November 01, 2008

weave pole guide construction

.
Since posting the video of the weaves, I've been asked by a few people for photos of the construction. Note, the set is only 2' high to save on the cost of the fencing and pipe. I thought it would be awhile before they needed to be higher, but the way he's growing I'm not so sure! :-)

Here's a drawing looking at the weaves from the top. The first and second poles have only a single end attached. The third and fourth poles have two ends. And the fifth/sixth have single ends attached.

This is a photo of the whole set- hopefully more clear than the video. Dazzle is going around the 3rd pole.


A single end attachment. You can almost see how the sharp wire ends are tucked into the open space between the fence and the pole.

Side view of the single end attachment. The cut ends of the wire are wrapped around the fence on the other side of the pole with needle nose plyers.

Double end attachment- two ends of fence wrapped around a single pole. I attached one end around the pole, then wrapped the other around it.

Same pole from the side

Today we worked on sit/down/stand practice in the basement and back yard. I also took him for a walk in the cut corn field across the street. He had a blast running around the field grabbing at the stumps of corn stalk left by the machine. He didn't even hardly notice the big round bales of corn stalks that are now in the field.

In the back yard, we practiced a bit more heeling with his dinner, then switched to more sit/down/stand cue discrimination. I think he is starting to generalize. I had a demo I had to do today with Coyote and Bear, so Dazzle stayed home with dad. I didn't know how he would react, but I was told he was a perfect gentleman. He sat quietly by the door to the garage for about 5 minutes, but when Mike showed him I had left he relaxed with Mike for 2 hours till I got back. Yesterday we mostly worked on leave it and the cue discrimination. I don't think he will have a problem with the Dog Scout test next week, but I do need to practice leave it with an animal...

Here kitty kitty kitty. :-)