How did you get started in rally obedience

Emmasmom

Emmasmom

Forums Sage
For those who do rally obedience, can you walk me through the steps of how you got started, what you expected of yourself and your dog, anything that would help me understand this better? Someone suggested that I try this with my dogs as I can't do agility due to health issues but am interested in finding something I can do with at least Natalie. Thanx
 
I'd been looking at Rally for a while before I started participating. Mostly looking at the signs on AKC and APDT's websites. Originally my plan was to do agility until Edan couldn't really compete any more then move to rally for his senior years to keep him active and thinking.

I actually took a class at my club one summer instead of an agility class since our building can be a little to hot in July and August. We did well at it so I entered a small local AKC Rally trial and finished with a Q and 1st place.

Rally still isn't a priority for me yet; I may do only 2 or 3 shows a year. Edan does enjoy it because he enjoys working with me. I do plan on doing more as Edan ages.
 
I saw my first rally trial when Callie was getting her CGC- it was novice which is all on leash. I said- Callie can do that. so we signed up for a class which ended up only having three people so the other two got more than they bargained for since the instructor geared it towards our goals which were more specific than I want my dog to not jump on people....
so we practiced and the trial that we were going to compete in didn't happen so I had to wait a while for our next opportunity but Callie did get her Rally Novice title- 3 competitions - 3 qualifying legs.

if there's anywhere that you can go watch, I'd do that and then you can ask the competitors where and how they train. I know that you are in Canada so you'll have to investigate the options there:smile2:
 
We took Beckon to obedience class to help with his fear aggression issues. He did so well I decided to try Rally. We enrolled in a Rally class at our nearby dog training club; so far we've been through three rounds of classes. Beckon is going to be competing in Rally Advanced B this coming season.
 
I did a lot of rally with Lexi. We took classes at the same place we did our basic obedience classes. It's fun. I took Pyper thru her RA, but then we discovered agility. We are loving agility and ever since starting agility, my dogs aren't very good at rally anymore. As soon as they see the jump coming up, they break heel and charge ahead. Evidentially, that is very entertaining for the judges...we've left a couple in stitches.:lol:
 
Like many others, I started taking basic obedience classes at a local dog training club to socialize and learn better training techniques. When the class session was almost over, the trainer told us about classes we should consider when this one ended. Rally-O classes just happen to fall out on a day and time that I was free and seemed interesting, so we signed up.

I like Rally-O a lot. Obedience is a little too serious for me. I like that in Rally-O I can say as many commands as I need to and it's a more relaxed. We even got our Rally Novice title. Unfortunately, the next level was off-leash and I knew this would be a lot more challenging for my dog. At the same time, the agility instructor for this club just happen to be in my Rally-O class and suggested I try agility with my dog. I ended up doing that and since I didn't have the time or money for both sports, I decided to focus on agility. I think my dog likes running and obstacles more than walking in heal position and performing obedience skills.

Maybe one day I will return to Rally-O...when my dog is 14 years old. She should be calmer and more focused at that age :lol:.
 
Rally-O is a good option for dogs with joint issues, older dogs and shy dogs.

It can be a good bonding experience for you and your dog.

I have started my shy Piper in Rally-O, and she has done amazingly well for such a shy girl with bad knees.

Will continue to work with Piper in Rally-O, although I cannot imagine this shy girl EVER entering competition.
 
I had already been in obedience for a year or two before Bud Kramer's Rally Obedience was proposed as an new sport, and adopted by the AKC.

I was delighted with it, as it was derived of many of the "doodles" that trainers used to teach heel position to their dogs. Sadly, in the novice obedience classes I attended, heeling was a jerk - pop - and taught my beloved to lag even more!

The rally classes help to change that, I could encourage and praise, repeat a command and she learned (finally!) where heel position was ~ and wasn't.

Before long we had our heeling act together and progressed through the levels.

These days, my dogs are trained in rally exercises as an introduction to heeling, and when done well, rally is beautiful to watch!

Am curious about and want to try Rally in other venues (besides AKC), ASCA and UKC are also available on occassion here in Georgia...

My advice to those wanting to start, get a copy of the signs that will be used in the venue you would like to trial in and learn them. Take a class, or find a group that is doing it and then train the moves to your dog. Get out in various environments to practice. You really don't need signs for that, just walk along heeling with your dog and ask for a come front and finish right, a down -stay while you walk around, come up and sit 1-2-3 times.... I don't take my signs out much anymore, but I have some for setting an occassional course.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top