When the home agility course got overgrown from all the rain this summer, we missed training. So, we’re working on a few core elements a bit each day, including the weave poles and tight (or bounce) jumping. Since we’ll be spending most of today celebrating Tom’s birthday, here is a quick agility video for your entertainment. Yes, we’re a novice/green team, but still.
This clip from 2007 shows more equipment. (I tried embedding the second video but failed, so you’ll have to click through.)
Since Lilly completely shuts down at even private agility lessons, we haven’t improved much. If our new behavior modification plan works, we may try private lessons again in the coming months.
Well, there are several ways to teach weave poles. Unfortunately, our first trainer was very old-school, so Lilly will NEVER be as fast as other dogs. We simply lured her through with food, until she got the idea.
The more advanced and faster way is to use channel weaves, where every other pole slides to the side. It makes a channel for the dogs to run through. At first, you just teach them to run between the two lines of poles, but then you slide the channel closer together, and eventually, they have to start bobbing and weaving to get through. Dogs who learn this way are MUCH faster through the poles in the end.
Very impressive. Watching the weaving I’m wondering how you every teach them that?
Nice! Lilly looks very happy – I hope that you’ll give the privates another try!
Lilly is such a sweetie!
In answer to the last question in your video, I think that *Lilly* loves agility! What a happy and relaxed face. It’s wonderful to see.
We’re hoping to return to class sometime soon – so maybe we’ll see you!
*squeal* I am so excited to see this! Great weaves! I was just about to ask you if you had been doing agility at home. I really hope you can start taking private lessons again.
GREAT weaves for a dog who can’t take lessons 🙂