Do weave pole guides really work?
- Thread starter 13boxergrl
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Weave pole guides are very nice to use, that's what we used though I'm not sure we actually needed them. A great way to teach the weave poles is to back chain it. That's how I finally got my dog to do them. If your not sure what back chaining is, let me know and I'll gladly explain it 
. So really it's up to you to use the guides or not, maybe you could try a few different ways to train it then if you still need them you can make them.
~Amy~
. So really it's up to you to use the guides or not, maybe you could try a few different ways to train it then if you still need them you can make them. ~Amy~
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Lol, back chaining is used in a lot of Clicker Trainers. Instead of starting at the begining, you start at the end and work to the begining. (I explained it better the first time, but my computer deleted the post ). Any ways, Say like you had a set up of 6 weave poles. You'd normally start at pole #1 and go through them all and reward at the end. Well with Back chaining you start at poles 5 & 6. So you'd take her to the 2 end poles and send her through those two, mark that with either a clicker or a Yes! and give her a treat or her toy. You'd do this a few times, then you'd take her to weave poles 4 & 5, you'd send her through them then through poles 5 & 6 and reward her again. You'd repeat this a few times, then you'd go to poles 3 & 4, send her through, then have her go through poles 4, 5, & 6. Etc... Till you are at pole #1 and can send her through and she'll weave through all of them to get her reward at the end . This works because you teach the end behaviour first. They know that the best, so when they do the things before the end, they get excited for the end to happen because they've been rewarded so many times for the end behaviour. Hope this helps and I've explained it well. If your still confused let me know and I'll try an explain it better .
~Amy~
). Any ways, Say like you had a set up of 6 weave poles. You'd normally start at pole #1 and go through them all and reward at the end. Well with Back chaining you start at poles 5 & 6. So you'd take her to the 2 end poles and send her through those two, mark that with either a clicker or a Yes! and give her a treat or her toy. You'd do this a few times, then you'd take her to weave poles 4 & 5, you'd send her through them then through poles 5 & 6 and reward her again. You'd repeat this a few times, then you'd go to poles 3 & 4, send her through, then have her go through poles 4, 5, & 6. Etc... Till you are at pole #1 and can send her through and she'll weave through all of them to get her reward at the end . This works because you teach the end behaviour first. They know that the best, so when they do the things before the end, they get excited for the end to happen because they've been rewarded so many times for the end behaviour. Hope this helps and I've explained it well. If your still confused let me know and I'll try an explain it better . ~Amy~
The weave pole guides work pretty well, I have a friend who swears by them and her dogs are amazing weavers. I have trained both of my dogs with the weave-o-matic and that works nicely, too. I did try backchaining with a rescue dog, and it was effective, too. The only problem I have found with backchaining is that it teaches the dog that it is possible to do an entry somewhere in the middle instead of at the very first pole. In practice it might be perfect, but on the course, the dog may forget a good entry in the excitement and jump in at the middle. The less opportunity you give the dog to do something "wrong" with the weaves, like an incorrect entry, the better.
If you are just doing it for fun, not to compete, then just do whatever you are most comfortable with!
If you are just doing it for fun, not to compete, then just do whatever you are most comfortable with!
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I believe if you do backchaining correctly, and the dog completely understands, then he'll know he can only enter at the first pole, because as you go down the poles, you'll no longer reward him for entering at any of the previous levels. You'll only reward the ones he did correctly. So after you've completely trained the weaves, you'll then only reward the full correct weaves and ignore him when / if he enters them wrong. The behaviour will extinguish and he'll learn it's only fun if he does it right. Not saying no do will ever do that or that it's not possible lol, just saying if you do it correctly and completely it shouldn't happen. You can set him up for it in practice, and if he does it wrong just ignore him but don't go on, make it totally un-fun. If he does it correctly, have a party! Not saying you should or have to back chain it either lol, just explaining further.
~Amy~
~Amy~