Easy method for a straight front

How many “training methods” have you heard to get a straighter Novice Call Front?

Here’s a few for starters: Put an obstacle, (cone for example), for them to wrap around on the way to your front; take more steps back; use a platform, etc. We’ve come up with so many ways to get a straighter front and with virtually every one of them we’re trying to fix or change our dog.

Not that those methods don’t work, and I'm sure there are plenty more that I haven't mentioned, but what if we try solving it from a different perspective.

What if instead, we fixed or changed ourselves?

I’ve heard it’s a lot easier to change ourselves than it is to change our dogs. The way things get so ingrained, I’m not so sure. Practice makes permanent.

It wasn’t until training for Agility that I became more aware of body mechanics and positioning and how impactful they are on what our dogs do or don’t do. My dog paid the price for one of my hard lessons when I sent him into the side of a tunnel, slamming into the sandbag, rather than going into the tunnel. I simply didn’t follow through with my signal, and bam.

At no point did I think, how could you not see the opening to the tunnel? What’s wrong with you? I did this to my dog; he didn’t miss anything — my dog was focusing on me, and I gave him really bad directions. I’m so lucky I didn’t injure him, (or was he lucky?).

On our subsequent attempts, I didn’t try to fix him, or change his approach by placing something on the course to get him to align better. I had a watchful eye pointing out how I had erred in my signal, so I fixed my body mechanics and positioning, leading to success.

Now back to the Novice Call Front, and a look at what’s happening in the first place. Why does our dog come to front crooked? For starters, they are coming from heel position and turning towards us to approach our front — so they are approaching from an angle.

Of course, they’re going to be crooked!

So, what do we do to fix it? Do we fix their approach or their arrival, or something else?

Here are the three methods mentioned above…

A platform is for teaching the position “front.” Where the other training methods teach come towards and you’ll get reinforcement in front. In my opinion the platform is the best method where your dog actually “learns” the position and correct alignment, but I don’t think most people new to training or to Rally have gotten that deep yet, plus it requires a prop.

So that’s where the other methods help us “train” our way to success. Let’s look at those.

Adding an obstacle like a cone for our dog to go around on the approach redirects their path so they come towards us from directly in front. They come in straight, so they sit straight. Problem solved eventually, but it requires a lot of repetitions to get consistent.

Taking extra steps back gives our dog more distance to straighten out. How long do we have to keep that up until they “figure it out”? I don’t know but it takes a lot of repetitions. Eventually, problem solved but it doesn’t require a prop so that’s good.

Here’s my favorite method, and it’s the reason behind this article because it’s about changing body mechanics to improve our dog’s performance. It’s the one I’ve started teaching because it’s a simple, it doesn’t require props — and it’s effective with only a few repetitions!

A great friend and an amazing trainer/handler taught me this move — here’s the description.

While heeling, take your final step forward with your left foot. On that final step, turn your hips, shoulders, and left foot slightly to the right, almost like you're starting a right turn – but not that exaggerated. That should start your dog turning to the right — which will get them centered in front of you. Then step back while calling them front. With this method you shouldn’t have to take many steps, if any at all, because they'll be setup and coming towards from directly in front — which makes it hard for them to end up crooked — they may only need enough room to get turned around.

No need for an obstacle for them to go around, you changed their approach towards you with your body mechanics. If you find they overshoot or undershoot straight, adjust by tweaking the amount of hip rotation. Simple and effective.

If you go from your last step with your right foot forward, or without the shoulder, hip, and foot turn, (or if your dog isn’t paying attention), your dog is will still be approaching from an angle, so it’ll be hard to end up straight.

We can do a lot of little things with body mechanics to help our dogs be more precise. I hope this helps!

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