Clean Run Magazine - April 2009 - 48

Step 2: establishing Direction of entry Now that your dog is eagerly passing back and forth through the poles, you want to establish direction. From this point forward, only one direction will be correct. Your goal for this step is for your dog to learn that he should always pass through poles 1 and 2, with pole 1 on his left shoulder and pole 2 on his right shoulder. Stand in the same neutral position as in Step 1, with the dog on your right. Hold the dog by his collar. Release the dog to pass through the poles. Reward your dog for passing through with pole 1 on his left shoulder and pole 2 on his right. Throw your treat on the ground 3'-5' away from the poles toward “t” in the diagram. See Figure 2. After the dog gets his reward, turn and recall him to your right side, 2 T away from the poles. Do not let him pass back through the poles. Continue turning with the dog on the right until you’re facing pole 1 again. Then stop the dog either by asking for a stationary position (sit, down, or stand) or taking his collar. Release the dog again; he should offer to re-enter the poles. See Figure 3. If you do not stop your dog before each entry, your motion and shoulder rotation will be cueing the poles; at this point in the training you still want your dog to be offering the poles without any cues from you. When your dog is eagerly passing through the poles correctly, it’s time to start rotating the poles slightly after every few correct attempts. The poles should be rotated counterclockwise. 3 T T The starting point for you and your dog will be the same each time he weaves, but the angle will cause the dog to start wrapping around pole 1 as he passes through. As before, only reward for the correct behavior, throw rewards to the same place (the “t” in the diagrams), and recall the dog to your right side and stop him before allowing him to offer re-entering the poles. See Figure 4. progress to Step 3 when your dog is reliably moving away from your side (with no cues from you) and passing through poles 1 and 2, with pole 1 on his left shoulder and pole 2 on his right. 4 T T T Pole 1 T Once your dog has taken his treat, turn away from the poles and recall your dog to your right side. Do not allow the dog to "back weave." Continue turning with the dog on the right until you are facing pole 1 again. Then stop the dog either by asking for a stationary position or taking his collar. Release the dog again; he should offer to re-enter the poles. T Stand in a neutral position as shown, holding your dog by the collar on your right side. Throw a treat to "T" to reward for a correct pass through the poles. Rotate the poles counterclockwise. The starting point for you and your dog will be the same each time he weaves, but the angle will cause the dog to start wrapping around pole 1 as he passes through. Step 3: Working Sends Around the Clock Before starting this step, we need to talk about some general concepts that apply to this step as well as all of the steps that follow: „During each step, you are going to be working entries “around the clock.” Imagine the poles are on a clock face as in Figure 5. pole 1 is always at 6 o’clock and the last pole (pole 2 in the initial training stages and later pole 12) is always at 12 o’clock. The dog should always pass through with pole 1 on his left and pole 2 on his right. „each session starts at 6 o’clock so that your dog understands which direction he is working. With success, you and your dog will then move in either a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction and start at a new location on the clock. You will work your way around the clock face in this manner. the entries at the lower portion of the clock (between 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock) 48 5 Pole 2 11 10 12 1 2 3 9 8 Pole 1 4 7 6 5 The red arrow indicates the dog's direction of travel. are easier entries for the dog, and the entries at the upper portion of the clock (between 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock) are much more difficult entries. „Rewards are always thrown after the last pole at 12 o’clock, which is on the same line where more poles will be added. „Rewards can be either food or toys. In each step, I recommend that you start with food rewards to maintain your dog’s thoughtfulness and accuracy, and then progress to toy rewards to build speed and drive. When you are throwing your rewards, they should land 3'-5' past the last pole. You do not want to encourage your dog to fly out of the weave poles at full speed because you will be adding more poles at each stage. If your dog has rehearsed exiting at full speed and running 10'-15' to get his reward, he may be unable to progress through the later stages of training as easily because he will need to learn to look for more poles. „Once your dog does the poles and gets his reward, do not let him pass back through the poles again on the way back to you. Clean Run | April 09

Clean Run Magazine - April 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - April 2009