Rally obedience is a fun and exciting team sport the Nottingham dogs are starting to participate in. Ember and Tuck are in training to take part at Rally-O trials, but who would have thought that Much would be our first Shiloh Shepherd to come home with a trophy and FIRST PLACE ribbon from a Rally-O event. Much earned his booty at a fun match Rally trial/run-through the ISSDC ran as part of their 2009 National Specialty. Much hasn’t been in obedience training for a while, so it was fun to see he still “had” it.

In Rally, also called Rally-O, dog and handler teams navigate a course with numbered signs indicating different exercises to perform. Exercises include tasks such as Sit-Down-Sit, Straight Figure 8, Send Over Jump, Recall Over Jump and over 40 other exercises all marked by signs on the course. Teams navigate the course at a brisk, continuous performance without direction from the judge. Handlers are encouraged to talk to their dogs during the performance.

Rally is more relaxed than typical Dog Sport Competition Obedience and is great for dogs of all ages, purebred, mixed breeds and even senior or dogs with disabilities are welcome in APDT Rally-O.Level One Rally-O is entirely on lead so it's great for beginners and allows them to participate early on in their training. Level Two Rally is off lead and for dogs who have completed more advanced training. Also different from traditional obedience is the fact that in Rally-O handlers are allowed to communicate with their dogs via verbal commands, hand signals and praise as often as the handler needs.

Please check back with us to see how our Rally-O adventures pan out.