Woof, to be the devil's advocate here: What do you say this this defense line, to what you're saying:
"The reason why dowsers either fail tests, or refuse to partake of them in the first place, is : That it can only be done when in subconscious mode. The minute the dowser is being "tested", then he becomes "conscious". Therefore the art no longer works, at that time. Sort of like "stage fright" I guess? Or a world-reknowned artist who paints quite well when not under pressure. But the moment you put a crowd around him, and put him on a timer, put demands on him, etc... then his painting skills wain .
How do you respond to this rationale, when they give this as their reason ?
Assuming that it's fully blinded dowsing we're talking about here: dowsers don't usually don't usually give the "stage fright" reason. Most often it's a bunch of outright alibis, but the alibis still tell the truth of the matter: they know they can't do it.
Unblinded dowsing, I'd expect that to be a common and ordinary ability needing no spooky explanations, although most dowsers reject even that (they usually demand spooky explanations). But still, ideomotor response is mostly at the subconscious level, if it's at the conscious level it's not ideomotor response and no dowsing rods are needed.
I'm not aware of anyone ever having offered a cash prize to see a demo of unblinded dowsing. What would be the point?
Since there's not very much mysterious about unblinded dowsing, the only kind I find interesting is the blinded kind. Full blinding is basically nonexistent under practical dowsing conditions but pretty good blinding is often present and results seemingly beyond reasonable expectation are often credibly reported under such conditions. It seems to work best on buried utilities, the locating of which using scientifically designed apparatus happens to be my business. The explanations typically given by dowsers that a magnetic or electric field produced by the utility itself produces a force on the dowsing rod causing it to swing has no scientific basis. What does have a scientific basis is the physical construction of the dowsing rod itself: it's designed to amplify and indicate ideomotor response and if it doesn't do that you can't dowse with it.
In principle, you could argue that utility dowsers are picking up subconsciously on clues gained from field experience and what they know through "developed instinct" that isn't making its way into consciousness is coming out through the hands instead. However I don't regard that as an adequate explanation for two reasons:
1. I've done it best doing it blindfolded.
2. Credible anecdotal reports from people who do field locating for a living suggest ground truthed success 'way beyond what it seems should be possible from the "ordinary explanation".
So, how does it work? I don't know. I do however know how it doesn't work, because I get paid to do real science of the kind that debunks the pseudoscience. To people who know nothing of high school physics, however, it's all nifty magic and talk about real science just spoils the fun.
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