Weave Poles with Strider and Goliath

Hello everyone,

This week I decided to work on the weave poles a little more with Strider and Goliath.  After our agility trial on December 28 and 29, one thing I noticed was that our weaves were good, but our entries definitely needed some work.  In this video I was working with the dogs two separate times on their weaves.  In the second half of the video, you will see that I used only 6 poles when working with Strider even though when trialing, 12 poles are used, as seen in the first half of the video.  I use only 6 poles when working with difficult entries in order to be able to work more entries and not tire out the dog.  You may also notice that when I was using a jump in addition to my weaves, I had it set only at 16" even though Strider jumps 24."  This serves the same purpose as 6 weaves and it is done to not tire out the dog so quickly. 

As for my weave pole training, I trained both of my dogs using guide wires that attach to the poles and simple guide the dog through the weaves.  These are helpful for teaching the dog where to enter the weaves seeing as the dog must enter with the first pole on their left shoulder.  Training various entries is an important thing to do with your dog because throughout your agility career, you will experience a wide variety of entries, some easy and some difficult.

Even though I trained my dogs with guide wires, it is not the only way to train them.  Other methods include the two by two method and channel weaves.  The thing about weave poles is that they can be taught several different ways and it is all about finding the way that works best for you and your dog.  Just remember that weave poles do take a long time to train (for example, I began teaching Strider the weaves in Sept 2014 and it took until Feb 2015 for him to be perfect with them).  Always stay patient and keep the dog engaged and having fun!

Hayley