Rally Obedience

For those members who having trained their dog at the Club and who do not want to enter full obedience competitions but wish to compete then why not try Rally Obedience (known as Rally O).

Rally Obedience was devised in the USA in the early 2000's by Charles L. "Bud" Kramer and is intended to create a bridge between pet training and competition training.

Rally O has become a very successful sport in the USA having being recognised as a Companion Obedience sport by the American Kennel Club (effective January 1, 2005) and is gathering similar support in the UK, although not yet recognised by the British Kennel Club. The current principle governing body being Talking Dogs Rally (TD Rally).

What is Rally Obedience?

Rally is a fun sport that incorporates basic obedience skills into correctly completing a course marked out with signs (usually 10 -20) in sequence.

Each sign will give a different instruction as to a task to be performed. The handler will perform the designated task in close proximity to the sign itself, either directly in front of, or in front of and to the left of the sign, once completed the team go on to next sign and complete that task and so on until the course is completed.

Unlike normal obedience a steward does not follow the competitors giving instructions, once the Judge tells the handler to start then it is up to the handler to complete the course with the dog in heel position at their own pace.

Who can compete?

Anyone can compete! Accommodations can be made for dogs and handlers with physical challenges.

What sort of Dogs are allowed?

All dogs, purebred and mixed breeds, and ages can participate.

Rally Signs

All signs are placed to the handler’s right side and are large enough to be easily recognised by the handler as they go through a course

Each sign will include descriptions of the exercise to be completed as well as directional arrows for exercises.

Handling

Building a relationship between the dog and handler plays an important factor in Rally Obedience in that rewards such praise and feedback are positively encouraged, whereas harsh handling, unnecessary loud or harsh commands or intimidating signals are penalised.

Therefore handlers can use unlimited communication such as hand signals (using one or both arms and hands), verbal commands, praise and encouragement, during a competition, however a handler may not touch the dog or make physical corrections.

Handlers are also permitted to use food rewards at the end of individual exercises.

Finally

Rally Obedience is a great sport for pet dog owners as it was designed with the traditional pet owner in mind to promote greater communication between a handler and their dog in a competitive, fun and enjoyable atmosphere.

After all dogs love to learn and enjoy new challenges and the variety of challenges set by Rally Obedience will keep both you and your dog occupied for years to come, well past the time most dogs retire from competitive canine sports.

Further Information

Further information on Rally Obedience competitions, rules etc can be found on the Talking Dogs Rally (TD Rally) web site.

Training at the Club

RDTC will be holding Rally Obedience Classes once a month on a Tuesday evening (see below for dates).

Members are encouraged to participate in an evening of challenge and fun.

However due to limited space at the Barn numbers will be restricted.

For more details and information contact.

Richard 07725 659 041 Email - richard.hoare20@ntlworld.com

or Ann 07889 904 409 Email - ann@cories.co.uk