Weave Poles

I was told by my agility trainer when Teddi was less than a year to NOT close the weaves on her. She said weaving is hard on their bodies and you want to wait until they are fully mature. We have channel weaves we never closed them more than 6", worked on entry and go between feeling them on her ribcage. 

With the weaves wider we did all sorts of different stuff. First the basic practice with me on either side, I also put her in a sit at one end and called her to go through on her own. I also started working on angle entries. Hindsight and learning more about my dog I am glad we did this. She is now officially taking a weave class. She started "weaving" at 6 months but then after her surgery we didn't get back to it until this past summer (1 1/2). We practiced in our yard, and have done them in class with me holding her tab. However she is afraid of bars when they drop so last night my trainer in our weave class was concerned she would not want to touch them. However since she has had a lot of exposure to weave poles they do not bother her. My trainer was pleasantly surprised with Teddi's improvement in class last night. She doesn't like them straight yet. I need to work more there. 

I have been told speed comes so don't press for speed. I love my new channel weaves I can set up 6 in my basement and practice all year round. Twelve is too many for my house size. 

 I've got 4 right now to practice with. It's all I can fit in my dining room. Lol.  I've also got cones since Sandy was scared of the poles but now she's not. *sigh*

So with the cones, if I spread them apart and work like that? So she's not bending but still gets the movement.

 I wouldn't worry about "bending" at 6 months. The idea of going "through" is a good behavior to start with.

My Teddi is very sensitive to "silly" things. For instance if she drops a bar, she stops jumping, we may have gotten past that, but the sound of it hitting the ground spooks her. My trainer was concerned she would have issues touching the PVC, but because we did start early just wide enough for her to feel them on her ribs as she went through, she got used to that. She doesn't like them as the close but I figure if I just keep taking my time with her it will be worth it in the end. I want her comfortable and confident, then she will show me her stuff.  So keeping them open but wide enough your dog feels them you are in the right direction. Their auto response is to move away from the touch, so you get the preliminary weave motion.

Something someone suggested for entry (since you have cones) is put the cone on the "bad" side so they must enter on the "good" side. I thought that was an interesting idea. 

I think at 6 months keep it fun, but let them get the idea, you will be ahead when they are old enough to really start to practice. 

Just last night DH and I were talking about Teddi. She is high energy and a lot of drive, but she has a pretty soft side too. She does want to please. However since she spent the last year being spoiled, protected and told "no" a lot when she wanted to run and play, she is a bit confused. We think she will be an AWESOME agility dog even if she may never compete, but we will probably have to take our time because if we pressure her she becomes really soft. So we take the time, we have no where to go. My lab started agility at 2, she trialed for the first time this past April, one month before her 5th birthday. We took our time with her because she sometimes would shut down under pressure. We waited until we did not see that issue any more in classes, then we took her to outdoor events to hang out. My trainer suggested an outdoor trial for her first event since the electricity is not as strong outside as inside. Then we did 3 or 4 trials just one day to make sure she stayed having fun. All of that worked with her. She has 2 more standard legs to go before she can start working on her PAX (master title, she runs preferred) and she has not even been trialing for a year yet. So I believe she is case in point taking your time has extremely good benefits. 

Good Luck!

 That's a good idea putting the cone on the "bad" side. I'll have to try that tonight when I work with her.  Sandy LOVES to work so this is easy for me. Lol.

 Since she's so young, why not stick to other games she can play so you don't have to worry about any damage to her back?  The idea behind the angled poles and channel poles is that once you begin training, you want to move the poles in as quickly as you can while still making progress.  You don't want 6 months of her learning all she has to do is run past straight up poles.  Get a 12 inch wide and 4 foot long plank and make it a tippy board or use it on stairs to work on teaching the 2 on 2 off contact behavior.  Play games where she has to think, do a lot of free shaping. Save weave pole training until she's at least a year old, but that's my opinion.

If you want to work on weave stuff indoors I'd focus on foundation games.like the tippy boards, banging a plank on the ground (start of the teeter), and hind end work. Lots of hind end work! Backing up the stairs, going through the ladder, anything you can think of to get her to realize her butt is attached to the rest of her and she can control it. LOL