I've got a 4 month old female puppy here who i feed every day ,train,take walks ,play ,brush etc...she's a great puppy lots of spunk and when she free stacks i say ''catch''and stands wonderfully for the treats,but no tail wagging!!!So i asked my husband to bait her and ''voilà''the little tail wagger!!!A couple of days later i asked my daughter who is 14 to bait her and ''voilà'' again!!Could this dog be bored with me?I only use positive training !!!I know i could clicker train and i'm certified to do so,but before i start with the clicker , i thought i'd turn to you for a more natural method to get my dog to tail wag,i mean ,this is a Lab!

I've never went in a conformation ring before ,she will be shown in fall...i suppose if i fail,i'll have to bribe my husband to be the handler!!
Thanks!!!

If she is holding her tail out correctly, but not wagging, this is fine. I think she is just giving you what you want, a "stay still" response. In honesty, a 4 month old that far trained for showing does sometimes result in a "soldier" mentality. Stay means do not move AT ALL.......they are so silly. There is no fault for not wagging, so if you are happy with her level of standing, seems fine. Happy showing, with wagging tail and silly faces is one "style". Some show dogs that are "little soldiers"...all serious and focused and still. If you want her to wag for you, I would suggest easing up on her a bit and do more funny stuff for a while. Also, if you are "serious" while training, she will pick up on this and be the same. Other family members may just be approaching it with a different focus/energy. You can fun it up and she will still do her thing.

I also think there are way too many behaviours involved in the "stack" for show process, it is difficult to click train. Ears, expression,tail, feet,stance,,,etc I am not sure she will figure out what you are clicking (tail wag).

Sounds like a willing pup who has great focus. Good Luck!

While I don't disagree with the responder, I would say that maybe doing some clicker work with tail wagging should work. I would be encouraging play with her, to lighten it up a bit. Smile and have a good time in the ring. Some pups can get very tired of the conformation ring, so I would not overdo.

Be careful not to overdo the training! I used a clicker to ring train Hudson... and definitely overdid the training! Everyone used to joke about how "serious" he was in the ring... it became like a job to him, with a set schedule, etc. He liked it and all, but it took him a long time to cut loose a little and just have some spunk!

Thank you very much all of you, and yes i think that i am serious but not in the harsh way though,more like easy going!She doesn't know how to sit-stay or down-stay yet just that i want her in front of me and stay nice easy and i'll definitly make it more fun with a training every other day!! Wow! Thanks so much!!!

Sometimes I feel that my dogs view me as the enforcer or "she who must be obeyed". I find that often they show better with my friends as their handlers because they can have more fun with a new person. I have taught them how to gait, stack, etc. but others seem to be able to bring out the dog's natural pizazz much better than I can. Your husband needs to get a nice suit and tie!