from another thread:

 Quote: Sharon Empson

I have a question re: rally Obedience. I am looking for a good video to watch. I need one that shows how to do the novice behaviors. I am not familiar with any of those who train for rally so I am at a loss. I always get all my stuff from Leerburg and totally trust the workmanship and content. I have looked on our site but found nothing for that sport.
can anyone recommend one? thanks
Sharon

connie: thanks for correcting my post. sharon

Sharon, does the dog have his/her CGC?

Edited by Connie Sutherland (06/24/2012 10:16 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Sharon,

The best way to learn Rally is to find someone that does it, and ask them to Mentor you. That's what I did. The signs can be confusing unless you can see a good dog and handler perform them, and then have that handler watch you and correct you when you do something wrong. They have experience to help pull you out of a rut if you run into problems.

If you don't have anyone right now to learn from, go to some local Rally events, and watch the competitions. Talk to judges and see if they know of someone that could help you. Watch the Novice classes on how to perform the exercises.

Novice is all on leash, so if you are used to working your dog off leash, take a step back to using the leash. The damn thing gets in the way unless you work with it and re-learn how to handle the dog with it (The first time I did a call front finish left, I think I hog-tied Cat with the leash)

I was lucky and found the best person in the world to mentor Cat and I in Rally. She made handouts for me to take home, she made me flash cards. She set up courses in her back yard and garage. She is probably the person most responsible for Cat's success... I can't imagine where we would be without her.

If there's anything I can do to help you, don't hesitate to PM me!!

--Kel

Go on youtube and put in novice rall1y, there are 100's of good and bad one's, you can learn for both, that is what I did and have gotten up to level three

Are there any tricks to getting a "x-large" dog to do a finish to the left? I still have to take a large step backwards to get my girl to do a wide enough turn to be able to finish in a reasonably straight heel position. I have to laugh at her, cause she looks like a transport truck trying to turn around in a small parking lot.

Sorry for the hijack and if this should be in a separate post, Mods please feel free to move it.

It is a little difficult to find DVDs that actually address rally training. There is a little more to choose from if you want a book. Here is a site that has some good information and does offer a rally video. It appears to have been made in 2010, and there are some new signs for 2012, but it would still probably be very helpful. Not much has changed for the novice classes.

http://www.k-9rally.com/index.htm

Kelly has given you some great ideas. I'm assuming you don't have access to a training club in your area that teaches rally classes? Here's the AKC link to find rally trials being held in your area that you might want to observe.

http://www.akc.org/events/search/index.cfm?action=refresh_index&active_tab_row=3&active_tab_col=4&fixed_tab=14

I also second Gerald's suggestion to use the resources on Youtube. Here's one to get started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9WTS505uj0&feature=related

Here is the link to the AKC Rally Rules and Regulations. There are pictures (black and white) of all the signs and a detailed description of what you have to do for each one.

http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf

And of course it doesn't have to be AKC. The UKC and C-WAGS organizations also offer rally classes.

thanks for the info. I have gone to a rally, and the other day a match to observe and let my girl Bindi get a feel for the noise etc. She did pretty well. I take her to training, but it is not just a Rally O class. She does what she can, this last week we worked on weaves and figure 8's. I do get confused on the signs, I would love to have someone mentor me. I have looked in my area and there is no one, so far. I could ask my teacher at training class.
Bindi as her CGC. She did extremely well. She is a girl that just loves to please me. I am very blessed. I have some of the cards with the directions. I am hoping to learn them really well myself so that I do not mess Bindi up. We have a big back yard 1/4 acre and I plan on setting up some courses I have in the back of my rally on book. And then try and navigate them.
I was hoping to find a good DVD so I could watch it and make sure I do not train her wrong. My Bindi is the dog on the right in the picture. She is a real sweet heart!
Thanks so much for your help. This summer I plan on attending as many events as I can to help me and Bindi get a feel for the excitement etc before she really enters a competition. I want her to go in enjoying herself.
Thanks so much

I credit bindi's good training to her being a great dog, and to the videos I have watched on Leerburg. They are great! Wish we had one on Rally O.
Again, thanks.

ooops, Bindi is in the middle of this picture at the bottom of my email. Sharon