Weaving Foot Work

[smisch]

It seems stupid but I'm not happy with jocks weaving foot work, He's a two paw bounce on either side of the poles Dog.. And I don't think that is the mst effective way for him to weave, he has reasonably good accuracy (his enteries still could be better) and he has great speed (for an almost 9 yr old)

I have noticed a few different styles and made some observations (they may not be correct but its just little things I've noticed)

Two feet on either Side of the pole: Fairly solid way to weave but is a bit slower than other styles, Dogs who use that rarley miss weaves.

Single StepFast, if trained properly accurate but dogs using it tend to miss weaves espically if they haven't practiced or had solid foundation work

One front foot lifted: and it swaps as they move from side to side, Fairly acurate but can cause dogs to miss poles espcially if they loose rythym. Not as fast as the other two..

Jock has always been a two footed dog, but with his speed we're constantly hitting the physical pole or his turns are wide and he misses the last pole or the second.. Any suggestions? currently I'm working on channel work to encourage him to go ahead we're now at the stage where the poles are in a definate zig-zag pattern as opposed to two sets running paraell..

Unfortunatley he wasn't orginally trained in the best of methods, we were taught using the weave guides.. Slow and annoying and then I swapped to guiding him through once he had the basic pattern.. So his footwork style has developed due to my bad teaching..

Any Suggestions would be appreciated.. I have a set of home made 6 PVC poles which all live on a PVC base, they can be tilted and rigth now I'm working using garden stakes for his channels (plasticy type ones). Im not not proud of his work as he's worked hard to get there but I think it could be better..

[poodlefan]

How big is he? Many smaller dogs use the double pump style because they aren't big enough to single step.

I prefer to use guides for training smaller dogs. How fast you get them off determines how fast you progress.

Edited February 27, 2009 by poodlefan

[Kavik]

I also thought the style chosen was due to the size of the dog. Not sure if you can change it? He is only a little dog!

[poodlefan]

I also thought the style chosen was due to the size of the dog. Not sure if you can change it? He is only a little dog!

Smaller dogs simply can't single step 60cm weave gaps. I think weaver accuracy has more to do with training than weave style.

Edited February 27, 2009 by poodlefan

[smisch]

he's a borderline 300-400 dog.. He literally makes it in by 1 cm lol..

But while he's small he stretches right out and covers ALOT of ground.. and as I was saying in the original post he does run into the poles on occasion (we haven't been doing to many straight poles recently) hmmm... Back to the drawing board me thinks

[Kavik]

What is it about his weaving that makes you think his style needs improvement?

Speed? Accuracy? Independence? Entries? Rhythm?

Edited February 27, 2009 by Kavik

[laffi]

SG in her new 2x2 weaving DVD explains how to work on fancy footwork for weaving. Basically you offset the weaves a little, so they form channel-like weaves. It speeds up the dog and teaches them to use single steps. However I would say this would work for bigger dogs. Smaller dogs just cannot weave like this.

[smisch]

What is it about his weaving that makes you think his style needs improvement?

Speed? Accuracy? Independence? Entries? Rhythm?

I just feel that the way he weaves isn't the best way he should be.. His head has finally gone down and he's starting to run ahead again.. but since he's got Faster and started hitting the poles (which are 60cm apart) hes slowed down and started looking for gudiance..

the speed will be fine once he gets the confidence back..

The accuracy is something we're always working on! so anything to do with that would be good!!

The independace has gone down hill a few weeks ago he was running a head and entering and our skills were at the max then recently we've gone back two steps.. but we're working on that using the channel..

So basically the acuracy and the coverage of ground cos since he's slwoed down he's gone back to using alot of ground to cover the poles

SG in her new 2x2 weaving DVD explains how to work on fancy footwork for weaving. Basically you offset the weaves a little, so they form channel-like weaves. It speeds up the dog and teaches them to use single steps. However I would say this would work for bigger dogs. Smaller dogs just cannot weave like this.

I'm not expecting fast and fancy footwork.. I would like us to get to a stage where we are covering the most amount of ground and he actually gets all the poles and not run into them.

Edited February 27, 2009 by ♥-smisch-♥

[Vickie]

I have noticed a few different styles and made some observations (they may not be correct but its just little things I've noticed)

Two feet on either Side of the pole: Fairly solid way to weave but is a bit slower than other styles, Dogs who use that rarley miss weaves.

Single StepFast, if trained properly accurate but dogs using it tend to miss weaves espically if they haven't practiced or had solid foundation work

One front foot lifted: and it swaps as they move from side to side, Fairly acurate but can cause dogs to miss poles espcially if they loose rythym. Not as fast as the other two..

Jock has always been a two footed dog, but with his speed we're constantly hitting the physical pole or his turns are wide and he misses the last pole or the second.. Any suggestions? currently I'm working on channel work to encourage him to go ahead we're now at the stage where the poles are in a definate zig-zag pattern as opposed to two sets running paraell..

Any Suggestions would be appreciated.. I have a set of home made 6 PVC poles which all live on a PVC base, they can be tilted and rigth now I'm working using garden stakes for his channels (plasticy type ones). Im not not proud of his work as he's worked hard to get there but I think it could be better..

can we have recent video Sam so we can see what he's doing?

I think most dogs adapt a weaving style that suits them best naturally. Most experts would agree that bounce weaving is not slower or faster than single striding. I would not get too hung up about his style...as you said, he has come such a long way. I know a few people who tried to change their dogs stepping & regret it big time as their dogs lost confidence and ended up worse than before they tried to change it.

LOL, a question...what do you think Trim does? no peeking on youtube either.

I recently watched a video someone took of her weaving in slow motion...what she actually does totally surprised me.

[ness]

What was emphasized on the SG DVD was not so much the method - i.e. single or double but rather that the dog maintained a consistent style throughout the weavers and wasn't switching.

[smisch]

I have noticed a few different styles and made some observations (they may not be correct but its just little things I've noticed)

Two feet on either Side of the pole: Fairly solid way to weave but is a bit slower than other styles, Dogs who use that rarley miss weaves.

Single StepFast, if trained properly accurate but dogs using it tend to miss weaves espically if they haven't practiced or had solid foundation work

One front foot lifted: and it swaps as they move from side to side, Fairly acurate but can cause dogs to miss poles espcially if they loose rythym. Not as fast as the other two..

Jock has always been a two footed dog, but with his speed we're constantly hitting the physical pole or his turns are wide and he misses the last pole or the second.. Any suggestions? currently I'm working on channel work to encourage him to go ahead we're now at the stage where the poles are in a definate zig-zag pattern as opposed to two sets running paraell..

Any Suggestions would be appreciated.. I have a set of home made 6 PVC poles which all live on a PVC base, they can be tilted and rigth now I'm working using garden stakes for his channels (plasticy type ones). Im not not proud of his work as he's worked hard to get there but I think it could be better..

can we have recent video Sam so we can see what he's doing?

I think most dogs adapt a weaving style that suits them best naturally. Most experts would agree that bounce weaving is not slower or faster than single striding. I would not get too hung up about his style...as you said, he has come such a long way. I know a few people who tried to change their dogs stepping & regret it big time as their dogs lost confidence and ended up worse than before they tried to change it.

LOL, a question...what do you think Trim does? no peeking on youtube either.

I recently watched a video someone took of her weaving in slow motion...what she actually does totally surprised me.

Trim has her own unique style.. I'm trying to remember its been a few months lol... hmmmm I'm thinking its kind of a bounce but at the same time she singles steps.. I'm remembering photos of her and in some cases she's single stepping and in others shes bouncing.. lol no clue!!! now gonna go watch a vid and work it out lol!!

I'll set up some poles and get some footage sometime tomorrow.. and I guarentee now he's gonna actually do what we need lol! It could all just be down to my handling too.. Cos I'm Learning to handle a faster dog..