Rally-O

[TrishB]

Hi all,

This new sport called Rally-O is gaining a LOT of attention. Who competes in it? To what levels? With what groups? How did you find out about it?

I found the rules here:

http://www.apdt.com/rallyo/documents...Guidelines.pdf

This overview statement is interesting:

APDT Rally for All Dogs is intended to promote positive relationships between dogs and owners that are based on trust and mutual respect. To this end, our Rally Rules and Judging Guidelines encourage positive reinforcement and reward during APDT Rally competitions, and prohibit the use of physical corrections or harsh verbal corrections. Attitude is more important in APDT Rally than precision. Dog and handler both should be appear to be enjoying the competition and each other's company. Any harshness, anger or frustration exhibited in the handler's attitude - voice, body language, expression or handling techniques - shall be scored as a significant deduction. Similarly, evidence that the dog is not enjoying the training relationship or Rally experience should be noted and deductions made accordingly.

I appreciate the fact that it's a sport focused on the enjoyment of both handler and dog.

What are your thoughts?

[spidey]

I've been training the Novice level exercises, and I have quite a few friends who've recently titled their Vallhunds in AKC Rally. They all say Novice is pretty straightforward for a dog who's got the basics down (it's a lot of fun and a good way to get started in competition, especially if you're new or if your dog isn't quite ready for formal OB), but once you get past Novice it gets substantially harder, and some of the high level exercises are extremely challenging. More than one person I know who's training for the higher levels has said that they may have originally thought that it was "too easy to be a titling sport", but they changed their minds once they saw the higher level exercises. Things like the about turns from the halt, the exercise from the halt where you stay the dog, turn 90 degrees and have the dog move back to heel position, the halt-pivot-heel-halt, and the backwards heeling are the ones that spring to mind.

Here are the signs used and the exercises they're for. Obviously, I'm a big fan of more positive and fun-oriented work that still demonstrates a high degree of training and obedience. And regardless of whether you plan to compete or not, the rally exercises are some very useful things to add to your training repertoire.

[Luvs]

I really enjoy rally. I like the fact that I can talk to Akasha and encourage her while in the ring. I think it is a great venue to introduce a dog to the world of competition. I plan on entering my next puppy in rally before trialing for a CD. I am hoping that being able to talk to him/her while in the ring will help make it a positive experience and keep things FUN!!

Rally has also helped me overcome my nerves a little bit. I think it will be MANY years before I stop becoming a total freak in the ring, but rally has made a difference for me

Next weekend we will start trialing for Akasha's RAE. My plan is to continue to work on her RAE until she is ready for UD and then concentrate on her UD. Working on her RAE will at least keep her in the ring and having fun while we continue training.

Not to take anything away from rally, but I did find it pretty easy to take Akasha from her RN to her RE, but I think that was because we already had her CD and she knew the majority of the exercises (except the backwards heeling) so it was pretty easy for her. I have to admit I was our greatest hinderance. Two of my biggest problems have been getting lost on course (at least once) and forgetting what a sign meant (MORE than once).
I think if you have a dog that is already trained to a CD level or beyond, rally should be pretty easy, as long as you know the signs
When I first started rally, I didn't think you really needed a class. I have since changed my mind. It really helps to have someone there watching you as you go thru the exercises. I signed my neice Chelsie up for a rally class this past summer and she wanted me to take it with her, so I did. I learned a great deal during the class, while having a lot of fun!!

I think that rally will help open the doors to obedience for those who had no interest in competing in traditional obedience. This summer while I was a ring steward, I spoke to several people who had never really thought of doing anything competitive with their dogs until rally came along. I remember one woman at this trial who had just gotten her third RN leg and was in tears she was soooooo HAPPY!!! This was the first title she had ever put on a dog and she was thrilled!!! (I was thrilled for her!!). She told me that after she was done with rally she wanted to go on and attempt a CD with her dog. I think that as more people get out there and give rally a try, they will find out just how addicting trialing is and will hopefully decide to continue on

[frontierrots]

We compete in AKC Rally and Bea has her Rally Excellent and we'll be going for her advanced excellent next year

IF you fool around training obedience with all sorts of oddmoves then yes Rally can be somewhat easy, but if you pattern train your dogin obedience or only practice the exact obed exercises it can be very very hard. I've seen lots of OTCH dogs NQ in Novice let alone the higher levels. I've also seen many beginners to dog sports NQ regularly at all levels and take tons of trials to get their titles.

We earned our 3 titles in 3 tries each but Bea'd been trained in rally right from 8 weeks old and was actually trial ready a year before it was an AKC titling event

It is lots more fun than traditional obed for both dog and handler and several of the upper level exercises can be very challengng to train. Many people who had quit trad obed have come back out to trial in Rally :)

We've talked about Rally several times here so if you do a search you should find those as well

Canadian rally (CARO) is the hardest of the 4 organizations doing rally (AKC, APDT, CARO, WWKC)

[TrishB]

Oh! Thanks Diane.

I've had several people talk about it up here, but I have yet to actually SEE a trial. I've contacted CARO: http://www.canadianrallyo.ca/WhatsNew.htm Hopefully I've found a new venue!

[frontierrots]

CKC and UKC are in process of developing their own rally venues as well

CARO is the hardest so if you can master it you can do any of the other ones, as long as you remember what rules go with which venue!

[Carol Burke]

We have been trialing in Rally, great fun. Two of my guys have their RN and one has 2 legs toward RA. What I like about it is how much the dogs enjoy it, it really keeps their interest and is a great training tool for regular obedience.

[debbiej]

Hilda and I attended a couple of rally classes. it is fun, but I found it challanging for me! I have trouble with right&left under pressure and can't dance very well either. but I enjoyed it, Hilda did too. she is kind of slow sitting and not a real pretty mover, and I can't tell yet if it is hard on her.

[TrishB]

Originally Posted by frontierrots

CKC and UKC are in process of developing their own rally venues as well

CARO is the hardest so if you can master it you can do any of the other ones, as long as you remember what rules go with which venue!

It would be nice to know which format the CKC is looking to follow. You'd think the CARO since it's Canadian, but you never know. If I was going to get into it or arrange a trial, I'd like to have the one the CKC will cast its after.

[laurlitt]

Originally Posted by frontierrots

IF you fool around training obedience with all sorts of oddmoves then yes Rally can be somewhat easy, but if you pattern train your dogin obedience or only practice the exact obed exercises it can be very very hard.

This is a very good point. There are a lot of things about Rally that make it easier... but a lot that can make it harder... Traditional obedience doesn't really ask a lot of the dog in the sense of positions and 'backwards' movement. In Sch. ob. I taught Maddie a lot of 'positioning' exercises where she learned to get to heel position no matter where we started from, or however I moved... it made a huge difference in Rally-O... I didn't really have to train for it, just know the rules and the signs... I don't suspect it's that easy for others.

I've seen a lot of people fail in the ring and a lot of it is b/c they are not ready as a team (too young and not enough obedience and focus)...

It's a fun sport... I've enjoyed trialing in it during our Sch. breaks.