# Beginning Rally and Novice Obedience Soon: Resources?



## Lise123 (Jan 1, 2014)

Okay, just found the requirements on the AKC website, duh... 

So I guess my REAL question is this: is this stupid for me to even consider, as someone who has never had a dog before? He is a great dog and very responsive to training. I am not as easily trained, but willing. :wavey:


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## pb2b (Nov 8, 2013)

I say if you have the time and resources, go for it!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Absolutely go for it!! Rally and obedience are geared toward owner (as opposed to professionals) trainers and handlers and you will get so very much out of working with your dog whether you choose to compete or not.

The bonding, teamwork and just plain joy you both will discover will be something few people experience. Will it all go smoothly? Probably not but as you work through problems (and all teams have them even uber expereienced teams) you relationship just blossoms and grows deeper.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Everyone has to start somewhere.... you might find that training with a competitive goal in mind is a lot more fun and addictive than repeating CGC classes, which I know some people do while waiting for their dogs to grow up enough to do therapy stuff. In theory at least. Depends on where you train and who you train with. 

Rally - tests your memory and sense of direction. A lot of signs look similar at a glance. Really nothing to stress out about.... I've found that rally people tend to be a looser group of trainers. There's a lot less stress going out there and people tend to lean on each other to figure out the courses. It's a less scary way of getting your feet wet, or at least going out there and seeing how a young dog handles being in the ring. 

Novice obedience - is a little bit more stressful, depending on your dog's mental maturity. But the classes are hugely beneficial even if you do not ever go out into the ring. Novice is actually where you build your toolbox for rally. It's also a great place to just train a dog to be a very solid good citizen. You start your off leash work in novice. And this is something that is a failing for many pet focused classes where there may be a heavier reliance on treats and collars/harnesses/leashes. These classes should help get you well past all of that. If you put the time into training for it. 

My thing too is - classes really have no point if you don't have a goal you are working towards. Even if you don't initially believe you can reach that goal. A good instructor should be able to pick out which dogs have the best potential and encourage those owners to continue. This is normally where "new life" for all these dog sports should be coming from.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Rally is really fun and welcoming. It puts the basic obedience commands in motion which is fun for the dog, and I think you will love it.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Zoe and I were certified for therapy work but enjoyed taking classes so we did a couple of rally classes. I started to wonder what rally competition was like so I went to an obedience and rally trial to see what it was like and found that obedience appealed to me more so we switched over to obedience training. I'm not wild about all the little signs on the floor that are used in rally. Here is a video of Janice Gunn going through a Beginner Novice obedience run with one of her dogs._ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whKCrdteqAY_ It will give you an idea of what beginning level obedience is like. You can see that in beginner novice they do use some rally type signs.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I'd contact the training place and ask what their classes consist of. Some classes are really good about breaking everything down and teaching everything. Other classes kind of expect you to already have a foundation in the skills and they are just preparing to put them in competition. I find a lot of rally classes fall into the second category, which is sad because those are usually the trainers that need the most guidance. I usually recommend people take regular competition obedience classes even if they only want to do rally.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

We just started Rally with the thought it will help us doing therapy work. Better bond and concentration. We are having a great time. I've never shown nor competed, but I know I want to go for at least our RN title.


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