Agility Pictures (& a question about weave poles)

[Laney]

Here are some pictures of Rivers from his intermediate agility class. We are both new to agility and have a lot to learn, but we LOVE it! (We just started in June).
I am having a hard time with the weave poles though. Rivers does not seem to want to go through them and it takes a tons of persuasion to get him to even consider it. Does anybody have any tips on how to teach weaves? I'm basically starting from scratch cause nothing is working.





My favorite one!

[llombardo]

How old is he? Did you guys do beginning agility? Is he toy motivated? A squeaky toy or a tug as reward might work..or food??

[Laney]

He 1 and 1/2 years old. We did do beginning agility. The trainers say weaves are usually one of the hardest things to teach and Rivers will figure it out if we keep practicing. He does it sometimes, but today he wouldn't go near them. I usually use treats for the weaves but I might try a toy (he LOVES tugs). Thanks for the suggestion.

[KristiM]

Nice pictures! Looks like your dog is having a blast

I trained using the channel method, there is some good info on it in the stickies on this forum. I love the channel method and found my dogs both responded really well to it. You start just by teaching them to run through the channel and then bring the poles closer. I don't think there really is a "magic" way to teach weaving but using the channel both of my dogs LOVE weaving, it wasn't overly frustrating for me and I didn't need to buy special equipment. There are also some good vids on you tube if you just search channel weave poles.

[MaggieRoseLee]

Weave Poles

Lots of great info on that link above.

Great photos of both you and your dog, thanks for sharing.

In my experience, weaving is not an easy behavior for dogs. Our goal is for them to love to weave and do it fun and fast from the start. Additionally, to it right, we need a set of weaves at home. Weekly classes just don't seem to be enough. There are different methods and the ones I know work well are the channel and the 2x2's. There has to be a method and it needs to progress but fun and fast are key.

Real weave poles are expensive but last forever even when left outside. I tried to go cheap initially and made ones with a PVC base but as soon as my dogs were going thru 'fun and fast' those fragile PVC things were a mess.

I can't stress enough, your mental picture should be of your dog LOVING to enter those poles and drive thru to the end. How you get that love and eagerness has everything to do with how they are trained.

BTW, what level have you instructors gotten to at agility trials?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavS...e_gdata_player

Watch the speed and drive that dog has going thru the poles. Its not looking at the handler once it knows its supposed to weave. When we teach it right, they know to hi the entry and go until the poles end and are not looking for guidance from us . Its our job to make sure they know we want them to weave, and it becomes their job to get the entry and tear thru...

:-)

[kbella999]

I would suggest Susan Garretts 2x2 weaves. I would also suggest that you research each method before you start training. The reason is that dogs who are trained one way and then retrained another way don't seem to be as good as dogs who are trained one way from the beginning. So research the different methods and pick one and hope it works out. All dogs are different and one method may work better for your dog.

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by kbella999

I would suggest Susan Garretts 2x2 weaves. I would also suggest that you research each method before you start training. The reason is that dogs who are trained one way and then retrained another way don't seem to be as good as dogs who are trained one way from the beginning. So research the different methods and pick one and hope it works out. All dogs are different and one method may work better for your dog.