Where's Front?

Our club's obedience trial is over with and I'm finally catching up on some rest. I stewarded and showed at all three trials. Some very valuable lessons were learned.
Moto is really, really coming along nicely. Except for one thing: if he's unsure of something rather than try, he just won't do it. This led to an NQ for our Open B debut. His NQ came from refusing to go over the jump on the Retrieve Over High. He went to the jump, started to gather, then just....stopped. He did this in Wildcard Open at the earlier trial, but I'd made him go over so thought the problem was fixed. Apparently not. I didn't want him to think this was acceptable under any circumstances so risked an excusal by giving a second command and a step forward. The judge gave me a warning but we did get to finish the remaining exercises, of which Moto did very well. Sit and Stays out of sight - no problem! Good boy!
He will still balk at the ROH in different circumstances so this is something we will need to train as I do NOT want him to think refusing a jump is an option.
Pinch just showed in Wildcard Novice which turned out to be a good thing. He's still very much a baby dog when it comes to showing. He was reasonable at Show #1 but not great (score was a 196). In Show #2 with no time to warm up, I had to peel him off the ceiling he was so hyper. The heel off lead was a disaster. And the recall was his what I call a "recall splat" where he's coming in so fast he has no time to gather for a front and just body slams me and lands wherever. Oh, my. While I love having a happy dog in the ring, I would prefer happy AND focused, which is something Mr. Pinch is still not quite capable of.
So the training continues.
If you show in Obedience, you know your bread in butter is Fronts and Finishes. Both dogs need more dedication in the front, especially Pinch. When testing him I discovered he really doesn't completely understand the exercise. And doing front after front can become boring, but we need to practice. So I came up with a game called "where's your front?" He gets as excited about this game as a game of ball which is awesome! I ask the question, place him on a sit, and stand somewhere with either guides or sticks and do a recall. He has to find front to get the party celebration. This is helping him to realize that not only does he have to come in quickly, he HAS to find front as well. It also works great as a set-up, as when the judge will say "and now for the recall" I can say "where's your front?" and set him up and he'll know the game.
Now, to see if this game can be Ring-Tested.
Stay tuned.