[TeamHellhound]

It started out being called Rally Obedience, I think, and then got shortened to just Rally over the years in a lot of places. It's the same difference. A lot of the exercises have their foundation in "doodling" which are basically little drills to help with heeling and such. A lot of the AKC Master exercises have their basis in canine freestyle

For what it's worth, the CKC still calls it Rally Obedience, and the rules for it and regular Obedience are in the same booklet. According to the rulebook dated 1-1-21,CKC titles are Rally Novice (RN), Rally Intermediate (RI), Rally Advanced (RA), Rally Excellent) RE), Rally Master (RM), Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE), Rally Master Excellent (RMX), Rally Champions (RCH) and Rally Grand Champion (RGCH).

Between the US and Canada, there are a dozen different organizations that offer rally titles, either in person and/or by video. There are also a couple of UK based organizations that offer virtual titling.

 

[94Magna_Tom]

We're still doing Rally classes. Elroy is doing pretty good considering we don't really do it all that much (once a week, plus a little bit of practice). Danette took 3 weeks off so we did the same. Last Friday we resumed class. Tonight's practice included a figure 8 set up with 2 cones and 2 food bowls filled with toys as distractions. About ½ the class failed at the distractions, but Elroy did it perfectly.
I bought a travel crate and tonight was the 3rd class we've used it at. Most of the class time (for us) is utilized practicing crate training. He's pretty good in it, but gets a bit anxious and starts barking if I completely ignore him.
Danette said his run tonight would be a qualifying run. He does like when he finally gets his turn! He loves working for me!

 

[Skylar]

Tonight's practice included a figure 8 set up with 2 cones and 2 food bowls filled with toys as distractions.

Danette said his run tonight would be a qualifying run. He does like when he finally gets his turn! He loves working for me!

Tom, that's amazing. Heeling a figure 8 with toy distractions is very difficult - you will never see that in a novice level. For Danette to say it would be a qualifying run goes to show the connection you have built up with Elroy. You are working as a team because Elroy wants to partner with you.

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Danette always mixes in a variety of levels. We had 2 master signs tonight that Elroy did without any (well without MUCH) trouble.
I do need to practice his pivot more though. He gets it, but doesn't snap to it like some of the other (nearly RACH) dogs.

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Another class under our belt. Elroy did quite good again. I think he's a natural at it! We fit in three runs tonight. Each run had a few changes relative to the previous run. Among the 10 signs, tonight we had an offset figure 8 with two food bowls filled with fresh salmon. The first time through, he was a tiny bit distracted by it, but quickly recovered. The next two times, for the first time, I decided to let him try off leash runs. He did very good. I did have to be a bit more vocal to keep his attn the first (off-leash) time, and the 2nd time he was right with me. He didn't get too distracted by the Salmon, a little interest, yes, but never went for it. Another new challenging sign was a side by side spin right, the dog AND handler both have to spin right simultaneously. We did this one twice and we did really well for our first time. If anything, I was the one that didn't spin properly.
We both have such a good time at class. Already signed up for next Friday.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, he's doing really good in his crate too. Class time is his only crate time practice and I'm glad it's progressing as quickly as it is!

 

[Happy'sDad]

Just catching up on your thread. It's awesome you have the time to do this with Elroy. Great work, great dog.

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Just catching up on your thread. It's awesome you have the time to do this with Elroy. Great work, great dog.

No dog for 56 years. Once retired, I now had time for a dog. This was a long time coming! Retire early. Get a dog. Life is good.
Thanks!

 

[lily cd re]

Ha I always spin slower than Lily. I tell her wait when she is done so that she doesn't do anythng strange to take points off. I hear you on "waiting" for having a dog. I didn't wait to retire. I waited to have a nice dog friendly yard.

You know Danette and her boy are going to Rally Nationals. They made it through the draw. I am happy for them.

 

[Happy'sDad]

Retire early

That's the plan in just 7-8 years. We had our son later in life so I'll still have to split my time.

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Ha I always spin slower than Lily. I tell her wait when she is done so that she doesn't do anythng strange to take points off. I hear you on "waiting" for having a dog. I didn't wait to retire. I waited to have a nice dog friendly yard.

You know Danetter and her boy are going to Rally Nationals. They made it through the draw. I am happy for them.

Yes, I know. She (often) uses Enzo as our example for how to do each sign during class. There's another lab, Remy, in our class that I think is going too. Exciting stuff!

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Elroy and I went to a Rally "Run through" event today. I had signed us up for 2 "Novice" and 2 "Intermediate" runs. The event started at 9. We got there at 9:40 to watch the higher levels (Master, Excellent, Advanced) go before getting to our turns. There weren't many participants in the Master or Excellent classes and the tail end of Excellent was going when we arrived. It was a good experience for Elroy to be crated for a longer period of time than he's experienced in our classes. The judge (my regular class instructor) offered to faux score us if we wanted, so on my 2nd run of each class, we did it with practically no treats and she scored us (allowing the treats). We got an 88 on the "Intermediate" class and a 96 on the "Novice" class. I guess we could actually try this for some real Rally points if we wanted. Anyway, we had fun! That's what it's all about!

 

[Sroodle8]

Nice!

 

[94Magna_Tom]

Tonight's Rally class was an official "Rally Excellent" course set up. Our teacher was going to record her and her dog Enzo (Black Lab) after class for a virtual submission. Since she had her camera all set up, she offered to record our runs if we wanted.
Here's me and Elroy doing a Rally Excellent course.

She forgot to reset the jump height back to 16" for Elroy, but since I didn't catch it, it was my fault (I learned I'm supposed to make sure jumps are set to Elroy's jump height before we start. If they're not, I'm supposed to inform the judge). Anyway, ignoring my using treats, and improper jump height, she said we would have scored about a 95.

 

[Rose n Poos]

You two looked great out there! It's like choreography .

 

[Bigbark]

Great run! Way to go Tom and Elroy!