Each level of obedience competition, novice, open, and utility requires mastering a specific skill set, which increase in difficulty, before advancing to the next level.

Novice Class demonstrates good canine companion skills such as heeling, both with and without a leash, coming when called, standing for a simple physical examination, and staying in both a sit and a down position with a group of dogs. In Novice Class, dogs earn an AKC Companion Dog (CD) title after receiving a qualifying score under three different judges.

Open Class is more challenging as more exercises are done off leash and retrieving and jumping challenges are added. In Open Class, dogs earn an AKC Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) title after receiving a qualifying score under three different judges.

 Rally Obedience From A Chihuahua’s Point Of View

Written By K-D I’ll Flash Of Powder C.D.-R.N.-CGC -Therapy Dog
 and a little Help from My human Sylvia

My Name is Miss Powder and I’m a 9 year old Long coat Chihuahua. I’m writing this for those of you Dogs who would like to get a new title and would like to have a little fun with your Human doing it. There’s a new obedience activity called Rally.

As of January 2005 , it went from being a” fun class” to a class where three qualifying scores will get you a real title. A Perfect score is 100 points, but if you get 70 points or higher ; you qualify. There are three levels of Rally, starting with Rally Novice and you can get titles for all of them.

Each level of obedience competition, novice, open, and utility requires mastering a specific skill set, which increase in difficulty, before advancing to the next level.In Rally the judge sets up a course for you to follow by placing numbered signs around the ring. Each sign tells you to do something. When it’s your turn, you and your Human wait at the” Start” sign until the judge tells you to start. Than you just go from sign to sign doing what it says on each sign until you finish them all. There are a lot of signs the judge can pick from, so you never know what you will need to do until right before the class starts. The signs are also usually placed in a way that makes it easy to get lost!

In Rally ,you and your Human, who at these shows is called your” Handler” have to work as a team. Your handler gets a chance to walk through the course before the class starts to see what you will need to do at each one. When its your turn and the judge tells you to start, it is your handler ‘s job to remember where the next sign is, read the signs, and use words and signals to explain to you what each sign means. It’s also your handler’s job to make sure your team does the signs in the right order and not miss any.

As the Dog’s part of the team, you have the easy part. All you have to do is pay attention to your handler’s commands and signals and then do it. This shouldn’t be to hard to do if you and your human practice before you enter a show. Since it had been a few years since I had done obedience at a show, my human took me to Rally training class last summer. It only took me a few weeks of Practice to get ready. But if you have never done any obedience, it might take a few months to get ready for the” Novice” level.
If you have ever done obedience like I have. One of the first things you will notice about Rally is how different it is. For one thing, in regular obedience the exercises are always the same. Rally is less boring because you never know what you will be doing until right before the class starts. In Rally Perfect heeling is not required like it is in regular obedience. In regular obedience, if you really mess up an exercise, like not coming the first time you are called, you can’t get a qualifying score even if you do everything else right. In Rally, if you get confused about your Handler’s command and mess up, you still get two more tries to do the exercise right and still qualify. In regular obedience, your handler is limited to give you commands and / or signal. But in Rally, your handler can also talk to you and praise you.

Rally can be a real confidence builder! It’s a great way to add a title to your name and have fun doing it.
So why not give it try?
Miss Powder and Sylvia

 

"Miss Powder" Chihuahua National group picture. Owner/Handler Sylvia Mattson	"Miss Powder"       K-D Lil Flash Of Powder CD RA Therapy dog         Doing The long down as a Veteran at the                      Cihuahua National in Chicago                   Owner/Handler Sylvia Mattson

 

   
"Star"

Calmont's Party Of One CD RA
Out Of Ch Calmont's Mark of Excellence and Burgundy Lil Daisy
Breeder Owners Sylvia and Jill Hopper
Handler Sylvia Mattson