Rally Novice
Halt Walk Around
Halt Down Walk Around
For the halt sit or halt down walk around signs, you'll stop as your dog sits. For the down sign, you will cue down. Tell your dog to stay and walk around the dog, pausing when you get back into heel position. After the pause, heel forward with your dog.
Call Front Return to Heel
For this sign, as you are heeling, take 1-2 steps back and call your dog to front. Tell your dog to stay, then walk around your dog into heel position. PAUSE then continue on. This is a change of direction sign, so you will call the dog right in line with the sign.
Rally Advanced
Halt Stand Walk Around
This sign is similar to the halt sit/down walk around signs. Stop and have your dog sit in heel. Cue your dog stand, tell them to stay, then walk around. Pause when you get back to heel position.Rally Excellent
Moving Stand Walk Around
Moving Down Walk Around
For these signs, you need to cue to down or stand without slowing down or stopping. Circle around your dog, being sure to pause when you get back to heel position.
Rally Master
Halt Send Away Sit Return Signs
These signs require you to send your dog to a cone and have the dog sit. You then return to your dog in heel position, pause, and continue forward in the direction of the arrow.
The concept of pausing in heel position is really hard for some people, especially when you're in the ring and feeling pressured to move quickly!! Be sure to work through this in practice until it becomes a habit.
During the June rally class at FDSA, From Good to GREAT: Increasing Rally Scores, we'll focus on many of the most common errors that will cost you points in rally. The signs will be reviewed to ensure your understanding of the correct performance. The class is filled with a lot of other goodies too, including some dog training tips to ensure more accurate performance and tip and tricks for you, the handler, about memorizing courses, staying connected to your dog, and a whole lot more! If rally is your game, come and join me in class!
Nicole Wiebusch CPDT-KA (she/her) has been active in dog sports for over 25 years. What began with 4-H quickly grew into a lifelong passion for dog sports. (Click here for full bio and to view Nicole's upcoming courses)...
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