Joined
·
1,721 Posts
So earlier I headed down to the tennis courts to go through a couple different set ups of the Rally novice competitions. I forgot my leash, but didn't want to go back, so I tried it without. I was amazed at the result! He was so so so happy to be working and actually showed enthusiasm and concentration. He did the 360 and 270 turns perfectly and auto-sits, and despite being slightly crooked, he completed everything pretty darn well, which is huge for him being off lead. I decided to not get too concerned with the very fine details/perfect positions since it is rally, and I believe this really changed Zeus' mood. He went from thinking obedience as 'bad work' to doing the rally course happy, jumpy, and not wanting to stop. Because of his super willingness to work with my mental relaxation, and talking the entire way, I have decided to try out just the rally A competition for now, possibly in March in Chattanooga.
In order to do this, it is my understanding that I must get him 'registered' with akc's alternative listing. I checked out the application and it seems pretty straight forward. Anyone have experience with this? Being a rescue, I obviously have no papers... Also, we attend general OB classes here and there, but no rally specific classes, should that be a problem? Considering he can do all of the novice exercises off lead, and could care less about distractions humans and dogs alike, I feel confident in showing w/o attending a true 'rally o' class. Anyone else competed through the rally ranks w/o rally specific training?
In order to do this, it is my understanding that I must get him 'registered' with akc's alternative listing. I checked out the application and it seems pretty straight forward. Anyone have experience with this? Being a rescue, I obviously have no papers... Also, we attend general OB classes here and there, but no rally specific classes, should that be a problem? Considering he can do all of the novice exercises off lead, and could care less about distractions humans and dogs alike, I feel confident in showing w/o attending a true 'rally o' class. Anyone else competed through the rally ranks w/o rally specific training?