I suck at training weaves and it is frustrating me to no end. I can train everything else and my dogs rock at it but we are sooo behind on weaves compared to the other dogs in class. So... help? I'm getting frustrated to be honest.
I think there's a few problems I'm running into.
1. I'm confusing them. too many methods tried and now they just have no flipping clue what to do. Sometimes they randomly wrap around a pole and sometimes they just seem to run through correctly. Other times they pop out at pole 2 and just run. Sometimes they think they need to jump over the base of the weaves. I think because they are so confused they are stressing and having motivation issues.
2. They're small? That seems like something that would make things easier but I have found my dogs automatically lock on to the weave pole base and seem to not really look at the poles.
3. No toy drive so any methods throwing toys aren't working so hot. Even with the food toys I'm not having much luck there.
My equipment: 12 stick in the ground weaves and 3 sets of 2x2s.
What I've tried:
2x2s: they will go through a set of 2 from easy entrances correctly most the time. Only sometimes not and then other times they just run around them. Which goes back to confusion on their part. But I have no idea how to 'fix' that and correct that. When we do one set of poles and send them to the target they will hit it well but I swear they have no idea about the poles. I don't know that they realize the poles are really part of the game.
I've tried putting the 2x2s in a circle and running them through each. It's so-so but I don't see progress really.
Channels: Everyone in my class is doing channel weaves. My dogs....? We can open the channel 100% and they will absolutely not stay and run through the middle of them. Ever. Which has made channels difficult. They go through the first two then pop out and run as fast as they can outside the channel. We've tried rewarding in the middle, using a target, and whatever. Not much help really.
Shaping: This is where I am now. I brought out my 2x2s and put one in the living room. Clicker in hand, cookies and waited. Summer is still trying to interact with the base of the weave poles most the time. Mia is seeming to get it a little better and she is circling around and finding the entrance to the set of 2 poles. Where do I go from here with them? How do I get Summer to realize that jumping over/targetting the base or lying down between the poles is not what I want?
Anyways so there is my confessional on how I suck at training weaves. I can capture and shape all sorts of tricks but weaves are not my friend.
I think Im going to schedule a private lesson for just weaves. Hopefully I can get something started that I can carry on at home.
I think there's a few problems I'm running into.
1. I'm confusing them. too many methods tried and now they just have no flipping clue what to do. Sometimes they randomly wrap around a pole and sometimes they just seem to run through correctly. Other times they pop out at pole 2 and just run. Sometimes they think they need to jump over the base of the weaves. I think because they are so confused they are stressing and having motivation issues.
2. They're small? That seems like something that would make things easier but I have found my dogs automatically lock on to the weave pole base and seem to not really look at the poles.
3. No toy drive so any methods throwing toys aren't working so hot. Even with the food toys I'm not having much luck there.
My equipment: 12 stick in the ground weaves and 3 sets of 2x2s.
What I've tried:
2x2s: they will go through a set of 2 from easy entrances correctly most the time. Only sometimes not and then other times they just run around them. Which goes back to confusion on their part. But I have no idea how to 'fix' that and correct that. When we do one set of poles and send them to the target they will hit it well but I swear they have no idea about the poles. I don't know that they realize the poles are really part of the game.
I've tried putting the 2x2s in a circle and running them through each. It's so-so but I don't see progress really.
Channels: Everyone in my class is doing channel weaves. My dogs....? We can open the channel 100% and they will absolutely not stay and run through the middle of them. Ever. Which has made channels difficult. They go through the first two then pop out and run as fast as they can outside the channel. We've tried rewarding in the middle, using a target, and whatever. Not much help really.
Shaping: This is where I am now. I brought out my 2x2s and put one in the living room. Clicker in hand, cookies and waited. Summer is still trying to interact with the base of the weave poles most the time. Mia is seeming to get it a little better and she is circling around and finding the entrance to the set of 2 poles. Where do I go from here with them? How do I get Summer to realize that jumping over/targetting the base or lying down between the poles is not what I want?
Anyways so there is my confessional on how I suck at training weaves. I can capture and shape all sorts of tricks but weaves are not my friend.
I think Im going to schedule a private lesson for just weaves. Hopefully I can get something started that I can carry on at home.