Weaving Through The Poles Of Success

Recently, I have really been cracking down on Ethel's weaves, and working hard to make sure she has control in them. We've managed to build up her skill, confidence and speed, and now I feel that she has really nailed her technique. Initially, the weaves look like the most complicated (and impressive!) piece of equipment on the agility field, however Ethel's picked them up amazingly well.

Here's a video of Ethel in action, going through a set of 12 weaves:

While I was running Ethel through the weaves, my dad took this amazing snapshot of her coming out of her last weave. She has the cutest little bounce!

And here's an older video of Earl, the pro, doing his weaves!

In this video, as you can hear, is my overexcited encouragement of 'get it!'. This is because Earl is a lower-enegery dog than Ethel, and needs bags of encouragement and motivation at all times in order for him to reach his full speed potential. There is no music on this video, which means you can easily hear my voice! Encouragement is vital with agility dogs; especially dogs who need more motivation to speed up. I also run ahead of Earl compared to Ethel, because I know Earl will always do it right. My goal with Earl is more speed, my goal with Ethel, at this stage, is ensuring she starts her agility career with accuracy. Speed is important, but never at the cost of accuracy.

Training the Weaves

There are many different methods of training the weaves. Of course, all different trainers have a preference as to what method they teach their students and dogs. Some trainers use the Channel method, which is where the weaves are split apart, creating a wide 'tunnel' between them. To train using this method, the owner simply races the dog through them, slowly, with time, closing them again until they are fully closed and normal weaves can be successfully used.

Another method is simply guiding the dog slowly through the normal weaves in their normal state, usually on lead, in order to get the control nailed. Then, once confidence grows, and the dog learns what he/she is required to do in the weaves, the dog can be let off lead and speed can increase. This is the method I used to teach both Earl and Ethel the weaves, and as you can see from the video above, this is what I got out of it. The way you train your dog, however is completely up to you and your trainer, personally. And whatever method you use, the same rule applies for ALL dogs using any method: the dog must enter the weaves with his/her left shoulder entering the first weave.

In competition, your dog is only ever required to complete a set of either 6 or 12 weaves separately. No other amount of weaves is ever used in competition, therefore training your dog to complete any other amount of weaves isn't paramount, but sometimes I find that training for 9 or 12+ weaves can sometimes be beneficial, just to test your dogs control and weaving skill. Because the amount is different, it gives your dog a challenge and tests his ability.

Remember, when training your dog to do anything, you must always reward your dog for good behaviour! It will motivate him/her, and give him/her something to work for.

We're joining our hosts SlimDoggy, To Dog With Love and My GBGV Life in the FitDog Friday Blog Hop. We send many thanks their way, and you can join in below.