Rally

 I compete, fairly seriously, in rally. You *could* just go do it, for fun, but  you may NQ or get a pretty low score. Read the rules, a bunch, and see how you feel about it. Ask a bunch of questions A lot of footwork and such is important, just as in regular obedience. Knowing the number of retries (one per station) always throws somebody. Somebody always walks past a sign (NQ, I've done it, twice!). If she has a good heel, with no tightness at all in the leash, you have a pretty good start, in novice. That's at least half the battle

I never took formal Rally classes - just used the skills we already had acquired as part of our regular high level training classes, and practiced for trials together with some friends.  I'd also joined some drop-in Rally run-thrus, just to practice with a new facility, new set of dogs, and new courses - like any run-thru opportunity.

Have you taken any formal obedience classes?  (ie, Where you've taught the dog proper heel position and she doesn't forge or lag?)  Most of Rally is just heeling and sits & downs for Novice.  So long as the dog stays in good heel position, you can do it for fun and ring practice.  Some judges who have a background as an Obed judge are really looking for a good heel, though, and are getting peeved that other Rally-only/new judges are letting anything pass for "heel".  Other judges (as described) will let it slide so long as your leash is never tightened by the dog going SOO far away from you.

People are taking it more seriously these days - at least in AKC.  (I don't do APDT trials, and the only UKC trial I did Obed.)  I'm seeing OTCH dogs going for Rally titles at almost every show lately, but they'd be in the B classes, not A like you (unless you've already titled a dog in your past??)  Any other specific questions we can help - a lot of us do Rally around here.  Gracie has a few legs toward her RAE and we've helped coach Rally classes, so I'm more than willing to help.  (Esp since it's Josie!!)

It depends on your goals, really. Some people enter it just for fun, and some people are quite serious about it. I do it for fun, regardless of *how* we place, however that said because it is not cheap to enter, I do make sure I'm confident my dog can do the exercises.

 There is a lot to learn in Rally in terms of just learning to follow the signs, to do them right, and to not get lost. LOL. It's different that way than some other performance events. I took a class not for my dogs, but for me so that I knew not to mess up!

And be sure to know the rules for the org you are taking part in. The rules for our trials are different, for instance, than the rules for the ones Jennie posted. We can only have one re-try per trial, and you will get docked marks for any tight leashes. You can even get docked for lack of a partnership, as it's meant to be a friendly, happy team event.

Granted, I'm new to the event as a competitor. Shimmer has her first two RN legs, and if it wasn't for the lack of trials, we'd have more. I have six trials in October though, so she'll finish her RN for sure and hopefully get her RA if we're ready! Based on her first trial scores (two Q's, one of them a 100 and High in Class), I have no doubt she can do it!

 It is what you make of it.  Some people are pretty serious, others not.  I'm about halfway.  I do train specifically for it, but it's not my primary activity and I do it mostly for socialization and ring experience in general.  One of the best and worst things about rally trials is that they can be very chaotic so it's a great test for working a dog under distraction and making sure a dog is comfortable in the ring.  I've only ever been in indoor trials, usually in buildings with so little space that crating is done stacked and the rings are small and cramped.  When Kenya did her RE leg the honoring was done in the middle of the course!  People and dogs are constantly coming and going within inches of the ring gates.  It's not like a Schutzhund trial where you have a field the size of a football field to yourself and are doing a set "routine".  The criteria for the rally exercises themselves is very low but just doing a course in that environment is valuable for me since I like to train and compete in multiple venues.  I think for many dogs it is more stressful than people realize.  Nikon could do all skills through the Excellent level except two when he was just over a year old but I have not entered him in any matches or trials yet and won't until he's two and a half probably.  He's done his BH for Schutzhund which is like a 10 minute obedience routine plus a traffic/temperament test, and he got an agility title but the rally atmosphere is something I will hold off until he's fully mature.  Nikon hasn't done any classes and probably won't, but I've done a lot of trials with Kenya and know the exercises.

Kim - which venue do you do Rally in?  (ie, which organization?)

I do CKC Rally. I would love to do APDT as well, but there are no trials around here.

Just saw this post... not been around. How have your rally experiences gone? What did you decide to do?

I watched a novice rally class last year and thought to myself "my dogs can do that". When Teddi could no longer do agility and a nearby club was sponsoring an agility trial and rally trial on the same weekend same venue it gave me an excuse to enter Teddi. I went to two fun matches at a local facility. The person supervising the ring was awesome, and explained a lot, and I downloaded the signs from the AKC website. Teddi did her rally class earned a score of 99 and won the class.  Certainly not what I was expecting. Beyond the novice division we will be unable to play as Teddi can not jump. I can't ask her to. We are entered in another trail on the 23 & 24 of this month. I hope to complete her title. We have another opportunity at a fun match next Friday I hope to go to, but have some household business to do so we will see when that gets over. 

It was made VERY clear to me to watch my footwork and I was surprised how mentally I had to focus on the step once, step twice etc moves. The other part is know my left and right.  Not my strong suit. LOL 

 Ann