Start/stop command

marieke

New Member
I was wondering how you guys give commands to your dog. If you want him to weave for instance, do you keep saying "weave" for as long as you want him to do it? Or could you give the command just once so your dog does it until you say "stop" or give another command?
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
I always work to the second principle. I issue a command such as "stay", and then I'll either issue a "break" which means go and do your own thing, or I'll issue another command.

However, in agility, I've seen many people repeat "weave, weave, weave" several times as the dog weaves through the poles.
 

marieke

New Member
I think I like the second one too. Also it probably looks more impressive than having to keep repeating yourself. I wonder if that might also annoy your dog a little.
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
I don't think it would annoy the dog.

Though what could happen is that the dog learns not to wait for the second, third, fourth, fifth..... iteration of the command before acting. However, as said before, it seems to work differently in agility.

You need someone like Xsara to look in on the thread, as I think she has experience in both fields. I'll point her to the thread to get her view.
 

xsara

New Member
we use a command that lasts through the whole weave: we say "weave" (slalom) to hit the entry and then "brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" until the end of the obstacle :)
 

storm22

Experienced Member
i had to say weave about three times as storm would loose interest in going all the way through the weave polls until i ran next to him while he was doing it

i work storm from afar as when we first started training him in agility i had a riding accident and was on crutches for a while so he learnt to work away from me as i would stand in the middle and he would go round the course but now im starting to train closer and its really good, but he follows my body comands to my word commands and he sometimes pulls me up
if i tell him to go through the tyre but my bodys facing the tunnel he'll go through the tunnel
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
I use hand signals along with verbal cues. My dogs respond to either, but I usually use both. When I started teaching Mud how to weave, I would give the verbal command and keep using the hand signal until I decided to stop. When I no longer gave the hand signal, Mud knew to quit. She knows that "weave" means to weave in and out of my legs, and to stop when I cease the hand signals. I like Xsara's "brrrrrrrr" though. That's neat. ^^
 
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