bella_bc_husky Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be making my first post in the agility section... ever since we had brought Bella home, I have wanted to try agility with her, and have not had the means to practice repetitively. We recently got a homemade set of weave poles -- they are not the training ones and are not adjustable (which is kind of making my life more difficult right now) but I am excited to start working nonetheless. This is just for fun, we will not be competing and I do not plan on having this meet professional requirements. I have spent several sessions a day of two to five minutes working on what I want her to do with the weave poles. I am using a clicker to gradually get her to walk between the poles and plan on having her go around another pole once she gets the previous set down. I am also rewarding her with SMALL pieces of high-demand treats. But I am having a very hard time keeping her on task, as we live in the city and there are dogs on the other side of every fence in our yard, not to mention squirrels, birds, noises, people, cars, etc. What have other people used to keep the dog's attention? And does this sound like the best way to train, considering I do not have the moving set of poles? I understand that this is probably taking the difficult route, but I have wanted to try her with agility for so long and am finally able to work on a daily basis. I just want to make sure we don't get at a point where we are both frustrated with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 When you say "moving set of poles" do you mean channel weaves? I personally like channel weaves, whereas many people like to start their dog using the 2X2 method. 2X2s are not that expensive. And I recommend that you get the DVD - available at Clean Run - if you are going to try and train with the 2X2s. You can approximate channel weaves with stick-in-the-ground poles. Good Luck. Jovi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 16, 2011 Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 We recently got a homemade set of weave poles -- they are not the training ones and are not adjustable (which is kind of making my life more difficult right now) but I am excited to start working nonetheless. This is just for fun, we will not be competing and I do not plan on having this meet professional requirements. I have spent several sessions a day of two to five minutes working on what I want her to do with the weave poles. I am using a clicker to gradually get her to walk between the poles and plan on having her go around another pole once she gets the previous set down. I am also rewarding her with SMALL pieces of high-demand treats. But I am having a very hard time keeping her on task, as we live in the city and there are dogs on the other side of every fence in our yard, not to mention squirrels, birds, noises, people, cars, etc. What have other people used to keep the dog's attention? The Give Me a Break game from Control Unleashed. I couldn't train outdoors without it. We live in the country and there are distractions all around. Rabbit scents, the neighbor dog, etc. etc. etc. I play GMAB until I can't get my dog to stop paying attention to me. Then we do a little training and then we play GMAB again. I do this until I don't need to and the dog can focus long term. For clicker training weave poles, I did start with a single set of 2, but it can be done with a straight set. I stood on the on side with my feet facing the second pole. When Tessa started to go through, I clicked and set the treat on the ground in a way that she had to arc around that pole and start to weave back to get it. Then I shifted, set up at the next pole, with my feet facing it, waited, when she started to go, click, treat on the ground, etc. etc. Once she could do this, I started to put the treat down without clicking. And when she got good with that, I started to wait for more motion. I repeated the process on the off side, but with my feet facing the first pole to get her to go around it. I hope that makes sense!! The results with her have been great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bella_bc_husky Posted September 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 When you say "moving set of poles" do you mean channel weaves? I personally like channel weaves, whereas many people like to start their dog using the 2X2 method. 2X2s are not that expensive. And I recommend that you get the DVD - available at Clean Run - if you are going to try and train with the 2X2s. You can approximate channel weaves with stick-in-the-ground poles. Good Luck. Jovi Yes! I need to work on my terminology I did watch a bunch of videos on youtube about the 2x2 method... the only problem I think I will run into with that is she only wants to play with a toy on her terms. She will play with a frisbee or ball only when she wants to, and if she doesn't want to, she ignores it (she's very picky!). And with her attention span, that might be difficult. Any ideas/suggestions for crossing that bridge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bella_bc_husky Posted September 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 The Give Me a Break game from Control Unleashed. I couldn't train outdoors without it. We live in the country and there are distractions all around. Rabbit scents, the neighbor dog, etc. etc. etc. I play GMAB until I can't get my dog to stop paying attention to me. Then we do a little training and then we play GMAB again. I do this until I don't need to and the dog can focus long term. For clicker training weave poles, I did start with a single set of 2, but it can be done with a straight set. I stood on the on side with my feet facing the second pole. When Tessa started to go through, I clicked and set the treat on the ground in a way that she had to arc around that pole and start to weave back to get it. Then I shifted, set up at the next pole, with my feet facing it, waited, when she started to go, click, treat on the ground, etc. etc. Once she could do this, I started to put the treat down without clicking. And when she got good with that, I started to wait for more motion. I repeated the process on the off side, but with my feet facing the first pole to get her to go around it. I hope that makes sense!! The results with her have been great. I will check the Give Me a Break game out... that sounds like just what she needs! She CAN focus when she wants to, but she is so excited about the new poles that she is all over the place, and the distractions don't help any. I will also continue working on the weave poles -- it sounds like what I'm doing is exactly what you described. I think the biggest thing right now is getting her to figure out what I want her to do and staying on task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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