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First time rally

3K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Oglaladiver 
#1 ·
My trainer told me yesterday that Ziva is ready for her first rally outing in Aug. Nervous and excited at the same time. Any tips and tricks to polish and make sure she and I are both ready to go??
 
#4 ·
Memorizing the signs so you can go confidently through the course.Your dog will follow your lead.Practice without your dog so the exercises are in your "muscle memory".Keep the leash loose!Have fun!The folks that compete in Rally tend to be very supportive and friendly.
 
#10 ·
Well, day 1 and first show/rally trial is in the books. Started off extremely stressed (both she and I). While we've trained in some very high distraction areas where she eventually did fine, today, she would NOT pay attention to me for anything. Once in the ring, she did ok, except our nemesis.....stop and down. Had to redo the exercise. But, we placed 4th and knocked down our first qualifying leg. All the judges were floored that she was only 7 months old and that for her age, she did great.
Now some rest, hopefully a good night sleep, then on to day 2 tomorrow.
 
#12 ·
Great job and congratulations!

Remember to have fun out there. And don't have treats in your pocket.

I freaked out at my first show, didn't know I couldn't have tags on the collar -- my fault, so I ran back to the car to get a choker, and took the collar off, and new I would have to do the same for my other dog too. And was so flustered, that I blew right by sign 13. Didn't do it, didn't see it. NQ. I NQd with Arwen, who at that point could have done the course without any lead. Arwen who was half-human and knew what I wanted her to do before I knew what I wanted her to do. Arwen who went on to get 3 blue ribbons in the Obedience ring. Bummer.

The judge was nice and told me I forgot the sign. Rushie's run was my first leg. That was in May.

In July, I finished Rushie, Arwen, and Babs, and got a leg on Jenna at the Madison show. On the 3rd day when I was finishing Babs and Arwen, Babs did so good, the leash was loosely looped around her ear, and I was afraid to free it, so she did the whole round with it like that -- great girl. I thought we got a 100. The judge said nothing. And then I did Arwen and she did good too. Really good. Well, seems I don't count so well and neither did half of the people who showed. -10 points on both dogs for doing 1 step back, stop sit, 2 steps back stop sit, and then 2 (instead of 3) steps back and stop. Got a 90 and an 89 and 4th place on Arwen, nothing on Babs (she placed on the first 2 days though). Ah well, at the end of the weekend I had 3 titles though and a leg on Jenna, and that ended my career in Rally Novice A.

It's hard to believe that was 9 years ago. Babsy was a 58 pound stick of dynamite. Now she is an eighty something pound couch potato.
 
#13 ·
Update.....yesterday we took 2d place! Got dinged in 4 tight leads, an incidental contact and one where she sat about a foot in front of me.
Earned our CGC today.
Keeping fingers crossed for tomorrow and coming home with our RN title!
Ive had a BLAST (albeit Ive been stressed like crazy). This weekend has brought into sharp focus how much more work we need to do and specifically what to work on. Have GOT to work on a much better heel.
 

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#14 ·
Way to go!Your girl looks ready to do it again,lol!I also am super aware of every weakness when I'm being scrutinized.Then we can go home and do some polishing:)You guys did great!
 
#15 ·
Good job! Also cool that you can get all 3 legs in one week. Most shows around here will have two opportunities and then you have to wait months. My wife didn't want to wait and drove across the state to a show in Enumclaw Wa, it was huge compared to anything here.
 
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