ElleAus

Having spent some time with Ella I can vouch for her behaviour not being at all Lab like! As to the OP, I am sorry your previous rescue's were not succesful. You now know there are no guarantee's but armed with more knowledge I hope you find the right dog for your family.

The puppy most likely is only doing this to your toddler as he views him as the lowest member of the pack and an easy target. It's your job to instill in the puppy respect for your toddler. What do you do when you see it happening? The puppy can learn the behaviour is not on. I'd correct everytime he trys it and teach him to play less physically. Distract with other toys. It's important to be consistent so continous supervision or seperate the puppy when you're busy. I remember years ago a friends puppy doing the same thing to the youngest member of the family. He was taught not too and the child (not a toddler) learnt how to be more assertive. Just my two cents. Hope others will weigh in.

Thank you very much :D I'm sure we'll have a fun no matter what.

THANK YOU!! thank you everyone very much for sharing their tips and experience. I'm lucky that this trial is being held at our normal club but I imagine the atmosphere and busy-ness is going to be very different. I've entered both AM and PM sessions on the day just for the experience but will see how chilled she is about it all. Whoever mentioned speeding up (sorry i forget who) is so right. I discovered that a couple of weeks back, it focuses her so much better. I asked last week about breaking stays and was told to not move until the judge tells you (obviously i would if i thought my dog in danger) and often the judge or steward would stay and hold the dog or tell you to remove the dog to avoid disrupting others. Are there pegs on the ground for the group stays? and they are all done after everyone has done their individual assessment? Is there any order to the exercises usually? Its an interesting challenge with my dog, Lizzie, to keep up the interest/drive and keep the focus. She's currently staring at me, dancing backwards with a large rubber ball in her mouth. Fun is her middle name :D

Hello all, This weekend I'm competing in my first obedience trial with my lab. We've entered CCD class and I'm pretty hopeful for a pass. However I was wondering if any triallers out there could give me some hints. For example, aside from the start of an exercise, when else can I give a command? I've read the rules but any personal experience would be great to hear. Thank you