Weave Poles

 Personally I used a combo of Susan Garrett's 2x2 method and hand-in-the-collar, seemed to work for us.  I worked the entry using Susan Garrett's method and drive into the second set in particular. Don't skip the 15 ft when adding the second set of 2x2's, it really does make a difference.  I think hand-in-the-collar method added after the 2x2 intro makes a great compliment... helps with muscle memory, IMO.

 Our first Match tonight with Logan on a hard novice jumpers course, 12 poles on an outside entry, he did great! 

I use the 2x2 method (well, am using...I'm still teaching it!). And it's really much cheaper to make your own 2x2's, if you can, then ordering them and having them shipped to you!

Ive heard of Susan garrett's 2x2 method, but I dont really know anything about it. Is there a book/DVD you have to buy or is there instructions online somewhere?

 I just started with 2 poles and a clicker. Once he was going thru those with no problem, added 1 more pole, then another & another until he could do all 6 of them.

I'm doing channels with Nikon since that's what I have at home and that's what my trainers and club use.  He is fearless and will walk through fire and dive through plate glass for his reward toys so he's already charging on through and I'm slowly closing the gap....

I guess I'm kind of doing my own method in that I want him doing a full set of 12 every time.  I want every entry and exit to be correct, so at the very beginning I'm basically "bowling" the dog into the correct entry and making sure the channels are set so that he won't get confused and step out.  I use the placement of the reward at the end to control how fast and at what angle he exits.

Spazzy

Ive heard of Susan garrett's 2x2 method, but I dont really know anything about it. Is there a book/DVD you have to buy or is there instructions online somewhere?

LINK  You buy a DVD kit.... kind of spendy!  But, I think super worth it.

I'm of the mind (which is because it's my trainers opinion LOL) that you work on accuracy then speed.  Especially if you have a dog that likes to go fast naturally.  Accuracy more important than speed, with confidence speed will come. 

Yes, definitely worth the money IMO. Proper 2x2's develop a flawless weave performance that really does outshine the channel or Weavamatics methods in terms of fluency and fluidity. It's not just that it looks better, but the dog actually has a different understanding of it, by looking for the next 'entry' for each weave. It also automatically teaches dogs, from the beginning, the correct entry for the poles, generally eliminating the need to teach the proper entry in the future.

The channels and the weavamatics methods definitely work, but the 2x2's I think is by far the best technology to date for teaching amazing, strong weaves. And done well, you can teach the entire weaves start to finish in less than a month.

Ok, I'm pretty convinced I need to go this way with it. At the current point in time, I actually have no intentions of going to trials with him, simply because my schedule in the next at least year does not look to fit it in. I can dream of a less crazy future though, right?  After talking with a friend, and considering Luke's behavior in regards to the poles, I am pretty convinced this guy is moving too fast, at least for my dog. 6 poles right to 12 for most of the dogs is fine, but mine isn't doing that. His behavior is suggesting to me right now that something is too difficult. I may be totally wrong on my analysis, but I'm also big on teaching things right to begin with. Neither me nor my dog will ever be the fastest out there if we ever do get to competition, there's nothing that can be done to change genetics. I can do a whole lot to change our accuracy though.

 I too will recommend the DVD by Susan Garrett on the 2x2 method.  Well worth the investment in both the DVD and the poles.

One thing I highly recommend, watch the WHOLE DVD first. She goes through some trouble shooting at the end, so if you stop after the first parts to work on it, but run into issues, you won't have the benefit of having seen the troubleshooting.