Step One: Go Through We start by teaching our dogs to love running through the weave poles. Stand to the left of the "open set of weaves as shown on the diagram to the left. Either throw your treat/toy or use race to reward. You don't want to throw too far as we are going to add a second set in step four. Your dog should be making a wide circle as you turn with your dog to set up for another rep. The dotted line shown is your dog's path. You will be closer to the poles at the start but try taking a step or two back a couple times a session. Only work two minutes at a time to start with you want your dog to be excited and happy to play the weave game. ​Once your dog is happily charging through those poles move to step two.

Step Two: Close the Poles

​In step one the poles are "open" and now we are going to work to close them. The biggest advantage of using 2x2 is that it teaches the dog to wrap that first pole so we want to spend ample time on this step. Never be afraid to make it easier on your dog. My rule of thumb is that if I have two failures I need to make it easier, if you continue to try and make them get it right you're doing more harm than good. Turn the poles counter clockwise just a few inches, do three to five reps and then turn them again. Start each new sessions with the poles a few turns before where were last session. Make the learning effortless and fun. Working this every other day you should be able to close the poles in about two weeks. Go easy on younger dogs. This obstacle is mostly muscle memory and that takes time to develop ​

Step Three: Working Around the Clock

You know the song that goes "One, two, three O'clock, four O'clock rock"? Well we are going to rock around the clock for weaves. In the diagrams on the right this you can see handler and dog lined up in every possition around the clock. I want my dog to understand that no matter where we are you enter at the first pole with it on your left shoulder. This is an exercise that I still do with my accomplished agility dog in the space of our tiny back yard. Below is a video of Stark and I working the clock

Step Four: Adding More Poles and Moving Them Closer

***Spoilers for Jurrasic World Below***
I know what you're thinking, Ally is a dog trainer not a movie critic and you're right. BUT when Hollywood makes my dreams come true I feel like I have to say something. 
From pretty early on in watching trailers for Jurrasic World it was clear they were training Velociraptors. From the second I saw that I was wishing that they would use positive reinforcement. They blew it out of the park, the raptors are trained with a clicker. All be it incorrectly but HEY! THEY ARE USING CLICKER TRAINING TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE MOST LETHAL AND INTELLIGENT ANIMAL OF ALL TIME!

After watching Chris Pratt click and toss dead rats to the raptors the movie could only get better. Once his background is explained it makes perfect sense to me. Owen Grady was with the US Navy before coming to work at Jurrasic World. The Navy has been using clicker training to train dolphins for open sea missions since the early 1960s with such greats as Bob Bailey and Karen Pryor.
Later in the movie after being forced to use his raptors in a way that he fundamentally disagrees with they are confronted by the I-Rex. Owen realizes that the I-Rex is part raptor and the pack found a new Alpha. (I'm letting that term slide for now because I believe it was used for lack of a better term.) After many really cool action sequences Owen and crew are again confronted by the raptor pack. Gazing into eachother's eyes the relationship is remembered and the raptors are back on team human. To me that was perhaps the most beautiful seniment of the entire movie, relationship over intimidation. 
        "I don't control them, it is a                             relationship". 
Any animal can be trained using positive reinforcement. There is no need for force, fear, or intimidation whether you are training your pet dog or an extinct killing machine. All animals would rather work to get what they enjoy rather to avoid what they don't like. This is not just a hollywood idea, in the video below keepers are using clicker training (with a beep instead of a click) to teach Hyenas to willingly give blood. Hyenas are considered one of the most aggressive animals in the world. There is no such thing as an animal too aggressive for positive training. 

This is the first in a series of two posts about my favorite training tool, the hollow stuffable toy. Find part two here

One of the first comments almost everyone makes about my dogs is how calm they always are. While Yuna has always been rather laid back, Stark is a high energy, very driven dog. But he knows there is a time and a place.

He has learned this because of hollow stuffable toys.

Rubber toys like Kongs can be filled with your dogs regular kibble mixed with something like plain yogurt, wet food, gravy, or peanut butter. Allowing your dog to work for their food is a natural outlet for dog's need to hunt and search for food.  If you replace your dog's food bowl with a hollow toy your dog will become calmer and happier. 

The reason for this is because when your dog works out food from a kong they generally lay down. Their blood pressure goes down because the act of eating and chewing is calming. Their heart rate goes down because they are relaxed. The best part is that they are being rewarded for all that good wanted behavior! Taking 10 minutes a day to stuff three or four toys can give you a calmer more enjoyable dog. 


It is an easy fast solution for many common unwanted behaviors. In the next post I will talk about how to hook your dog on stuffable toys even if they aren't very food motivated. Training your dog to love these toys is fast, fun, and easy like all the training that we do!

For Example Here Are David Letterdog's Top Ten Thing Your Dog Can't Do While Chewing on a Kong (by Dr Ian Dunbar):

• -Chew carpets, curtains, couches, clothes, chair legs, children's toys and electrical cords or consume famous books on dog behaviour.
• -Bark incessantly. The dog may still bark at disturbances, but it is less likely to bark recreationally because now it is busy chewing recreationally.
• -Run in ever-decreasing obsessive compulsive circles, anxiously chasing its tail, or excessively licking or chewing paws and the root of its tail, causing self mutilation.
• -Play-bite or mouth your hand, nip ankles, grab the lead or play tug o-war with your tie or trousers.
• -Destroy garden furniture and hoses, consume cat feces and dog stools or eat flowers and poisonous plants.
• -Dig. Certainly the dog can hold a chew toy in its jaw and dig, but if really working at treats inside the chew toy, it would hardly be inclined to dig a hole to bury the chew toy.
• -Noisily lick private parts in the company of great aunts or children.
• -Lick your face with the same tongue that was used to perform number 7.
• -Borrow the car, write bad checks or run up the charge card. (just checking to see if anyone is actually reading this article.)
• -Become bored or anxious and otherwise dream of bolting through the front door or escaping from the yard.

Training dogs and their people is something that is not only my profession but my passion and my past time.  If you’ve seen me train either my own dogs or yours you might notice how it looks like effortless fun to me. Because that is exactly what dog training is to me, fun! Whether I am working on some cool new freestyle trick or serious behavior modification, both the dog and I are having a blast!  Even in the most difficult cases I never feel a need to get rough or correct the dog, in addition to being un-fun it is usually 100% counterproductive but we’ll talk about that in another post.

Dog training should be fun; the most effective way of learning is through playing games for not only dogs but for humans too. It makes sense right? That is why websites like luminosity.com and brainmetrix.com are centered on games to train your brain. Even learning information through song is a form a playing, School House Rock anyone?  And I’m sure we all remember how un-fun learning can be with boring or disparaging teacher, in fact I hate math because my 1st grade teacher.  She would relentlessly drill us on addition and subtraction and then shame kids that got it wrong…. I still hate math and will do almost anything to avoid it. There were, of course kids that were VERY motivated by that and would strive to never get an answer wrong, me on the other hand? I would cross my arms, stare at my desk and either refuse to answer or purposefully get it wrong. Ms Sakamoto would correct and punish me anyway, if I could have bitten her I would have, instead I was sent to the principle.

I never want to be that teacher; I never want to force a dog into something they don’t understand or find scary.  Not only because I don’t enjoy it but I know it can leave a lasting impression that could rear its ugly head later. Or force a dog to act in a way that could be dangerous. I understand methods that use a heavier hand, I have seen them work. (Yes I’ll admit that they work they wouldn’t be this sticky if they didn’t) I can also admit that when introduced correctly and gradually things like prong or shock collars can be usable tools but I still would never choose to use them.  It simply isn’t necessary to me, very un-fun to the dog and ultimately counterproductive to the bond we share with our dogs.

I love the relationship that I have with my dog Yuna, she is my best friend and goes everywhere with me.  She chooses to stay next to me with or without a leash, she hogs the bed, she loves to run with reckless abandon, and she understands that she isn’t allowed in the street without permission. Every now and again we even get into arguments along the lines of her saying, “Don wanna don hafta” but I am insistent and she more often than not agrees with me. Though every now and again I’ll agree with her point of view and she’ll “win” the argument. Our relationship is a constant give and take like any other friendship I reinforce her through praise, play, and companionship and she reinforces me with her unconditional love and great company. I wouldn’t trade our relationship for the world and hope to give that to every person and dog that I train. I’ve seen what positive motivation can do and that is why I choose to live my life on the positive side of things.