How to teach single stepping in the weaves

[ClickMeBC]

haha!

I am not the only one who has a dog that sucks to weaves more than tunnels!! I thought I would never hear of another dog that sucked to weaves like that...

 

Sorry to get off-topic, but reading your post I had to comment....my IG, Sierra, is like that! She enjoys the tunnels but can't resist those weave poles. Even being something of a "velcro dog" they'll suck her up from more than 20 feet away...

[abbies_mumma]

And there are three new games starting to appear: Hoopers, Gaters, and Agility Obedience. You have to read the NADAC agility mailing list for the latest info, as they're behind on updating the rulebook for now. As of a couple of days ago, the rules for these games had not been posted yet. You are most likely to see them at FUN-raisers, where new ideas are tested and the kinks worked out.

 

I don't know if they'll have these over here for a while because in Australia NADAC is only in Victoria and not very widely known.

[abbies_mumma]

Since i've got my own thread here about agility I may as well ask another question.

 

In a NADAC trial I can enter Abbie in a height lower then she would normally jump if I go in the 'skilled' category. She would normally jump 20" but I can choose to enter her in 16". Is it better to always jump the same or should I have her lower for her first few trials?

 

Thanks.

[Kat's Dogs]

Well....Raising River just asked the same question on this thread:

http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=9974

 

and I answered there as well as others. For a short answer here, Dazzle is jumping 16" at NADAC trials and will be doing so until Elite (when we move to proficient for NATCH points). I think that lower jump heights can equal less stress on the dog, therefor longer career - so I jump low when I can and it doesn't effect Dazzle's jumping style (which I explained in my answer on the other thread)

[abbies_mumma]

Ok thanks Kat.

[quicksilver]

One of our members, Gina, recorded my Bliss and Merry weaving at training last night, it's here on YouTube:

 

They were both taught using channels, without wires. As you can probably tell from the video, the weave bases in the UK are rigid, not sprung, so the dog really has to weave and can't just work the poles out of its way.

[abbies_mumma]

Thanks for the video. My weaves that I have at home are rigid too. They have a steel base and PVC poles.

 

It is looking like Abbie is going to be a bouncing dog!lol. Whenever I put the poles up straight she bounces (or hops whatever you call it) through.

[scullywags]

So i have a weave issue or maybe a baby dog training situation is better to decribe

collection up to the weaves if my dog comes into them from another obstacle he hits the entry then pops the 3rd pole if we r doing just weaves and there not huge drive into them he does not miss

so i have been playing with collection using a jump and then entry to weave its not helping

i have set it at angles close far lower height ect need some new ideas

 

hes a baby dog 2x2 method was primary

hes a 24" pony thats very BC blast it or break it mind set when performing so i hesitate to try and slow him and collection him up with a verbal as i do not want to hinder his drive

 

any ideas?? welcome your thoughts?

[alligande]

So i have a weave issue or maybe a baby dog training situation is better to decribe

collection up to the weaves if my dog comes into them from another obstacle he hits the entry then pops the 3rd pole if we r doing just weaves and there not huge drive into them he does not miss

so i have been playing with collection using a jump and then entry to weave its not helping

i have set it at angles close far lower height ect need some new ideas

 

hes a baby dog 2x2 method was primary

hes a 24" pony thats very BC blast it or break it mind set when performing so i hesitate to try and slow him and collection him up with a verbal as i do not want to hinder his drive

 

any ideas?? welcome your thoughts?

 

Time and practise I also have a baby dog who was trained with 2X2, he has awesome weaves and can find his entrance from any where when there is just weaves, add one jump and we were almost ok, a full course and he entered at the second pole due to speed, we also had an issue with popping out as he wanted to get to the next obstacle. There is also the yelling before entering the poles, which I took to mean why do I have to slow down and do such a silly obstacle!

I have not really done anything special, I also did not want him slowing down in any way, but in the last 2 months I have seen a huge improvement. At class once a week and at trials we just kept working on it, and despite my trainer telling me to use easy (I have done at a trial) I chose not to as I wanted him to figure out the collection needed to get it right on his own, just like with jumps. This was something I found that I could not work on at home due to the size limitations of my yard, we just can not get up enough speed and excitment to replicate the problem. So once a week in a limited way we have plugged away.

In class he has come along way, we only really have a problem now with hard or extremely fast entrances such as a tunnel to weaves, and I expect that will improve with time and maturity.

[gcv-border]

Yes, it is hard to replicate the speed and intensity of a trial in a home/training environment -- which in turn makes it more difficult to train collection at home since collection is not as crucial because they are not going as fast.

 

I have been playing around with weaves on a hill. This is about the only time that I have been happy to live on a hill. I have a very small flat area directly in back of my house for a few obstacles, but the remaining topography is hilly.

 

Entering the weaves downhill should help with collection. You can start with a few weaves (at least 4) since the collection at the beginning of the weaves is the skill you are training (the fact that they go through all 12 poles is not important in the beginning).

 

Entering the weaves uphill should help with drive through the weaves. The dog will have to work harder to work his way through the weaves. When weaving on the flat, the same drive should translate to a faster speed through the weaves.

 

That's the theory anyway, and some of what I have been playing around with. YMMV.

 

Jovi

[scullywags]

Time and practise I also have a baby dog who was trained with 2X2, he has awesome weaves and can find his entrance from any where when there is just weaves, add one jump and we were almost ok, a full course and he entered at the second pole due to speed, we also had an issue with popping out as he wanted to get to the next obstacle. There is also the yelling before entering the poles, which I took to mean why do I have to slow down and do such a silly obstacle!

I have not really done anything special, I also did not want him slowing down in any way, but in the last 2 months I have seen a huge improvement. At class once a week and at trials we just kept working on it, and despite my trainer telling me to use easy (I have done at a trial) I chose not to as I wanted him to figure out the collection needed to get it right on his own, just like with jumps. This was something I found that I could not work on at home due to the size limitations of my yard, we just can not get up enough speed and excitment to replicate the problem. So once a week in a limited way we have plugged away.

In class he has come along way, we only really have a problem now with hard or extremely fast entrances such as a tunnel to weaves, and I expect that will improve with time and maturity.

I am glad to here this may be a common part of the process I am a bit chicken to try him in trial situation til we have it at home I do CPe so we can play in the lower levels with no weaves til hes ready my coach thinks hes on track but I am ready yesterday for him to be super dog ha ha

[scullywags]

Yes, it is hard to replicate the speed and intensity of a trial in a home/training environment -- which in turn makes it more difficult to train collection at home since collection is not as crucial because they are not going as fast.

 

I have been playing around with weaves on a hill. This is about the only time that I have been happy to live on a hill. I have a very small flat area directly in back of my house for a few obstacles, but the remaining topography is hilly.

 

Entering the weaves downhill should help with collection. You can start with a few weaves (at least 4) since the collection at the beginning of the weaves is the skill you are training (the fact that they go through all 12 poles is not important in the beginning).

 

Entering the weaves uphill should help with drive through the weaves. The dog will have to work harder to work his way through the weaves. When weaving on the flat, the same drive should translate to a faster speed through the weaves.

 

That's the theory anyway, and some of what I have been playing around with. YMMV.

 

Jovi

Great out of the box thought I may try that it surly will not hurt and of course the 2by2 method does not address this suppose i could email SG but she would pry think that ridiculous!!

[rushdoggie]

For Argos, I find I can set up a speed curve with 2 jumps to a curved tunnel to get the speed needed to ensure that he HAS to collect to stay in. Eventually at speed his forward momentum causes him to falter when he hits at speed so he has to practice and learn to collect. Its a skill for sure.

 

I have a regulation tunnel for that reason so that he can bank and accelerate into the gentle curve.

[gooddogs74]

My young dog has been 2x2 trained as well. He is coming along pretty well although he has been to one trial and we had to do the weaves more than once because he wanted to go go go. He does not ever pop out at practice. Correction of that will come with settling into trial environment and him realizing he can not go on without doing them correctly. I think part of the issue (not a problem) with the method is that they learn the weaving SO quick you just kind of expect the rest of it to be there too. A couple of suggestions I would consider would be to make sure to abort the exercise the instant you have an error. Don't let him continue on through the poles. This is one place I use my NRM, "try again". I also will physically stop him and walk him back to where we started calmly to give his brain a second to reset. Then go right back to trying again. If I have more than three failures, I would consider moving the jump a bit closer or curving it a bit so he still gets the practice of an obstacle to the weaves, but cannot get up quite as much speed. I would also go back to maybe four poles for this so you can really reward the entries. Now that my dog is doing well with this, I have been sending him through several low long spaced jumps to the weaves and marking a correct entry. I also think that since the 2x2 dogs are so good at finding the entries that novice can actually be harder in a way since the weaves are often set up in a straight line with the other obstacles and we have been so busy working the arcs that we neglect those fast straight on entries so common in the lower levels of competition.

[Root Beer]

Do you still have 2 X 2's to work with?

 

If so, one thing you might try is this:

 

Set your poles so the first 2X2 is straight, as it would normally be. But open the second set (so, the 3rd and 4th poles) at an angle. "Open" that one set up, so to speak. Set the rest in a straight line.

 

Try sending your dog in from the jump. Hopefully he will go through without missing any poles. If that works, gradually close up the second 2X2, I'd say over the course of several days of training sessions.

 

I'm not sure if it will work, but it might be worth a try. It might just point out to your dog that the 3rd pole is where it is and that he needs to be mindful of it.

 

I would actually probably work for a while with wired weaves myself, but if you haven't trained on wires before, this would probably be easier and might do the job.

[alligande]

For Argos, I find I can set up a speed curve with 2 jumps to a curved tunnel to get the speed needed to ensure that he HAS to collect to stay in. Eventually at speed his forward momentum causes him to falter when he hits at speed so he has to practice and learn to collect. Its a skill for sure.

 

I have a regulation tunnel for that reason so that he can bank and accelerate into the gentle curve.

 

For us it takes either class or trial to build the level of speed and excitement. I think it is the excitement of a full course that gets Rievaulx going, at class he knows he gets to play for awhile, at home there is always a limited number of obstacles and it is much easier to keep calm.

[Northof49]

So i have a weave issue or maybe a baby dog training situation is better to decribe

collection up to the weaves if my dog comes into them from another obstacle he hits the entry then pops the 3rd pole if we r doing just weaves and there not huge drive into them he does not miss

so i have been playing with collection using a jump and then entry to weave its not helping

i have set it at angles close far lower height ect need some new ideas

 

hes a baby dog 2x2 method was primary

hes a 24" pony thats very BC blast it or break it mind set when performing so i hesitate to try and slow him and collection him up with a verbal as i do not want to hinder his drive

 

any ideas?? welcome your thoughts?

I would be going back and teaching the dog to bend around the first pole. Can your dog hit the entry from either side from the 12th pole? Once the dog is bending really well, then you start to make the arc easier, which means the dog is coming in with more speed and needs to learn to collect. We work with this only 2 sets of 2 x 2 poles. If it takes the dog 10 tries to get it right, so be it. You may want to re-open the poles just slightly for one or two successes and then straighten them again.