Ditch the platform and teach fancy front pivots


Hey Reader!,

This last week I did a daily training challenge of working fronts with my crew- 3 dogs and the cat.

Arlo and Freya were new. Ginny has fronts that (usually) make me feel like I know what I'm doing. And since this fall, Loot at least no longer melts and thinks fronts are a horribly tricky exercise anymore. But he still needs a lot of work!

As I was helping those who posted along with me, I decided that a blog post was necessary! So many people work on front platforms but struggle to get rid of it.

And admittedly I don't have the skills to help them fade the platform either!

That's because I do very little work with sit platforms in my training. Platforms can be a great tool, but I do best when doing more active training to show the dog what I want.

And that means front pivots.

A pivot perch helps the dog be close and tells them it's a rear-end exercise. But it doesn't 100% structure them to be right. I know that as trainers we love structure!!

So I break down the skill of pivoting in front. I want a high rate of success, but I also want that thinking dog in a way that using a platform doesn't get me.

Ditch the Platform & Teach Fancy Front Pivots

February Class

My Novice prep class starts February 1st, I'd love if you would join us! Gold spots are full, but still room to join us at silver or bronze!

Check out the sample lecture on going from pivots in heel to forward heeling!!

(Scroll down on the registration page, it's there!)

It will be a mix of working on the "skills" (lots of heeling! fronts! exams!)

and then an introduction to ring prep skills and rewards at a distance.

This class is designed both for those who don't know where to start, and for teams who have done a bit of everything but still feel a bit hesitant to pull everything together.

Work on the individual pieces or start taking your chains on the road! We'll discuss acclimation and ready-to-work skills to help your dog work in different environments.

Upcoming Workshop!

I'm bringing back out my marking workshop! The skill of looking straight ahead before sending is needed in 2 obedience exercises: go outs and directed retrieves (gloves). But it's often used in agility at the startline too!

Save the date for registration 2/22, with the workshop released March 10th!

Tandem Dog Sports

Tandem Dog Sports

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Laura Waudby

Hi, I'm Laura, a dog sports enthusiast and online coach! I train and compete in obedience, rally, and agility. I am passionate about building motivation and focus in dogs that struggle in training or trials. Follow me on social media for daily training videos of my dogs and cat! And please hit the subscribe button to my newsletter to keep in touch!

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