in2adventure Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Grady is catching on to 2x2 weaves in class so fast that I bought my own set. He's still a bit too young to teach anything more than entry and drive, but I'll be back in Yellowstone without a trainer (or 2x2's) before he'll be old enough to truly weave. It's the only piece of equipment I've bought and didn't make myself. We are going to a 2x2 clinic this weekend. It was perfect timing. I'm hoping to learn how to clean up Lucia's weave entries with them. She's does an awesome weave and gets most entries, but they could definately be made a bit more collected. Has anyone else used this method? I've heard nothing but good things about it and so far, what I've seen is pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I got the new DVD and started retraining Dean's weaves on it immediately. It's too cool for words!! I'll be retraining Maddie's, too, once I can work outside in my yard again. I did do some 2 X 2 work with Dean previously, based on Susan's description in Shaping Success, but the DVD is totally different! He's almost up to the 4 straight poles stage and we've only done three or four 2 X 2 sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 That's pretty cool! The owners of the company I bought my set from have a golden and she said they did the 12 poles in 12 days with her and her weaves are awesome now. They said they can't keep the 2x2's in stock. Since grady is 10 months I may wait a bit to really get into it with him. Susan says the method is ment to move along very fast and I think he needs to wait until he's a year old to bend like that. Lucia will start her retraining this weekend at the clinic. With as long as took to teach her weaves the first time, I can't imagine them learning it in such a short time. I'm lloking forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I started the first two steps with Maddie since you don't need a lot of space for it and you can do them in your house. She was hitting entries that she has never hit (just with one set of two) literally in minutes! I can't wait until spring when I can get her outside to do the whole program. Dean would be moving much faster if I could get him to the training building to work on them more often. Yes, it moves so fast that you should definitely wait with your 10 month old. If you are doing other shaping and training, he will "get it" in no time when you start. I need to get a couple of sets of 2 X 2's. Right now I have a borrowed set of two, but eventually I'll have to give them back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 Yep I would be waiting for him to get a bit older before starting. My girl is 10 months as well and I won't be starting her weaving until she is around 13-14 months. Just organising my 2x2 weavers and hopefully my copy of the dvd will arrive next week . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I got Susan Garrett's E-book from a friend on 2x2 training. Its supposed to come with the DVD and my friend is going to let me borrow that when I start Rush's weaves. My question is think I could use PVC 2x2s (homemade of course) I have a special design all picked out lol. Hopefully 2x2s work for us! Diane:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted February 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I thought about trying to make them. I've made a full set of weaves and 6 jumps already. I was having a lazy moment when I bought the 2x2's I also figured i could be a bit more precise with the steel ones. The 12 or 6 weaves are sturdy enough for Lucia to slam through and not move around much, but since the 2x2's were so short, I figured she would knock them around to much. The bases on the ones I bought are steel and even I have a hard time moving them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I build most of my equipment, the only thing I havent built was my fiberglass based weave poles and my tunnels. I dont like spending money :X lol. Hmm, maybe I should only make a set of 3 though, in case they all like are epic failures, I might be able to turn them into something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 The thing about making 2 X 2's is that when you get to a certain point, they need to be stable enough to not move if the dog hits them. I have PVC 2 X 2's that I made a long time ago, but they move around when they get closed to a certain point. If I have to give back the borrowed set and need to use the PVC ones, I will have to wait until I can work outside and pin them into the ground so they don't move so easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgileBC Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I have done a little work on 2x2s as described in Susan's Shaping Success book. I do plan to buy the dvd also. Kyla was trained on channel weaves without any special attention to entries (hmm). I am working with the 2x2s to try to make her entries "smarter". She tends to want to smash through the weaves, so learning to collect before entering the weaves is a good thing for her. Already she has been able to hit entries that would have been somewhat iffy before. I am currently using pvc ""2x2s" that I disasembled from my regular set. I WILL buy metal based 2x2s when I am able to. The pvc ones have way too much 'give' to them and right now I can't really stake them down as the ground is frozen go figure :-) I think metal based are the way to go. My experience with Kyla has shown me why training on 'stable' weaves is so important. With most of the pvc wps I own, Kyla can push the poles side to side. (and some of that behavior could be from learning on a set of pvc channel wps also) And then when she ran a metal based set she was having striding issues because she could not "push" through the poles as much. Kyla's doing better with this now, but it would have been MUCH easier to train on metal based poles from the start. (or at least sturdy wooden based ones) Anyway, I really like the 2x2 method too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Some things I've considered with the PVC 2 X 2's: 1. The poles are glued into the base so they can't "twist" when the dog hits them. 2. If I use them indoors, I would have to duct tape them to the kitchen floor. Even then they might move, and the kitchen floor is not my favorite surface for them to weave on. 3. If I use them outside, I will use landscaping cloth stakes to stake them into the ground. This would probably be OK if the ground were not wet. I think the metal bases are optimal, but if I can't manage it, I will do what I can with PVC 2 X 2's. I think it can be done even though it's not perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 There isnt any room for me to work in my house unless I do it with just one set. So everything would be trained outside. I want steel bases and I think I would eventually get some, but I dont foresee parental permission on that one lol. I wonder if I could find them used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 They average about 130-140 plus shipping. Maybe if you saved a little each week you could get a set or buy one at a time. I've looked EVERYWHERE for used ones. No one is giving them up Even people I know that have trained dogs won't give them up. I wonder if you posted something on the agility forums you could find a used set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Once I get mine I don't think I'll give them up! I'll want them for my next dog. I would loan them to a local friend, but I doubt I would sell them. This method is a keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 I think I will just collect the money my parents give me They dont have to know I dont spend it. I think everyone is in the same frame of mind as Root Beer, saving it for their next dog, heck I would do the same! Maybe a few of us will get lucky lol. I am going to stalk e-bay haha. Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northof49 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Can you not find someone locally to do the bases for you? If you order just one set of the two weave poles and show them what you need. They are not patented. Everyone I know makes the exact same design of bases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 I just got back from a 4 hour 2x2 clinic. It was very informative and walked us through the steps until the dogs are actually weaving 4 poles and using a jump. We practiced each stage for 2-3 minutes. She walked us through the rest of it to explain how to add the rest of the poles and why you do two sets of six before making them a full 12, but we didn't practice these steps. I used Lucia for the clinic and she learned a lot. If you have a dog that does weaves pretty well, it can start out a bit frustrating, but she showed us how to speed through the first few steps without messing up the dog and getting them set up for finding the entrances accurately. I was amazed at how fast Lucia picked up on the whole thing and was collecting herself while driving through the 4 poles by the end of the clinic. And we really rush through all the steps for teaching purposes! I'm impressed and can't wait to get Grady on this in 3-4 months. I'll be finishing the 2x2 re-train with Lucia over the next week. I'm very excited and can't wait to see the results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted May 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I'm revisiting this post because I started Grady on 2x2's last week. He is on the stage where the 2x2'a are 4ft apart and 7 and 1 o'clock. All I can say is WOW! He'll be weaving by the end of this week for sure. He's having a bit more difficulty from the left but he's learning to work through it. He's insane about the poles As soon as i walk out to the yard with him, he's driving into the poles without me sending him! I've moved them around every session, like Susan suggests. It doesn't matter where they are, he wants to run through them. Distance and angle don't effect it either. Like i said, he's still not 100% from the left, but it's close. It's obvious this stage is a bit trickier, but he's starting to bend with the angle and pick up a good understanding of them. I'll probably keep him at this stage for an extra session and then start turning them in more. I've always wanted a dog that could that huge weave challenge. (80 poles????) That would be way cool Anyone else still working on these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 I need to get back to it. Dean was making great progress, but we haven't worked on them in ages. I need to work them with Maddie for entries, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topnotchdog Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 If you have a dog that does weaves pretty well, it can start out a bit frustrating, but she showed us how to speed through the first few steps without messing up the dog and getting them set up for finding the entrances accurately. I would love to hear more about this. I decided to train my older dog on these partly to give him something new to learn, but mostly to teach me the 2x2 method. We're just on the first few steps, getting him to drive through the first set at all angles. Since he already was familiar with weaving, what I am finding is that at the more extreme entries (particularly from the right) it's as though the picture looks like the start of a set of weaves, and instead of driving down the new reinforcement line between them, he just tries to weave the two poles. When I stop, or just try again, he (very cutely) defaults to offering behaviors and starts taking those two poles any way imaginable. (One time I stood there while he figure 8'ted them .) I suspect the answer lies in establishing the reinforcement line much, much more strongly before we try those more extreme angles. Did you pick up any tips to get past that? I am all ears. Thanks, Barbara P.S. FYI...Susan Garrett is preparing a "webinar" on her 2x2 method through her blog, not sure when it will be posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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