Frequently Asked Questions

Why the name Mountain Freaks?

Odd name choice? You bet. We are odd folks. Who but freaks would train in rain and snow, hot or cold, with multiple dogs, day in and day out for years? Who but freaks would drive to shows, sometimes 20 hours away, for the chance at two runs a day over the weekend? Who but freaks would feed their dogs healthier than themselves? The list goes on and on. I'm sure other agility addidicts can attest to similar freaklike behavior. The point is, we are crazy about our dogs and the sport of dog agility to the extent of being "Freaks" about it. The "Mountain" part comes from the training center being atop one, with one of the most beautiful views in New Jersey. You'll understand if you ever make it to vist and have to navigate up our driveway. Make sure you have 4wd in sleet or snow!

I purchased your World Class Weaves from Clean Run and I've had my 21 mo. old Yellow Lab working on this and she's doing great with six poles with 99.9% accuracy going through Recall, working from pole 5 back to about 2' from first pole on each side and also rewarding her with me moving forward and not in the recall position. I want to start proofing and start working with 12 poles. I have the competition metal base poles, but not Channel Weave poles. Sadie will NOT weave in the grass with more than six poles (stresses to the max). I've proofed the 6 and marked the 6 in the garage and driveway. Should I purchase Wire Weave Pole Guides to use on the last six poles, or do you feel it necessary for me to purchase a six pole channel weave and use the straight up for the first six? In classes she will do 10 weaves but not with the drive as she has with the six. I wish I lived closer to you to come to your facility for instruction. I'm working with two schools here in Midland, MI and I try to train 10 min./day but will now focus on weaves because after working a trial this weekend here in Midland for two days, I saw a huge percentage of dogs not doing weaves, and had hardly any drive. I'm not going to compete until all 12 are nailed and she's confident. I truly believe that you techniques work and I plan to use them. I'm just confused as to how to handle the 12 with only straight up poles.

Thanks for writing. I am glad that you are serious about training poles. If you are dedicated you will prevail! First off, given your dog's tenancies, I really think that you should invest in a good set of channel weaves. You can get them at max 200.com. You may be able to chip in with another trainer and buy 6 each if it is too costly otherwise. I would put your dog on a "closed economy" reward system. It is an operant conditioning reward system where the only food the dog gets in the day (including meals) is what they earn by doing the desired behavior. In this case I would put the poles out your back door to your yard and have the dog weave 6 poles in order to eat. No weave no eat. Don't go out to play unless you weave first. If your dog loves water, bring the poles to the lake and have her weave prior to diving in. My dog Argos loves the "weave pool" game. They get the message fast and respond quickly this way. After the dog gets fast w 6 poles, move them to different locations..slowly. After that the next step is to add the 12 poles.. Good Luck:)

Hi Joe,
I wrote to you last summer and got help from you while I was training Indy, my young std poodle, the weave poles step by step following your DVD. I am happy to report that he is doing great in competition being very consistent in his weaves.

The only thing I see is that he is starting to SS the first few poles and then changes to hop through the remainder which seems to slow down his momentum. I recognize that he is still an "inexperienced" competition dog so I wonder if it will come with him getting more experience of competition or is there anything I can incorporate in my continued training of the weaves in order to get the consistency of either SS or hop? Should I go back for a while on offsetting the poles again? I reviewed your DVD again and don't think I missed any steps in the beginning of training the weaves.

Thank you so much for your help,
Monika
Turlock, CA

Monika,

Good question. This is a fairly common problem and one not easily solved but not impossible for most dogs. The idea is to get the dog into the rhythm early and feel comfortable with the action. You have to figure out which stride is more natural for your dog, ss or hop. Generally larger dogs ss and smaller hop, however, that is not always the case. There are many fast weaving large dogs that hop. There are two solutions and you mentioned one of them which is opening up the poles again. I assume you have channels. By opening the poles you increase speed and the dog doesn't have as much time to change striding methods. The other, only if your dog is to ss, is to practice on weave a matic type poles which in my opinion help induce single striding footwork. In addition to choosing the right set of poles to train you then need to mark and reward the desired behavior. So start back w 6 poles and only mark and reward when the dog keeps the same striding. Then work it up. After you add the other 6 poles you mark/reward the dog at progressively further poles of consistent striding. For example the dog gets to pole 7 single striding the hops, you look to mark when he gets to pole 8 and reward at the end even if the last 4 poles were hopped. Slow, accurate and consistent marking is the key.
Imo changing strides midpoles is more of a problem that can cause the dog to pull out because of the mental shift at high speed as opposed to the lost time which is a minor problem compared to a nq for pulling out.
Good luck :)
Joe