how to teach weaves

just wondering whats the best way to teach the weave poles?
Rose is 15 months now so can she do everything or should we leave the weaves and jumps til shes 18months?

how wide do the planks for the dog walk and see saw have to be?

heres some pics of our equipment
weave poles from crufts £24 for the 12


A-Frame, my dads mate makes stuff out of wood(sheds, hutches etc, anything really) and he loves dogs so he made this for us for free its 3ft wide by 6ft high/long



He also made us the tresels(sp?) for the dog walk
will have to adjust them though as they aren't wide enough for a 1ft wide plank(believe thts the right width)


havent got pics of the below yet
we also have a tunnel(wee kiddies one but it does for just practicing in the garden
and a hurdle from p@h(will be getting another 2 or 3 made, dad or his mate is going to copy the one we have)
and we also have a long jump, just got to finish screwing the bits together for it.

so just need to get the planks for dog walk and see saw, and dad is going to make the base for the see saw(he welds so shouldnt take him long once he has the stuff)

Also does anyone know of any agility classes in central Scotland(willing to drive upto an hour away) we are just outside of falkirk, starting may or june,
i have looked myself but keep getting classes for the US or England

Not sure if this is the best way but its worked for us - literally follow treat with hand.

Dog enters from with weaves on its left side always - I just have the treat in hand and by dogs nose - they can get a bit frustrated so start off with 4-6 weaves before doing the whole 12 - and I just say weave now every other pole - he has only been doing 8 weeks so we still are using the treat every time.

Re: distance apart I do two foot lengths (as in the lenght of my foot not a foot!) I'm a size 5 but not sure that is the exact distance between them.

Hope my method makes sense!

This method is great with med-large dogs but a back breaker for the small breeds!!

Sorry don't know about the age either?

have fun!

I think there are a couple of classes very local for agility will pm you with a name and number,

think they should be 18 inches apart.

Hi Shona,

The distance is the same regardless of the dog - to be honest - many years ago we tried teaching like the above and it didn't really help them get the idea any quicker.

As I said the way I taught max this time (as a novice doggy and forgotten anything from years before handler!) was put treat in hand and get them to follow round the weaves in and out - I'll see if I can take pics to help if this isn't clear!

the dog should always enter the weaves with them on this left side. And I use the hand nearest the dog, just take it slow slow slow to begin with and don't go to fast or they won't follow!

I will try and do some pics later or tom if that helps!? Don't think I'm explaining it at all well!

thanks Rachel, after I got home and had another think about the way I had set the polls up, I kinda thought why did I do that, if anything it prob makes it harder, what am I like, poor megan who puts her trust in me

sorry to be a pain Rachel, but is the 18" apart thing about the same distance you would use???

Hi Shona - i'm not that accurate but I'm a size 5 shoe and I use two shoe lengths - does that make sense - but if 18" is accurate then yes that is the distance I would use.

No worries on the way you tried - years ago this was with an agility trainer so don't think its completely daft!

just been out going over it myself without rose
and i worked out why it was confusing lol,

starting at the end we were starting we needed to move the blue pole at the start to the end, so as we start with a yellow one on rose's left side and end with a blue pole
its muddy, rainy(stoping and starting) and windy so rose wont go outside, so much for collies liking all/most weather
so will have to practise with her later if it dries up or tomorrow