OSoSwift Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) Here is Lewis doing some weavers. We are working on entries as they are not 100% yet, but you can see his enthusiam for them. That was created by using an I-squeak then a bad cuz as his reward (I use the cuz as it has feet and I can place it ontop of pine posts, the dog walk etc and it won't roll off :) ) I will get some of the Rommi monster as well as she is not quite as fast but still rather good :) Edited February 12, 2012 by OSoSwift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Woooohoooo, Go Lewis! He's Super keen & loving every minute :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 It'a that blue Cuz ball, it has a higher value than anything else in his life :) Now to polish up his entries :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Love the enthusiasm OSo How cute is he! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Hi agility brains, I have a stupid question for you. Sorry if it's been asked before I have 6 weave poles in my backyard I have been training my girl on as part of our afternoon play sessions. She has gotten quite good in one direction and will often go through independently, but in the other direction she needs more guidance and will try to miss weaves more often. My question is do you think I should work on solidfying the direction she goes well in so she really gets it, then work on generalising the other direction. Or practice in the other direction more to try to keep them both at the same level. Or doesn't it matter? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Do you mean better on the right or left side? Or when going a certain direction in your yard? If left/right side I would work on getting them to be the same - so do work on the weaker side. I also find being confident helps, and instead of babying instead just say oops and try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Going in a certain direction, so entering from the side near our shed she is good, but entering from the other end near the fence she is weaker. I started with luring so I am now just transitioning from this to her going out ahead to her toy, which she'll only do in one direction without ducking out early or skipping a pole. So I'm doing the 'oops start again' more and more, but if she misses it too much I go back to pointing her through for a run. I've changed them to 60cm now too :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Going in a certain direction, so entering from the side near our shed she is good, but entering from the other end near the fence she is weaker. I started with luring so I am now just transitioning from this to her going out ahead to her toy, which she'll only do in one direction without ducking out early or skipping a pole. So I'm doing the 'oops start again' more and more, but if she misses it too much I go back to pointing her through for a run. I've changed them to 60cm now too :D A couple of suggestions..... 1. First of all I'd be moving the weave poles all around your yard and asking her to do them with you standing in all manner of positions. From what you are staying you are going to have the same problem when you try it in a more challenging environment if doing in a different direction in your back yard causes issues. 2. You need to make sure that you are giving her some success in the process. My rule of thumb is to work the 'good' side either side of the weaker side - that way they get plenty of success for each potential failure. Ultimately you want her working the same way no matter which direction they are heading or where you are standing. Hop that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Thanks Agility Dogs! Alternating makes sense :) Moving them is kind of a PITA, but I might set up the proper poles at training tomorrow and see how she goes there :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyStar Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Fantastic weaves, OSS! The i-squeaks are my girls favourite too and what I used to train their weavers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Going in a certain direction, so entering from the side near our shed she is good, but entering from the other end near the fence she is weaker. I started with luring so I am now just transitioning from this to her going out ahead to her toy, which she'll only do in one direction without ducking out early or skipping a pole. So I'm doing the 'oops start again' more and more, but if she misses it too much I go back to pointing her through for a run. I've changed them to 60cm now too :D How are her entries? Can she find them on her own from all angles? If she is still struggling with entries I would go back to 4 poles and work on those from all angles and directions first. Personally I prefer to run them only in one direction each session (both sides, but only one direction if that makes sense). Yay for 60cm spacing! That will make it easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Her entries aren't great, we're still in the very early stages so I can definitely work on that next. I'm still only starting her on my left at this stage so I will start by mixing that up and then move further out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canine fun sports Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I tried to add this earlier, but something was plqying up. Hopefully this will work now. I have 6 weave poles in my backyard I have been training my girl on as part of our afternoon play sessions. She has gotten quite good in one direction and will often go through independently, but in the other direction she needs more guidance and will try to miss weaves more often. . . . I started with luring so I am now just transitioning from this to her going out ahead to her toy, which she'll only do in one direction without ducking out early or skipping a pole. So I'm doing the 'oops start again' more and more, but if she misses it too much I go back to pointing her through for a run. There are many ways to train weaves. I consider luring one of the poorer methods, because it does not promote independence right from the beginning. You have to add it on later. There is the SG method, which everyone has access to on DVD, although this is not my preferred method, either. I use a barrier method, and there are a number of these, depending on the type of barriers you use and the way you fade your barriers. I prefer this method because you always have speed and always have independence, and by not having a barrier on the first pole, you can work entries from the start. So I would be putting a couple of barriers on your weave poles, especially when you are working on the side you are having problems with. Remember, if you choose to use barriers, dogs have to learn to work with them. Just becasue the dog might try to jump over them or go around them at first, does not mean the system has failed for your dog. You just have to teach the first step of having the dog understand the purpose of the barriers. If you were using the SG method, you would probably go back to 4 poles, and add on the extra two again. These problems possibly developed because of the way you lured - you may have been more comfortable on one side than the other, or being left or right handed you may have favoured one side, rather than the other. We will never know the cause. My best advice is to check out the different methods again, and look for a method that gives you independence in weaving on both sides, right from the start. If you would like some info on the method I have used, then please email me privately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks CFS! I knew going in that luring wasn't the best way to go, but I was confident that I could build independence with her later since she is a very forgiving dog to train. I haven't taught my other dog weaves yet, it might be fun to try a different method with him :) (even though I'll probably never trial him in agility, he's more of a herding dog). I grabbed 4 poles out at training tonight and she went straight through them in both directions as long as I started her in the right spot, so we will work on her entries more. She has only started to 'get' the cue within the last week so we've still got a long way to go :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 She has only started to 'get' the cue within the last week so we've still got a long way to go :) GREAT WORK!! Sometimes you have to take what seems like a step back to go forward. :) (We are doing a LOT of foundation work on the flat with the dogs at the moment - even though they are all titled and running reasonably.) Just on the bold sentence above - be careful about putting cues on something that is not a complete behaviour. I sometimes wonder that if we put a cue on something before it is proofed (like 12 weave poles) whether we muddy the cue. eg: Weave means go and do 2 poles, or just get the entry or do 4 poles and then look for a reward or whatever else the dog might be up to. If you don't put the cue 'weave' onto it until they are reliably doing 12 poles there is nothing to muddy. I teach 'poles' first and then move to weave once they are reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Interesting, AD I hadn't thought about it like that before. I guess my hope was the cue would mean "weave until you reach the last pole", but only time will tell if that is how she understands it. If I'm having trouble down the track though I will definitely keep in mind changing the cue to one that means 'do 12 poles'. I was mucking around last night with putting my hands behind my back and saying 'weave' through the 4 poles with no body language cue - she did, so she's definitely picked up the meaning in the current context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 I was mucking around last night with putting my hands behind my back and saying 'weave' through the 4 poles with no body language cue - she did, so she's definitely picked up the meaning in the current context. You'll probably find her cue is a combination of things, primarily the visual of the poles and the way you set her up etc, rather than the actual word at this point. If you had said "banana", she probably still would have done it. But what this does tell you is that you probably don't need you arms anymore I have taught all my dogs (and a few other people's dogs) to weave using luring. At this point, I see no reason to switch methods as I am really happy with the way they all weave. I fade the lure as soon as (and only) when the anticipate and beat my hand through. I use the word weave as soon as they are consistently offering the exact motion I want on 3 poles. I can see ADs point and agree in theory, but haven't found it to be a problem yet. Good luck, sounds like she's doing very well so far. Don't be afraid to break things down a little more. Decide exactly where you will mark and where you will reward. Work the clock face on entries and be systematic about proofing her and your distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weasels Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I am definitely going to say banana next time to see what happens :D :laugh: Thanks for the tips Vickie! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 A little update on our Road to Agility Recovery: * I have always practiced NILIF but decided to make eating more of a game, with some work thrown in. So, when I've gotten home from work, rather than putting my stuff down, changing, having some dinner, feeding the dogs etc, I have run inside, grabbed Fergus' raw meal from the fridge and run outside to play/train and feed. I have focused on getting his drive back up, getting him engaged and re-enforcing the re-enforcement zone. So lots of me acting like and idiot, with him eagerly engaged. We have done a bit of OB work like this, with some hand touches thrown in. * I put out 6 weavers a few days ago, and he did some weaving work as part of our play/train/eat session. He loved it! When he made a mistake - namely popping a weave at the end to try and shortcut getting to his food - I said "oopsie, let's try again" and he didn't take the shortcut again. I could see the concentration in his face. * I put two jumps out for our session 2 days ago, with no intention of getting him to jump. I just wanted to play around the jumps so that he would feel comfortable around them. When I let him outside for our session, he immediately jumped over one and came running back, very proud of himself. He got a lot of "good boy"'s and was showered in food. I then just started running on parallel to the jumps, not saying anything. He jumped over both, and they were "proper" jumps, not tentative ones. Good boy etc and end of session. * I haven't even had the tug within sight as he wasn't enjoying it and I didn't want to "poison" it. Yesterday morning I left the tug on the bench - he could see it, but couldn't reach it. Last night I thought I'd see if that had gotten his interest up. He tugged a little bit (big win) but he didn't have a good grip. My other dog, Lucy, wanted some tugging action so I started tugging with her (another tug). Well, that did it! He wanted in on the action so I have two dogs thrashing around, tugging their hearts out on the bed. I'll give it a rest today, and then will try to move outside to tug around the equipment. SO in a nutshell my boy is making progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 A little update on our Road to Agility Recovery: * I have always practiced NILIF but decided to make eating more of a game, with some work thrown in. So, when I've gotten home from work, rather than putting my stuff down, changing, having some dinner, feeding the dogs etc, I have run inside, grabbed Fergus' raw meal from the fridge and run outside to play/train and feed. I have focused on getting his drive back up, getting him engaged and re-enforcing the re-enforcement zone. So lots of me acting like and idiot, with him eagerly engaged. We have done a bit of OB work like this, with some hand touches thrown in. * I put out 6 weavers a few days ago, and he did some weaving work as part of our play/train/eat session. He loved it! When he made a mistake - namely popping a weave at the end to try and shortcut getting to his food - I said "oopsie, let's try again" and he didn't take the shortcut again. I could see the concentration in his face. * I put two jumps out for our session 2 days ago, with no intention of getting him to jump. I just wanted to play around the jumps so that he would feel comfortable around them. When I let him outside for our session, he immediately jumped over one and came running back, very proud of himself. He got a lot of "good boy"'s and was showered in food. I then just started running on parallel to the jumps, not saying anything. He jumped over both, and they were "proper" jumps, not tentative ones. Good boy etc and end of session. * I haven't even had the tug within sight as he wasn't enjoying it and I didn't want to "poison" it. Yesterday morning I left the tug on the bench - he could see it, but couldn't reach it. Last night I thought I'd see if that had gotten his interest up. He tugged a little bit (big win) but he didn't have a good grip. My other dog, Lucy, wanted some tugging action so I started tugging with her (another tug). Well, that did it! He wanted in on the action so I have two dogs thrashing around, tugging their hearts out on the bed. I'll give it a rest today, and then will try to move outside to tug around the equipment. SO in a nutshell my boy is making progress! Brilliant - GREAT WORK. So good to see a plan come together! T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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