age is just getting into the meat of her training . when you say she " knows all her commands " . . . does that mean she can do basic behaviours , or have those commands/behaviours been proofed with distractions ? generalized in many environments ?

or, pardon my ignorance, could this state of mind be the result of successive in/line breedings ?

"nervous since 8 or 9 weeks:

8 months old and you had to carry it out of the ring.

Training a dog with those issues just to get it through a breed ring is why there are so many hidden problems in the dog show world. I've seen to many dogs that had no training other then that run/walk around the ring.

I showed my own dogs in the breed and obedience ring for 15 yrs+ and handled a few for others in the breed ring. If they weren't rock solid from the get go I would never bring them in either ring even if I could get them comfortable in either situation ring.

JMHO of course.

Bob Scott.....It was her first show and I really didn't want to put her in that situation because she is fearful. My other 2 love the ring but always have. My friends all asked me to bring her because if I didn't the major would have broke so brought her knowing this would happen. I had her in there for a short time maybe a half hour and took her home. I shouldn't have entered her knowing she wasn't train so you are right. Sometimes they don't show till they are almost 2. Thanks for the info

Ian....That makes perfect sense. Hmmmmmm, never thought of it like that. So I should begin at home? They know all the basic commands but seem to forget them when out in public just taking their walks. ); Not too sure how to stop any of them getting so reactive when out. I try and distract them but they go into barking and lunging mode quickly. Also they are line bred but as far as I know mom and dad are quite friendly.

If your dogs are going into "barking and lunging mode" they may be thinking they are the boss, that they have to control interactions with other dogs etc. This is your role, to control these interactions. You simply stepping between your dog and others may help.

Try more NILIF with all of them, especially the most fearful pup. Don't allow any nose to nose or facing up in the ring. Keep their attention on you with wonderful treats.

It sounds as if your dogs are thinking they may have to fight in the ring, and this is contributing to their nervousness. They need to learn that you will be running this show and interactions will not be permitted. This will help them to relax, I think.

Good luck!

yup roanne . . . if they " seem to forget " them because it is because they haven't fully learned them yet , that is , they haven't developed the level of engagement with you to understand that a required behaviour at home must also be performed in other locales with other distractions . this is what is known as " generalizing " a behaviour . do not underestimate how even a tiny change in any given situation may affect the dogs' performance .

again , without knowing anything about the show ring other than what i watch ( westminster each year on TV ) , i'd propose that taking an already unstable young dog into a show ring and expecting a good performance was a rather unreasonable expectation on your part .

this dog sounds like it is going to be a bit of a project , so think long term . first get the engagement on a solid foundation , then you can expect behaviours ( all in a known setting ) . only then can you start taking that learning out into the world . manage new locations and distractions carefully . you can only add one at a time and only decrease the distance from distraction when you can see the dog remains engaged with you

i have what may be a ignorant question . . . how much does the demeanour and behaviour of the dog play into the judging ? please pardon my directness , but is it possible that this dog isn't a standout representative of his breed , and really shouldn't be in the ring to begin with ?

not meaning to be harsh roanne , i'm just trying to get a little insight into a part of dog world i know nothing about . . .

Building a major in the show ring with dogs less then worthy of being their is a cheap major.

My very first "show" dog was a Kerry Blue terrier. I put in 18 month in the show ring with that dog knowing he wasn't up to snuff to earn a CH but I wanted to learn how to handle in the ring.

Many dogs earned points off of this dog but again, I wanted to learn. I was constantly being told "we just love Rocky and we'd love it if you brought him to our show".
In those 18 months we got one point off of a puppy....and I think the puppy got screwed in the deal.

Riiiiiigt! I'm not a dumb as I look but I kept at it for MY reasons.

My next "show" dog, another Kerry and I finished her before she was a yr old with one group placement. I found out who my real friends were then. Folks stopped "inviting" me to their shows. Go figure!