# leg weave?



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I want to teach Nikon that trick where the dog weaves in and out of my legs as I walk. Anyone know how to do this or backchain this? I will use a clicker and food.


----------



## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Jamie and Risa do this.


----------



## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

A gal at my Rally class does this with 1 of her Aussie's & it's cool. I thought of trying also. Sable will go through my legs, but I'm yet to try & walk. Storm................ well he's too tall I think & will get stuck if he tries to go under me & I have long legs !


----------



## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

I've taught this to several of my dogs - works best on the chows, because I don't get high-centered .. *L* .. but even Trick did it when she was younger.

I've used a couple of methods for teaching this. One is to free-shape by teaching the dog to go through your legs, usually by standing in an area where the dog has to go through your legs in order to reach the other side - mark the behavior and reward until you get it on cue, and then go from there. It helps if you start out with your legs in stride (one in front of the other) as the picture to the dogs is different if you're standing square in front of them. The less you have to change later, the better. Practice both with your left leg forward and your right leg forward. I used the same command for both, because I looked at it as "weave through my legs" and which leg to weave through was indicated by which leg I had forward.

Another method is to lure through with food. As with all food lures in training, you have to wean off of the lure and some dogs become really dependent on the hand gesture - and in all honesty, when you have to wave your hand around in front of your crotch or behind your butt, it distracts from the beauty of the trick (heard someone call it "wiping yourself"). I try to avoid the luring as much as possible and do either free shaping or tossing the treat instead of holding it. 

If your dog does a "touch" to your hand, you can use that to your advantage but again, your dog can become to dependent on it so you want to fade the hand cue as quickly as possible. Another option is to use a touch stick, which allows you to remain standing upright and direct the dog easily. 

If you start from the beginning and teach the dog to go through and then forward, it's quicker in the long run to get them set up for the next step. Also, when you step forward, touch your toe to the ground and let the dog go through your leg, then put your whole foot to the ground and bring the next toe forward. It looks much nicer, gives the dog more room, and just works better overall.

Now, the really difficult trick is to teach your dog to weave through your legs while backing up! I started Khana on this (she's a backing fool) and she was doing pretty good - we were working in freestyle and she could do pivots from both a right-heel position and a left-heel position, so using those commands helped her understand which way to shift her rump. But when I got more sore we gave up on that. I have a tough enough time walking without my dog weaving through my legs these days .. *L*

Melanie and the gang in Alaska


----------



## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

What if Nikon decides to do this during his BH?


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

LOl that reminds me of when he was much younger, we went to Kentucky to visit a SchH club there, waiting all morning watching them train and finally it was our turn for obedience. I asked him to "platz" and then waited for the TD to see what else he wanted, and Nikon being an "operant" dog decided to go ahead and show everyone how good he is at "roll over", haha! So everytime I said "platz!" he added in a roll over like it would earn him double treats/toys.


----------



## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

I did a video a couple months back on how to train leg weaves. Hope it helps.


----------



## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Look at Risa! She's so smart. So, what word do you use for this?

This might be a good activity for Ciana. Since she hurt her elbow I've been wondering what would keep her happy.


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

My aussie girl does this, I basically taught the way Jamie & Risa shows..she was easy to do, a short little thing that is highly food motivated ))

Now Masi, on the otherhand,,she does weave, but she is a tall girl, and heck we crash into each other alot! LOL..she also likes to come up from behind me/or in front of me and go between my legs, we are at the point, where I just use a hand signal and she is ready to go ) She is more toy motivated, so using her frisbee works good with her..


----------



## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

Carole, I just use the word 'weave' as my cue. Nothing creative for this trick.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I started tonight, using a toy. I didn't think he'd fit, but it's not too bad actually! We had to step back and do some remedial "aus" training first though, lol. Otherwise I spend .2 seconds starting the weave, 5 seconds tugging, and three minutes getting him off the ball!

I use "squiggle" as my command, tehe.


----------



## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Well, you got me interested. I bought a beginning Canine Freestyle DVD from Dogwise last night.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Cool, I want to teach Nikon a back vault, lol, think there's a weight limit?


----------



## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I found a video of a canine freestyle team on the Britain's Got Talent TV show with Simon Cowel. It was really fun to watch and even Simon liked it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0jNC_w1tSw


----------



## DancingCavy (Feb 19, 2001)

Hooray another potential freestyle team!


----------



## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I got the DVD yesterday and already watched half of it. Most of the moves look deceptively easy.







I think I'll start tonight on some of them.


----------



## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

I got my corgi to do it last night with clickers and touch stick. I tried it with Obie too but no go. I think he didn't understand why on earth would I want him to go underneath me like that.


----------



## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Stark is learning how to do this. He can do it once through each leg so far (just started 2 days ago). I think it's fun and neat to see them figure things out.









I'll try to get a video as well.


----------

