# Rally question re: Halt - down- walk around



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Depends on the judge if regular obedience, but for rally would not consider that to be a broken stay or points off.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

Agree. As long as he doesn’t get up you should be OK. As a way to fix it in training, try dropping a treat between his paws as you start around him. He should be distracted long enough for you to be coming back into heel position By the time he lifts his head again. It’s a short term fix, but as he gets used to you walking around him he will likely feel less of a need to keep his eyes on you the whole time.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

If he does a proper fold-back/sphinx down, he shouldn’t be shifting his hips to see you because his weight will be centered. So if you want to correct, I suggest working on the mechanics of the down. Work on the elbows going down first and the rear following.

But to answer your question, I doubt most Rally judges would count off for that unless it’s just excessive or causes him to be very crooked.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

I trained with a narrow platform with dog's front paws up/folding down to his elbows on floor and then faded the platform. I lured it at first.









Breaking down the Moving Down in Rally - Dog Trainer Nicole Wiebusch


One sign that causes a lot of frustration in Excellent Rally is the Moving Down. In this blog post I’ll show you how break down the skills needed for the moving down into manageable chunks.




goldenpawsdogtraining.com





^^^ Her Get Ready to Rally course on Fenzi is very good.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

You would probably get by with it in Rally. I see a lot of things that just wouldn't fly in obedience. I suggest working on a true stay. The platform is a great way to help. Teach a solid obedience down-stay. Take a competition level obedience class to help you both break the bad habits that are allowed in rally. (You wouldn't believe the things that are normal in rally and forbidden in obedience) If you get the basics of competition level obedience down, then the lower rally levels will become easy. Treat it like obedience and the high scores will come. Masters is a different story...It gets hard!


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## kidfrcleve (11 mo ago)

I've done obedience competitions where a dog would shift on long downs. Usually that's O.K. but it depends on the judge if points are taken off, but it wasn't a major. I had a terrible time during obedience competitions keeping my golden to stay in the long down, even though she was an angel during practice and at class. It took awhile, but she finally did get her CD. Proud moment!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

kidfrcleve said:


> I've done obedience competitions where a dog would shift on long downs. Usually that's O.K. but it depends on the judge if points are taken off, but it wasn't a major. I had a terrible time during obedience competitions keeping my golden to stay in the long down, even though she was an angel during practice and at class. It took awhile, but she finally did get her CD. Proud moment!


Sometimes you have a judge that is kind enough to look the other way.... 

I had a similar dog to yours who was ready to compete by the time he was 2.... but his stays fell apart and it took me almost 2 years to fix. His first qualified run - the judge clearly looked the other way as my dog flipped from hip to hip to hip to hip through the whole 3 minutes. The fact we didn't lose any points on that stay was credit to the judge being very kind. 

I have dogs who will stay now - but so glad novice stays are completely brainless now.


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## DevWind (Nov 7, 2016)

Megora said:


> Sometimes you have a judge that is kind enough to look the other way....
> 
> I had a similar dog to yours who was ready to compete by the time he was 2.... but his stays fell apart and it took me almost 2 years to fix. His first qualified run - the judge clearly looked the other way as my dog flipped from hip to hip to hip to hip through the whole 3 minutes. The fact we didn't lose any points on that stay was credit to the judge being very kind.
> 
> I have dogs who will stay now - but so glad novice stays are completely brainless now.


Winx would creep forward on the down and was over 2 years old before did them at trials consistently. It takes loads of proofing to get it. I will never forget her first Novice Q. I took her to the National in Maryland. During the stay exercises, the dog to her right laid down during the sit and the dog to her right sat up during the down. Talk about being nervous! LOL

I find the new Novice stays a bit degrading in a way. In no way whatsoever are they a competition level exercise. It's a beginner class level exercise at best. The stay in beginner novice is a million times harder! I can understand for Novice A maybe. Or maybe switch the type of stays for Beginner Novice and Novice.


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