Weave Poles

My parents have their dog enrolled in a beginning obedience class and their new instructor suggested that their highly intelligent and active puppy needed to have plenty of challenges presented during his day to keep him more focused. Luckily, my parents have a huge, fenced backyard, so running and playing Frisbee are a given, but the instructor meant mental challenges for the dog.

Therefore, I spent the day at their house (chatting about plenty of things besides the dog) and then spent some time teaching my parents how to teach Splash how to do the weave poles from Agility. This is how you make a simple weave pole set:

*PVC pipe I have found works the best for bigger dogs, and the simple wooden garden stakes work quickly for the shorter dogs (like my Beagle who is only 13.5").
*Cut 6 to 12 pipes to 36" long.
*Hammer the pipes into the grass (easily removable for mowing) so that each of the 12 pipes are between 18" and 25" apart. We picked 20" apart and it worked great.
*In the end, there will be up to 12 poles sticking up in a straight line in your grass with space of 20" between each one.
Then, the fun part! Begin with plenty of treats in your pocket; the most favorite treat your dog responds too (cut up chicken, cheese, dog biscuits, hot dogs, etc). The dog's left shoulder should always enter the first weave pole. The dog's left shoulder would then be to the right of the first pole. The dog would lead to the left to go between the first two poles, followed by an immediate right shoulder lead between the next two poles, followed by an immediate left shoulder lead between the next two poles, and so forth with this pattern.

So, with this pattern in mind, set up your dog to enter with the left shoulder. While standing next to your dog's right shoulder, hold a treat with your left hand to the muzzle of the dog, while you weave your hand back and forth through the poles so that your dog naturally follows in the same manner. The dog should be stuck like glue to the treat in your hand as you weave the dog through the poles. The dog should never take the treat from you, so hold on tight. You are just bribing your dog through the poles in a specific pattern with the reward of the treat upon exiting all the weave poles.

Eventually, you can gradually add space between the treat and the muzzle so that the dog is essentially doing the weaving solo, with the bribe to get him through. With enough repetition the dog's muscle memory will take over and the dog will be able to perform the trick with out a treat bribe. If your dog misses a weave, then start over immediately while giving praise to your dog. Because this is a muscle memory trick, you can not afford to allow your dog to continue if he made a mistake. No punishment, just praise, and start the dog from the beginning.

Whola! Enjoy a special little trick with your dog today and they will love you extra for it ... and play in water to cool off!!