Rally obedience
Rally obedience, or Rally-O as it is nicknamed, is a fun twist on Obedience. It is a recognized CKC event as of January 2007. Rally takes elements of Agility as well as formal Obedience to combine into a challenging but very enjoyable event. Like agility, each course can be completely different. Courses are laid out with numbered signs. Instead of obstacles, each sign has an action that must be completed at that station. Many of the actions are traditional obedience commands, but others are complexly different, like offset figure 8s, spirals and dizzying 360 turns. If you are not ready or inclined for formal obedience, Rally may be just right for you.
In the beginning
You have approximately 10 minutes to walk though and memorize your course. Even though the course is numbered, it can be easy to lose your way and get out of sequence. Beware of those leashes. Rally is a perfect activity for loose leash work. A tight leash is a penalty of one point. That's one point for each and every time the leash goes taunt.
Cricket and I had to practice at that one, losing 13 points to tight leash penalties on our very first run. This particular facilty, at certain times of year, poses an interesting pitfall. Moths! In early summer, the area is host to millions of tiny moths, which are fatally attracted by the bright flourescent lights where they find their demise. Moth bodies litter the ground and rings. Even with sweeping between events and classes, there are still lots to be found. ...... 13 of them along our pattern if you must know. Yes, Cricket stopped at each and every one to see if it might be interesting. Each time she dropped her head or moved aside to check things out, the leash went tight and off went another point. Thankfully, things improved steadily after that. Regardless of any obstacles, we had fun at every step.
Canada's firsts
Cricket and Mitzi were two of the first Havanese to earn titles when Rally became a sanctioned event with the Canadian Kennel Club. In less than a year, both earned titles in the Novice, Advanced and Excellent classes.
Cricket then went on to work towards her Rally Advanced/Excellent title (RAE). The requirement is to quality in both Advanced and Excellent at the same trial to earn one leg. A total of 10 legs, under multiple judges, are needed to earn the RAE title. Cricket became the first Havanese in Canada to earn the RAE title. A lot of work, but a nice accomplishment.
