How to Train Your Dog to Weave Between Your Legs

Go to your quiet space with your dog at your side and a pocket full of treats.

Open your legs so there is a generous amount of space for him to get through. Also, hold the treat out in front of his face to capture his attention.

Using the treat, slowly guide him through your legs. Give him gentle words of encouragement to help him along the way. Use an upbeat voice-- if he thinks it’s a game he’ll be more keen to play. Once he makes his way through, give him a treat and lots of verbal praise. Practice this several times until he understands what you want from him.

Now he knows to walk through your legs, you just need to increase the weaving before he gets his treat. In the same way as before, lead him through and around your legs in a figure of 8. Once he completes the whole circuit, give him a tasty treat and praise again.

Practice this for a few days until he fully has the hang of it. As he gets better you can increase the speed you lure him through at. Once he’s mastered that, you can lose the treat and just open your legs and point, he’ll understand what you want from him.

Head for your undisturbed space with your dog in tow and treats in hand. This time, you’re going to use a verbal cue to get him weaving between your legs, so it’s important you’re somewhere that is quiet.

Gain his attention with the treat and then open your legs so he can fit through. At this point, don’t move the treat, just hold it in front of your legs so he can see the open passage behind the tasty food in your hand.

Issue the command in a playful voice. You can use any word or phrase you like, just make sure it hasn’t already been used in conjunction with another trick. As you give the command, lead him through your legs with the treat. Once he’s through, give him a treat and some quick praise. Then quickly get out another treat so you can continue with the trick.

Once he’s successfully through, lead him back through your legs, giving him a treat again at the end. Practice this a few times. It’s important you get him comfortable with walking through your legs.

Now he’s comfortable you can get him to complete a full figure of 8. Issue the command and lead him with the treat, weaving in between your legs. Go slowly to start with, but speed up once he gets the hang of it. After a few days, lose the treat. By this point, he’ll associate the command with the behavior and will weave around you anyway.

Take one step forward then hold a treat to his face. Let him lick at your hand and sniff so he knows there’s something tasty in there. Then guide him slowly through your open leg.

Once he’s made his way round once, give him the treat and praise. Get down and cuddle him and talk in animated voice to really let him know you’re happy with him. The happier he is, the more likely he’ll be to repeat the trick.

Now step forward with the other foot so it’s open and repeat exactly the same process. Slowly guide him with the treat and then let him have it at the end. Then speed it up and step forward with each foot a few times, giving him a treat each time, so he’s weaving between your legs as you walk.

After a couple of days, lose the treat and just use an empty hand instead. Have him follow your hand in and around as he did on the previous step. Once he’s done a few successful weaves, stop and give him some treats.

Now it’s time to lose the hand signal too. Simply open your leg wide and shift your weight to it to make it obvious what you want him to do. He’ll probably catch straight on. If not, use a hand to point at the beginning. Keep practicing this until all you need to do is walk and shift your weight to get him to weave. You can then slowly cut out the treats at the end.