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Monday, February 4, 2008

Rally Obedience Weekend

This weekend we headed up to the Alberta Kennel Club's show in Calgary.  Both Maggie and Bosley were entered in the rally obedience trials on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday's trial was OK but not great.  I was nervous (as usual) and both dogs were a bit distracted by the new surroundings.  Rally obedience is scored out of a maximum of 100 points, with points deducted for each error (dog or handler).  A minimum 70 points is needed to qualify.  Maggie got 86 points and Bosley 82 points.  Sunday's trial was much better.  I was barely nervous and the dogs were more comfortable and familiar with the ring area.  Both dogs had some very nice heeling and both got their "moving down".  This is what I was most worried about with Maggie, but she pulled it off.  Bosley only stopped to sniff one sign (which was a big improvement over Saturday).  Maggie finished with 94 points (tied for 4th place) and Bosley had 93 points (5th place).  There were 25 dogs entered in our class, so I was extremely happy with their final placements.  So both Maggie and Bosley now have their Rally Novice titles and can start training for the Advanced level.  This will be challenging as it is all off-leash and there are food distractions involved.

6 comments:

  1. Woohoo!!! Way to go Kim! Love your music choice for the videos!

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  2. For some reason, the videos stopped halfway & would not load anymore. But I have to say this, you both did GREAT! I can see that you both are enjoying working with your mom & that your tails are wagging all the time. What is Rally OB by the way? There's no such thing here in Malaysia. There's only Pre-Novice competition level, Novice, Intermediate & Open. Is it like Pre-Novice? What are those cones for actually? Sorry for asking too many questions. It's just that I have no idea what Rally OB is. It looks more fun to me though. Not much sits, downs, stands & stays. Isn't that a good thing? Kekekeke!

    Love licks,
    Solid Gold Dancer

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  3. FRIGGIN fantastic!!! Great Job with them, and I love the videos and the music!!!

    Sarah

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  4. Hi Amber-Mae, Rally obedience is a fairly new sport here. It is a numbered course that you follow, with a different obedience exercise at each station and your dog must heel between each station. Each judge makes their own course, so every time you go out, it is different. You can talk to your dog and encourage them during the entire course, so it is great for beginner dogs but it is also challenging for more advanced dogs. The cones are there because in some of the stations you need to weave around them.

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  5. Great job on the trials!!! Also loved you music choice.

    Peace and Paws,
    Cookie and crew

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  6. Great job! I'm traingin rally obedience with my bernese too.

    Greeting from Slovenia,
    Nina (www.bernirina.com)

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