weaving on a fetch

[Guest Caroline]

Hi Amanda, I have a dog that wears back and forth on the fetch. He is 3 years old. I started training him when he was about 1 1/2. He is my first dog to train, and he is a rescue. He is easy on his sheep and a loose-eyed upright worker. He does show more eye on learning to drive. I have worked with a trainer sometimes. Just wanted another opinion on what to do about the wearing. Thank you,

Caroline

[Guest Amanda]

Caroline

Commendable to get a rescue trained up so far.

What you are describing (I always go out on limbs here, not seeing the dog but…..)

Is dog that is excessively plain, and lacking eye. I do not like weaving however, some very effective dogs have done it throughout their careers. It is always hard to argue with success, although that can be done too.

The weaving amounts to overflanking, so if you can stop him before he takes the steps too far, you can hold the weaving. But sometimes, stopping such a dog will just showcase his lack of gas—his stopped presence is insufficient to move them. He can only move them by weaving back and forth. You’ll have to talk over those two possibilities with your trainer, if you really want it to stop doing it.

Yours

Amanda

[Guest Caroline]

Thank you Amanda I have had help with him. I have an older dog that I trained a little bit years ago before my children were born. He is now 14. We may enter a trial in a few weeks, our first novice outing. I will talk over both of those with my trainer. Thank you again.

Caroline