Teaching dog agility weaves with a weave chute

There are many methods to teach dogs how tothrough the weaves. Your dogs speed will most
weave. Having attended a variety of agility campslikely slow a little in this stage. This is all right, he is
and agility seminars, I've seen quite a few of thethinking more and feeling the weaves against him
top handlers present their preferred method offor the first time.
weave training. Their training techniques vary,butYou are still using your Stay at one end of the
the one thing they do have in common, the endweaves, leaving your dog and going to the other
result, their dogs all weave fast and efficiently.end of the weaves and calling him through. Make
The Weave Chute is one method of trainingsure your dog is successfully coming to you
weaves. The Weave Chute is a structure wherethrough the weave path, not jumping over the
the weave poles pull apart and the dog runs downguide wires and running to you. If this happens
the middle channel. The weave poles are setup onreplace him. If it happens again, go back and open
a base either PVC or metal, the even numberthe weave chute a little more. Practice until he
poles pull back to the same side and the oddcan come to you down the weave chute with
numbered poles pull apart to the same side. The70% to 80% accuracy, not many of us are
poles are brought closer together, training a chain100% right in everything we try. Begin moving
of sessions, until the weave poles are in a straightthe weave poles closer together in inches now.
line.Most dogs do well even if the weaves are off set
To start, the weave poles are about 3 feet apart.by one inch , but somehow when they are setup
Set your dog on a Stay (Sit, Down, or Stand).in a line, they must look different and training
Leave your dog and go to the other end of thesessions may seem stalled for awhile. Be patient,
chute or channel. Call your dog, allow them to runpractice with your weaves offset by one inch
as fast as they can through the chute, whenthen in a straight line, if you encounter problems,
they get near you through a toy straight aheadgo back to the one inch offset. Your dog will soon
or between your legs. You want them to keeprealize he can weave when the poles are in a
moving past you and not slow up as they getstraight line.
near you.The next transition is taking off the guide wires.
Move the weaves closer together, try 2 feet forWith 12 poles, you use 10 guide wires. The first
a few sessions, then 1 foot apart for a fewguide wires I remove are from the middle. The
sessions. When the weaves are about 1 footlast ones to be removed are the entry and exit
apart your dog will begin to actually begin theguide wires. Weaving is mentally challenging to you
weaving behavior, depending on the size of yourand your dog, so be patient with your dog and
dog of course. This is the stage to add guideyourself. Be prepared to put in a few long months
wires. The guide wires help the dog stay on pathof training to get those fast and efficient weaves.