Category: Performance Events ¤
  Author: Shirley Chong ¤
   Title: Fronts ¤

Christine Babiarz wrote:

>        I would love some feedback from list members about Devon's and my new
> problem of goofy fronts.  I think it stemmed from not practicing it
> frequently or reinforcing it heavily enough, but I recently noticed that
> when I call 'come', Devon will come toward me, head up, then stand about 3
> feet away wagging her tail.  If I take a step back she will step forward
> then sit, but it is about 2 feet away.  I tried to lure her into proper
> position, but she will touch my hand or target, then rock backwards into a
> sit, 1-2 feet away.

   It sounds like you have several different problems here. First of
all, it sounds like you've trained her for two cues on the recall: one
to get up and come to you, another to sit (stepping back). The other
problem is that she's sitting too far out.
   Last problem first. Um <trying to think of a delicate way to put
this> due to vagaries of personal conformation, some handlers have a
considerable amountof protrusion in their torso (this is not a problem
solely of female trainers; males can have this problem as well, it's
just lower down). If such handlers have trained their dogs to front to
eye contact, the dog tends to rock back or even sit further back, in
order to maintain eye contact.
   There are various ways around this. The simplest (IMHO) is to teach
the dog fronts as a targeting exercise. Pick a target on your body that
is about six to twelve inches above the dog's nose when they are in a
sitting position. The target should be no wider than the dog's nose. For
a Yorkie, this works out to the space between the handler's knees. For
an Irish Wolfhound, this works out to the bottom of the vee of a shirt
or sweater. For dogs inbetween, well, you have to figure out some
feature on your clothing that works out well for that dog. A SMALL belt
buckle can do for some dogs (or, better yet, the button at the waistband
of a pair of jeans).
   In teaching this sort of targeting, it's easiest to use a piece of
tape or a piece of ribbon safety pinned to your body. Both are easy to
fade with a pair of scissors. At first teach the dog to touch the target
with their nose (you can hold it in your hand). When you put the target
on your body, click for looks at the target.
  Develop a routine during warming up of using your two index fingers to
point to the target--your fingertips should be no more than the width of
the dog's nose apart! As you fade your target, you'll want to figure out
an anatomical or clothing feature to point to.
   This also addresses your first problem: develop the target as a cue
to the dog to do a sit. It's especially important with fronts to NOT
lure the dog into a sit. It's sooooo easy to do and it's sooooo tiresome
to have to fade the additional cue. 
   If the dog approaches you in training but doesn't sit, just end the
exercise. The exercise is NOT "approach and be given a second cue" so
luring/cueing the dog to sit will not fix the problem. Just tell the dog
"so sorry, you lost out this time, let's try again." You don't have to
'make' the front happen--that's the dog's responsibility. You have what
the dog wants, but the DOG has to do the work to get it.

M. Shirley Chong
The Well Mannered Dog
Iowa City Iowa
tzjd72a@prodigy.com

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From Digest #43
   Another example would be fronts. I teach my dogs to front by 
watching a target on the front of my body, which is one nose-width 
and located about two inches above their upraised nose in a sitting 
position. Every time I wear a new piece of clothing, the dog has to 
identify a new target on it. With an experienced dog, this is not a 
problem--I point out the target in warm up.
   Straightness in sits or fronts (or go-outs taught in certain ways) 
depends to a certain extent on the dog's muscle memory--how straight 
FEELS. If the dog's musculature never changes, if the footing never 
changes, never a problem. If however, the dog's muscles change (for 
instance, after being laid up with a shoulder injury, my Fergie's 
right shoulder was perceptibly smaller than her left), then I would 
think the muscles would feel differently.
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