Creating and Using a Front Chute

Say you are working on /doing a retrieve, you throw the dumbbell out, send your dog ..... your dog does a wonderful pick up and a wonderful fast turn and than comes back in ..... and sits in a slightly crocked front .... what do you do?

Do you praise the retrieve -- ignoring the front?
Do you fuss the dog, correcting the front, losing the chance to praise the retrieve?

Perhaps you were smart and you eliminated the front --- by either squatting down or by running away from your dog --- any thing that presents them a different picture of your body position in which they are not required to or can't "front". By doing this you have given yourself an opportunity to praise the retrieve. However, by doing this you have lost the chance for your dog to practice the front. The front is PART of this exercise (in this case the retrieve), in addition the front is something that must be first taught but that is than perfected by practice --- making a straight front a HABIT for the dog. Your dog should be able to run into a straight front from any angle with anything in his mouth after a jump or a down or whatever without having to think about it or worrying about you fussing him about it.

When I am working on an exercise where the focus & therefore the pressure, will be on another aspect of the exercise other than the front, but where I want to, never the less, add a front in order to build the front-habit for my dog and to show my dog that a front is part of this exercise, I like to use a Front Chute.

Building The Front Chute:

* use cardboard (light, and won't hurt dog if they run into it, but not long lasting) or wood (if using wood ensure that the bottom piece is thin enough that the dog won't stub their toes when running into the chute, and that the wood contains no splinters).

* Your chute should consist of a bottom piece that the dog will sit on. This piece should be just wide enough for the dog to sit on it comfortably with their legs square underneath them without their body touching the sides (for more on sides see below). The bottom piece also should be long enough that when the dog sits on it their whole body, feet to base of tail fits on it, and should not be longer than whole sitting dog + extra half of sitting dog.

* Your chute should also have sides on it. The sides should stand up by themselves. If you are using wood heavier pieces of wood will work, if you are using cardboard you will likely have to place (or tape) another piece of cardboard to the outside, to hold the sides up. The sides should be tall enough so that your dog won't ignore them and can't sit on top of them, but not so high that they reach over the dogs head. Elbow to shoulder height on your dog is usually a good place to aim for.

* Your chute must be open on both other sides and on top. It should look like a 3 sided box or like a square U.


Using The Front Chute:

* First make sure your dog is comfortable with the Front Chute. Encourage your dog to touch the chute with their nose or paw. Move your dog backwards into the chute so that their back feet and rear rub against it, encourage them. Than lure them into the chute (or otherwise encourage them into it) ask them to sit once inside, than let them run out of it. Make sure this is a pleasant experience and that your dog is not scared of the chute.

If your dog is scared of the chute. You have some options.
*You can instead use 2 boards placed dog width distance apart. You want to ensure that the boards are length of the sitting dog to, a max of, the length of the sitting dog + half of sitting dog (so you don't want to use, say, broad jump boards since they are just too long). I like a chute better because the size of how-far-apart-the-sides-are is defined and I don't have to fuss with trying to place the boards the right distance apart each time, however some dogs will tolerate the boards better than the chute and for them this is a better option.
*You also can use a platform IF AND ONLY IF your dog will sit square on the platform and is sensitive about putting and keeping their entire body on it. If your dog will happily sit on the platform while half their body is hanging off the platform or manages to sit crocked while on the platform, than a platform will not work for this purpose. In my experience platforms require a dog to think more and require a dog to lift his body onto them so they function to slow most dogs down quiet a bit as they are coming into front. If you are looking for your dog to think about the front more or to slow down as they approach the front a platform may be the right choice. Platforms work very well for teaching sits after go-outs, where the dog must turn and sit at a distance, but I think for fronts where most people are looking for speed, precision and not much thought from the dog chutes work better.
*Lastly you can play a variation of Susan Garrett's "Crate Games" using the chute. These games will result in making the chute a desirable place to be. The best way to do this is to watch Susan Garrett's "Crate Games" video and modify the exercises to use a chute rather than a crate.

*Once my dog is comfortable with the Front Chute and sitting in the Front Chute, I introduce them to the "get-it, get-it, front" game. The foundation for this game is the "get-it" game. For the "get-it" game I get a hand full of food (white food like white cheese works best since dogs can easily see it on dark floors). I throw out a piece of food and tell my dog to "get it" as soon as they eat it I throw another piece of food in another direction again telling them to "get it". If this game makes your dog too crazy you can add an element of control to it by asking your dog to sit and throwing the food out but, in this case, only letting them get the food if you actually say "get it". You may have to have a leash on your dog to ensure that they do not "cheat" if you are adding this aspect of control to the game. Think about who your dog is --- is control no problem but speed, motivation, and drive are? .... than you likely don't need this extra piece of control, you want you dog to focus on you LESS and learn to RUN. Is control and food on the floor a problem? ... than go ahead and add the controlled sit or even sit-stay + leash to the game.

* Now we are ready to teach the "get-it, get-it, front" game. This game will teach my dog to run into the chute. Make sure your dog is comfortable with the chute and with sitting in the chute before you begin. I stand to the side of the chute such that the 2 open sides are perpendicular to me. I throw a treat out and tell my dog to "get-it", than I call my dogs name while holding another treat in my hand over the middle of the chute, just before my dog gets to that treat, I throw it away from them at the same time saying "get-it", so that my dog runs through the chute. I repeat this a few times till my dog is happy and fast at this game. Than instead of holding a treat over the middle of the chute. I step in front of the open side of the chute call my dogs name with the command "front" and lure them into the chute and into the front with a treat if needed (you should only have to lure the first few times when your dog is learning this part of the game). The game doesn't stop with the front. I now release my dog from the front one of 3 ways (1) I throw a treat between my legs commanding "get it" (2) I produce a tug toy and tug as I walk backwards walking my dog out of the chute (3) I turn my whole body to the side and throw a treat behind me commanding "get it" (if you do this make sure to alternate sides).

* Once your dog understands and enjoys the "get-it, get-it, front" game you are ready to use the chute whenever your primary focus of an exercise will not be on the front. Lets use the example of a broad jump. I ask my dog to jump he does a wonderful job, I stand at one open end of the Front Chute and do one of two things (1) ask him to front (or just stand at the end of the Chute which the dog will come to understand as a front) than praise him for a great jump since the front will, thanks to the chute, be straight. (2) stand in the chute and at the last minute the side and start the "get-it, get-it, front" game.

* The Front Chute is not a replacement for teaching a front. A dog must be taught a front first without the chute, however as long as the front is taught without the chute and the dog demonstrates understanding of the front without the presence of the chute, than using the Front Chute works well to keep fronts fast and straight and builds a very nice front-habit in the dog. In this case the Front Chute can also be faded easily.

I will add pictures and video to this post to make the concepts more clear when I can.