# Totally floored...weave poles



## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Racer has only been working closed poles for about 3 weeks and I am a lazy trainer so it has not been every day. I was removing guide wires and had one side completely off. He got in the poles and did all 12 on his own. I removed all the wires and he did it again. I will continue with wires until he builds confidence, speed and gets his footwork down but I just can't believe it!

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## DreamAgility (Sep 2, 2013)

YAY! Big boy
Kim wants me to take the guides half off next week and I'm really excited!


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## HerdingStdPoodle (Oct 17, 2012)

*Wires*

Hi Poolann;

Racer sounds like a natural. Do you have any pictures? What is a wire? :dontknow: Is a wire common practice in agility circles? Thanks! HerdingStdPoodle


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## DreamAgility (Sep 2, 2013)

HerdingStdPoodle
Wires help guide the beginner dog through the weave polls. Thy are curved and clip to the polls.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Sounds like you named him well!


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

I didn't take pics but I might try to.

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## poodlecrazy51 (Dec 31, 2012)

That is exciting. I am happy for you that your dog is getting good at it. and so quickly. The weaving poles have always intrigued me. I just got home from first session agility with Joon. She was so happy to be around other dogs, after losing her 2 spoo buddies this summer. I have never worked on weaving poles, but got to tonight. The trainer put up the guide wires and helped me lure her through. Pretty slick. She also uses another training method where she crosses the poles leaning them outward so that the dog can step through them in a straight line. I want to try that way at home. I have a feeling, it would help with speed as they learn right off to keep their bodies as straight and minimal side to side motion as possible. Have you heard of that method? I don't know what it is called.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

That's terrific. I don't know that they had those when I was in agility with my Doberman. What a great idea. Good to hear he's doing so well and enjoying himself. He'll just get better and better. Way to go!


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

poodlecrazy51 said:


> She also uses another training method where she crosses the poles leaning them outward so that the dog can step through them in a straight line. I want to try that way at home. I have a feeling, it would help with speed as they learn right off to keep their bodies as straight and minimal side to side motion as possible. Have you heard of that method? I don't know what it is called.


I know what you are talking about but I don't remember what it is called. It might still be channel weaves but our set at training are actually on a base that allows them to slide open & be closed gradually. The pole set I purchased from Affordable Agility was supposed to be channel weaves, straight weaves & separates into 2x2s. Unfortunately only 6 are channels. I didn't notice this when I purchased them 3 years ago & only noticed to other week when I tried to separate them. Nothing I can do about it now so at home we are working closed poles. You can also buy stakes at a home improvement store that you can then place pvc pipes over. A cheap way to do it. Then you can open them up & add wires. Or you can leave them in a straight line with wires if that is how you are going to train. I think my set of poles sells for around $330 now. The wires were around $40 I think. You can also find plans online to build a set of poles out of just pvc pipe. The only issue I ran into with these on my first dog was that as she got more confident she just tended to knock them around. I feel like I made a good investment with mine since weaves are the hardest thing to train & take the most time. It also gives me the opportunity to practice difficul entry angles at home.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The angled poles are weave-a-matics. Channel weaves have the bases the poles set onto able to be slid out to create a straight path down the middle for a novice dog. You bring them in bit by bit until they are closed to a straight line. The same idea applies for weave-a-matics, you can lay them almost flat if the dog is nervous at the beginning.

Poolann you made good points about the importance of working regularly on the poles. Weave poles are one of the most important things you can have at home since you should work on them a bit every day if you can. Weaving is less related to things a dog might possibly do naturally than jumping or climbing over something (jumps or dog walk/A frame). There are lots of people near me (not with poodles) who are in excellent or masters level classes who have horrible, slow weave poles where they have to baby sit the dog all the way through the poles. Some of them are even making weaving gestures above the poles as they go. I am always wondering how long it took them to get to excellent/masters with such poor performance on the poles. 

Good weaves need for the dog to find the entrance correctly and reliably on their own and then get through them quickly and completely the first time without being babysat. Lily has great weaves at home and at our trainer's, but slows down at trials. Even though slow at trials though she does all her poles first time through without me on top of her. In fact, if I get too close it pushes her out of the poles. I am sure she will get faster at trials as her confidence builds.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Great explanation Lily. Thanks!

I know mine were well worth the investment.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Some agility video

Video of Racer weaving
Racer weaving - YouTube

Video of jumping
20131123 163809 - YouTube


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## HerdingStdPoodle (Oct 17, 2012)

*Thank you!*

Poolann;

Thank you so much for the videos! A photo is worth a thousand words.... I understand what you are talking about now [the wires]. Yeah! 

Thank you for all your effort! HerdingStdPoodle


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## DreamAgility (Sep 2, 2013)

One would never in a million years guess our pups were brother and sister. Racer just calmly makes his was through the weaves and over the jumps with a ton a attention! Dreamers head just about spins off when we are on the field or in public. They are two completely different dogs! I guess it depends on how thy were sculpted as a young puppy. You got Racer at 8 weeks and Dreamer was closer to 14 weeks when I brought her home.
And he looks so handsome and adoring!


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Thanks Ellie! Dreamer is way more focused on you than Racer is on me in public with distractions (at least when I have seen her in training.) They would have had different personalities & been completely different even if they had been the same age when we took them home.


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## DreamAgility (Sep 2, 2013)

Well, yes true. But Dreamer is so shy and will only let a few people touch her. The early puppyhood socialization really paid off with Racer.
My mom asked me the other day if you drugged him to get him so calm,lol.


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## poodlecrazy51 (Dec 31, 2012)

I really enjoyed watching your videos, Poolann. Racer is awesome, and beautiful, also. What a sweet face, and those white teeth!!!! I hope Joon and I can get there some day. We get our puppy on Wednesday, and will start her early with agility obstacles. Our trainer does a few things like that at her puppy kindergarten classes. I hope you will keep posting your agility progress with Racer. It is inspiring. thanks.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

poodlecrazy51 said:


> I really enjoyed watching your videos, Poolann. Racer is awesome, and beautiful, also. What a sweet face, and those white teeth!!!! I hope Joon and I can get there some day. We get our puppy on Wednesday, and will start her early with agility obstacles. Our trainer does a few things like that at her puppy kindergarten classes. I hope you will keep posting your agility progress with Racer. It is inspiring. thanks.


Thank you! We started out with a trick class. Most of the tricks were actually to shape behaviors that would help in agility & obedience. So we started at 12 weeks working in that class & at 18 weeks were still working tricks but had also started some obstacles & foundation work. I am not in a rush to trial even though we can technically do it at 15 months. He needs more maturity & we both need a better sense of teamwork. I trialed before my dogs were actually ready with the last two & it was a long & rough road. lol

You can definitely do it! Poodles are intelligent & really can excel at agility in all of the sizes. 

If it is something you decide to do it is a really fun game. There all all types, ages of people & dogs enjoying the sport (even if they only train & never trial.)


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

DreamAgility said:


> Well, yes true. But Dreamer is so shy and will only let a few people touch her. The early puppyhood socialization really paid off with Racer.
> My mom asked me the other day if you drugged him to get him so calm,lol.


Ha ha! No drugs for him. The occasional benadryl for Huck but if those are making him more laid back you really wouldn't notice ;-)


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