I sometimes do HTM around the agility equipment, I have different commands for weaving my legs and the equipment and they've never got mixed up, although Skye's stopped weaving my legs since I tripped up and nearly fell on her.

Back to learning weaves, I taught Boomer straight up weaves, but he's only ever do them on my left with me beside him.
Bertie I taught with channel weaves, he was ok as long as they weren't completly in line, I had to retrain him with straight up ones and I think he was confused and was never fast in his weaves although always got his entry. I wouldn't train another dog using channels, but I know of lots of people that swear by them.
Teagan I went back to straight up, but quickly weaned her off me being beside her. She's really quick in the weaves, but entries have been a problem.
Skye I taught using channel weaves, I borrowed the clubs ones over Christmas for 3 weeks and did 5 minutes about 3 times a day with her, by the time I gave them back she was nearly doing upright weaves. I think she has the best most reliable weaves, the most indipendant from me (I can send her in recall her through, run past her or even go off in a different direction (just started doing this) while she is in the weaves) and she has pretty good entry from lots of different directions. This is definately the method I would teach another pup.
I have heard good things about the 2x2 method or backchaining as Tassle described above.

The trouble with following a treat through the weaves is they become relient on it and won't weave if the treat isn't there, you need to quickly wean off the treat, it's ok to give a treat at the end. If the dog is watching the treat, they are not looking at the poles.

Totally agree but my first club never showed us how to do them so that's what I did - totaly mistake - so going to get some poles and start with 2 weaves with treat at end so he gets the idea and then build up - unless a better way ??

My fault completely and he does them quite quick following a treat but without - not a clue doesn't even follow my hand - setters hey! or setter owners maybe!

In my experince channeled weaves, if used correctly are the best way to teach weave, as you can teach them independently of the owner being alongside the dog, whichis what you want int he end.

To be fair to any clun though, unless there are very few people in a class and lots of speare time, then teachign channel weaves in class is extremely difficult. I still teach fun agility in class, with a treat, but I alwasy check if anyone is ever going to want to complete and if they might, I show them how to teach channel weaves away from home and dont recommend they use treat training in class.

I also teach contact points very differerntly in class for competing dogs and pet dogs.

Some trainign techniques just do not lend themselves well to class situations. And for the competition dog, different, away from class methods are often more efficient at teaching reliable, consistent behaviour.

Good luck with your weaves.

Oops this should have said V-weaves!

we are dog trainers in manchester and train dogs in pet obedience to specialist work including protection dogs the best way to start to teach weave is with the poles forming a channel then gradualy bring them in line with each other

I am an agility instructor of many years, the best way is.... the one which suits the dog as an individual.

Channel weaves are fine if the dog is interested in chasing a ball as channels are best done by throwing the ball through the channel and gradually bringing the two rows together. For a dog not interested in a ball, [ or other easily throwable toy ], channels are inefficient compared to other methods.

Luring is good for foody dogs or dogs which like a toy but are not particularly fussed about chasing it from a throw or at least not with repetitions - as has been pointed out the lure, [ be it toy or food ], should be weaned out as soon as practicable.

Food however offers easier phasing out as a dog can be `conned` into believing it is in a hand - the reward being given at the end of the poles but the dog not knowing it was`nt in the hand the whole time.

Personally I have found the most universally efficient starting point, [ starting point being just that ], is with the handler going backward and drawing the dog through the inline weaves. This way the dog has a clear view of the poles and can read the handler with ease. Once the dog starts to `bob` at the poles the handler can see that their dog is getting an understanding of the element at which point the dog is ready to move on to other methods to increase speed and of course weave entry, and to reduce the handlers participation so that the dog does`nt need to rely on the handler being next to them.

I have 2 students who have trained at a different club, [ together ], for four years before coming to me - four years and their dogs still did`nt understand weaves at all - so I had them start from scratch going backward, within a couple of weeks their dogs were weaving, their faces almost saying `well why on earth did`nt you show me properly what it was you wanted me to do in the first place`

With my now retired deaf dog I continued going backward for him his whole competitive career simply because it suited our `style` as a team and made it far easier for me to then send him on in any necessary direction no matter how tricky the course when he exited the weaves - I don`t know why a lot more handlers don`t do it quite frankly


It should be remembered that good weaves are not reliant on whether the dog needs the handler close by or not but simply that the dog does them correctly and that the handler considers how efficiently they can get to the next obstacle from the weaves - whether that is from a full pelt long distance send away or a closely hand-lured weave.

*Just to re-iterate, the handler going backward as I teach it is simply a starting point, an easy way for the dog to put together what they are being asked to do, it does`nt mean the handler will always have to do it that way, for some it might be as little as one or two sessions, but again the best method whether from the starting point or advancing on technique is the one the dog as an individual finds the easiest to comprehend - in other words there is no one single `best way`

Interesting....I used the channel method with Jasper (15 years ago now - how scary is that!!) I didn;t throw the toy through, I occassionally used food and occassionally used toys, sometimes throwing sometimes just placing them there.

I found the channel works really well IF you can do it on a daily basis - otherwise it tends to take quite a while as the dog has to go back a few stages each time you go to the training class.

But I very much agree with your last statment - what suits one owner or dog will not always suit all!

Rossi wasn't getting channel weaves at all and wasn't progressing, so I tried clicker training them. I started off with two, then progressed up to 6, then taught him with me on the other side and further away. I only have 6 weaves, but he did 12 in a lesson without even noticing!

I tried to teach Enzo this way, but he did alot of clicker training as a puppy and thought that he had to touch the poles with his nose. He got very confused trying all his clicker tricks he knew and as a result he just barged into the poles and trampled on them.