# Weave pole footing



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I always considered the "rear foot hop" to be a bad thing. Admittedly, I have always judged a dog's weave pole performance on speed (of course), but also on _front foot_ placement. It seems to me that when you only see one front foot hit per side, that's when the dog has the best chance at being fast. Notice the front foot placement in most of these dogs:






The very fast ones (and wow- what a _great_ group of weavers!) or only putting one front foot down per side. Contrast that with this dog (see 0:22):






...Big difference. And yes I realize the second video is in slow motion. :crazy:

What is (perhaps) more interesting is to take a look at the rear feet. Like I said, I always watch the front feet on weaving dogs, but have started noticing this "rear foot hopping" motion in Pimg as she is weaving. When I rewatch the first video, looks like all the fast dogs *are* placing _both_ rear feet on each side. Interesting. And note- even the slow Cavalier Spaniel is "hopping" on its rear legs.

So maybe there is something to be said about rear foot placement. I am thinking that it is likely less important than front foot placement though.

Anyone happen to have a good article or video on proper foot placement in weave poles?


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

I'm very interested to see what people say about this. When Mikko was weaving with 22" poles, both his front and rear legs were placed one at a time, and his weaves were really fast. Now that everything he does is 24", his rear legs hop, as his front legs do one and one, and he is slower. I've been trying to speed him back up.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> both his front and rear legs were placed one at a time, and his weaves were really fast.


When you say they are both placed one at a time, do you mean where it looks like the dog is practically walking (or running) right through the center of the weaves? Like giant breeds often do?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Ok this is even better!


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Yep, like he's walking or running through the weaves. Here's a picture.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Yeah- that definitely seemed incredibly fast for that dobbie in the 60 pole challenge! Sweet photo, by the way!


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Okay, I LOVED that first video, makes me want to own a collie, and on another note, that Husky was too **** cute!!!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

WarrantsWifey said:


> Okay, I LOVED that first video


I did too! But gotta say- I've been looking at agility videos for an hour or so now. After watching this one, wow- this first video I posted in this thread no longer looks like fast dogs at all... Of course, they _are_ fast, very fast, but the dogs in this link are exceptional in all senses of the word. http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/agility/166098-purina-agility-challenge-incredible.html


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

So- to summarize the styles seen so far, we have three options:

Hoping (both feet touch on each individual weave pole gap) with back AND front feet.
Hoping with back feet while a single front foot lands per individual weave pole gap.
Walking (running) through where a single rear and single front foot lands per individual weave pole gap.
Based on the 60 weave pole challenge videos above, it does seem that method #3 is faster for large dogs, and interestingly- the announcers even mention this when the Doberman is weaving. And that's a point to not overlook- perhaps the different methods are better suited for different dogs. I can't find a single video of a Border Collie doing the #3 method, they all seem to do the #2 method. They are also much smaller than our GSDs. In fact, it seems that small Shelties seem to do really well with the #1 method.

So perhaps we can generalize a theory such as this:
The larger the dog, less foot contact per each individual weave pole gap is desired. 
As dog size decreases, foot placement may increase.


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

There was a great thread on the Clean Run Yahoo group back in June on single striding vs. hopping. A couple of articles were posted also. I think the articles posted were in regards to the physical safety of the methods of single-striding versus the hopping.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> I'm very interested to see what people say about this. When Mikko was weaving with 22" poles, both his front and rear legs were placed one at a time, and his weaves were really fast. Now that everything he does is 24", his rear legs hop, as his front legs do one and one, and he is slower. I've been trying to speed him back up.


Ok, just got back from a 2 day trial last night so a bit behind on this forum!


YES, Bretta did have some issues when we went to 24" weavepoles. Turns out she had developed a rhythm, it worked for her, and when a wider spacing (without her adjusting) would get her behind so she'd either be knocked unconcious against a pole OR have to skip a pole..... she'd skip a pole!

But the pole would be in the middle and she'd do it so smoothly we even Q'd at a trial cause I didn't pick up my sheet to realize the judge didn't call it, and I don't correct weirdnesses like that (I'd have started her over for missing an entry or coming out too early...).

So I went back to class and whined whined whined so they bought some 24" poles (I have the narrower spacing and couldn't afford to buy a THIRD set for my yard !) and practicing in class got Bretta off her stubborness and into the 'SOMETIMES she can push faster and SOMETIMES (my yard?) she has to squeeze thru more....)

I think the size of our dogs and their structure affect the way they weave comfortably. I personally don't adjust or train the manner my dogs weave, as long as it's fun and fast and they are hitting each pole, they can choose what works for them!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Here is a nice example of the "walk through" style weaves:





I'd be very happy with that weave pole performance. The entry was fantastic (see the dog correct itself from overshooting?) and the footing was rock solid. Could be sped up a bit, perhaps, but overall was pretty fast and very well trained.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Great video! I feel her pain for that darn knocked bar too


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> Ok, just got back from a 2 day trial last night so a bit behind on this forum!
> 
> 
> YES, Bretta did have some issues when we went to 24" weavepoles. Turns out she had developed a rhythm, it worked for her, and when a wider spacing (without her adjusting) would get her behind so she'd either be knocked unconcious against a pole OR have to skip a pole..... she'd skip a pole!
> ...



Exactly! They develop a rhythm and Mikko can start the 24" poles without hopping but then comes up short so he makes up for it by hopping his back legs through the last few. Sometimes he hops the whole way. 

Our trainer has 24" poles and we bought a set to try and speed him up. I'm worried he'll never be as fast through the weaves as he was.

We had a trial this weekend too. I don't know how we'll ever Q Steeplechase having to go through the weaves twice...


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