Training Weaves w/ Bella?

[AgilityPup]

So, Bella will be a year old tomorrow, how crazy would it be for me to start teaching her v-weaves. Not closing them up straight or anything, but teaching her to get the speed, then when she's old enough, brining them in...

Do you think it'd be okay for me to start her now?

[Dekka]

sure..but why not try 2X2s they are supposed to be the best way to train weaves. (I personally don't like th V method as it doesn't train a thinking dog) But if she is a year you should be fine. Some venues even allow dogs to start competing at one

[AgilityPup]

Cool, thank you Dekka.

I may try 2x2s with her, I can since I've got weaves that can be straight, v-weaves, or 2x2s... I like v-weaves thought because it really tought Zoey her speed...

I don't know, we may just give both a try, and see what happens..

[Dekka]

2 X 2 are supposed to teach the fastest and most accurate weaves (I will be doing that with the whippets) I shaped my weaves with my guys.

[AgilityPup]

Hmm.... I dunno... What ever Bella seems to get... (She's pretty smart, actualy, amazing, I know!)...

[Dekka]

I comes down to two things, what will work for your dog, and how competative you want to be. I personally don't know of anyone who still uses the v set method to start dogs on weave poles. All I have heard of is problems and how long it takes to teach them. That is how most people were doing it when I first got into agility.

But hey if it works for you thats great. (lol I don't want to take that long, I am such an agility junkie)

[AgilityPup]

Haha, well, I was training Zoey with 2x2s, and she just wasn't getting it. I started her v-weaves, and she understood within days.

Really, we're in it for the fun. I know Bella isn't going to be an A+++ agility dog, but she'll be fun!

[Bear Luv]

I taught using 3x3's with Bear. She really got it down fast, she would make a C motion, and I would click and treat, and she just did that over and over until I could send her into them. Then I added another 3x3 set. She got the weaves down in a day of three 5 minute training sessions. The next day I tried to get speed on her, and held her back and told her basically she COULDNT weave, and boy did that make her want it xD. She had some trouble when she got speed, skipping poles. Right now she does 12 in about 3 seconds. She is a big dog, like Bella.

I dont recommend v-weaves, just because they take to long. I believe speed and proper footing come with time and practice. One thing is for sure, Bear has never had problems with entries. I know the V-weaves sometimes cause that confusion. Anyway, there are a lot of methods out there, I would look into more then just the v-weaves and go with what you think is best. What worked for Zoey probably wont work for Bella. Every dog is different

Diane

[AgilityPup]

^^ Thank you.

Hhhmmm... I may just send Zoey back to 2x2s (She's skipping a few bars)...... And train Bella like that. I don't know.

[mrose_s]

dumb question

whats the 2x2 method?