# Monster and DH are starting Rally :)



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

That's great. I do hope they compete!


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## ROHAN-K9mm (Nov 20, 2011)

*Starting Rally too*

When I heard about the daytime class I looked quick at your address- I just started a daytime rally class here in Vermont. I have been a table steward for several years now, but you do not really learn too much as you are too busy to see an entire course . 
I have a lovely dog A mini who got too big for breed. He is 15 months old. {I got him when he was 9 months old in April] I did a puppy class with him and have worked with friends a little. Mostly we went to the mall and walked.I use a walker, and he is very good with it. I practiced with 4 signs and have a beginning of a stay. I took him to a 3 day show and got 2 legs on rally novice. This last weekend he was awesome, He finished his RN title and tied for 3 with a 96. I got 4th as the other dog was 30 seconds faster. Now I also crashed and burned with operator error big time in the other classes :angel:! It was 4 shows in 2 days, and If I knew what I was doing like doing the 270 left turn instead of just a left turn, or missing a sign {GURRRRR}. .. You get the picture, I am so glad that there is a Rally class that I can get to - everyone is into agility, and I am not agile;-) I am at a point with him that class will make such a difference- Doing it with a book and the odd you tube , got me this far, but boy do I need help from someone who knows what they are doing!:


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Congrats on your wins. 

The lack of agility on my husbands part (two spinal surgeries this last year) was one reason I was so thrilled to see the class they decided to offer was rally. He really wants to do Agility but I convinced him that this class would help strengthen his bond with Monster and make Agility easier later. Now after the one class he has realized how little they are communicating and how much he has to learn. 

Grin the simple course they were working on has 360 to the left, 360 to the right(the harder of the two), 270 to the right as the first three signs. The next two are the 1 step, 2 step, 3 step set so they do it forward then backwards before moving on to the next sign. That sign was a person turn left dog turn right which was hard for a few of the folks INCLUDING TOLI who kept reading the sign wrong. 

I really can't wait to hear about your classes and see what Toli and Monster learn this next week.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*second class*

Toli made some huge strides during this class in his handling. It finally clicked for him that the leash was not for dragging the dog into position it was simply a connection and you used the treat to lure him into the position you wanted. The last run through he intentionally left the leash loose and use his treat lure and was thrilled with Monsters response. 

He realized he needs to learn the signs as trying to remember what each one mean is his biggest handicap right now. Some of us at the class remembered seeing books with the signs and how to perform them in the past but couldn't remember where they came from. So today during our windy cold I started looking online and found them  They are really nice for us beginners as the pages are laminated so they can take a lot of wear and tear. The nice part was they also come in regular or large print versions. I ordered one of each for us. Ours are coming from Snowy Pine Dog Training and the link leads to the page showing the books.


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

spindledreams said:


> He realized he needs to learn the signs as trying to remember what each one mean is his biggest handicap right now. Some of us at the class remembered seeing books with the signs and how to perform them in the past but couldn't remember where they came from. So today during our windy cold I started looking online and found them  They are really nice for us beginners as the pages are laminated so they can take a lot of wear and tear. The nice part was they also come in regular or large print versions. I ordered one of each for us. Ours are coming from Snowy Pine Dog Training and the link leads to the page showing the books.


That's the best idea ever for learning Rally. A course is simply a bunch of different stations strung together. And each station is its own distinct motions. Easily practiced one at a time... and in a space no bigger than a living room. You could run thru a different one every nite.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*3rd class*

Despite the weather (cold and very windy) we went to class today since the promised snow did not make an appearance. 

The instructor added some new signs including the straight figure 8, the figure 8 with no distractions and one that is call front finish right forward grin NO HALT that one took a bit for some of the folks to get. 

Toli finally got the halt, call front, 1 step back call front, 2 steps back call front, 3 steps back call front. He had been misreading it and was doing 3 single step back call front but watched another team doing it and suddenly realized he was doing it wrong 

He started the class doing the leash is a handle thing but by the end of the first run through was remembering to lure not manhandle. 

I think the best part of the classes is the understanding he is gaining that HE has to learn as much as the dog does. He is also now talking about taking another class after this one  It will be the same time and day of the week as this one but only last 4 weeks and will cover some of the more advanced signs. 
AND he is now planning on competing this spring :cheers2:


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

spindledreams said:


> AND he is now planning on competing this spring :cheers2:


Oh, my goodness! Wait 'til he gets his first leg of RN... he'll be hooked! 

And a great chance to spend time with the Monster.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*Got our books in today...*

I am really glad I decided to get one of each size print. The large print version is MUCH easier for us to read. Both are useable but with our older eyes that larger print is nice. There are fewer signs per page but neither of the books are really thick and they are a nice size (5 1/2 by 9) spiral bound and the pages are all laminated. These are going to help us so much.

Highly recommend them to others doing rally in AKC.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I am glad you posted about the books and the print size. I think I may order one for my mom for Christmas and with you feedback I think I will go for the large print.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

That was one reason for posting was to help folks pick the one that would work best for them. The small print version has some information in the back on regular ob that is not in the large print version but both versions have information on scoring in the back AND the last page is a scoring sheet you can keep track of trials with a place for date, class, dogs name, score, and placement.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

I think it's wonderful that your husband is doing this purely from a bonding and handling standpoint. The titles are icing on the cake.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*Class 4*

I am a bit late posting about this class but I think I can be forgiven with Thanksgiving and winter storms taking up my attention. 

This week we took our books in and showed them to the other class members. Over half the class was busy for a while writing down where they came from. Even the Instructor is going to order one of the large print versions 

I am so proud of Toli, in this class he never once tried to use his leash to haul Monster into position which is a huge improvement from the first couple of classes. This week they were introduced to the serpentine and the spiral to the right. But a high point for me was watching Monster staying down for the whole "down stay walk around your dog". This has been one of the new commands that Monster has had to learn along with the two finish commands. Grin a good sign for the future is that Toli never even registered all the YES! and YEAH!s going on when that happened. He was too busy concentrating on Monster and what they were supposed to be doing next.


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## coffee&curls (Nov 18, 2015)

This thread is inspiring to me, I really want to get into stuff like this with my dog (when I get one) but have felt intimidated. My main want is the bonding and always working towards something with training. And of course #1 is that the dog likes it  You, your husband and Monster inspire me more and more with each update that I can do it, and I love hearing what you guys are learning together as you advance. Thank you so so much for sharing your experiences. I can't wait to hear more from yall and Monster


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

coffee&curls I am sure spindledreams and others will agree with me that rally is a great relationship building sport.

spindledreams I am happy that your DH has figured out that he can't drag his dog through the course! At the rally trials Lily and I attended last week when I was helping table steward I saw that most of the novice points lost were for tight leashes!


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Coffee&curls that is one reason I have been posting about his classes. To help encourage others to give it a try. Toli started out with out much knowledge of how to train a dog. He has watched me and has been learning it takes time but this class and the puppy one he took with Twilight have taught him A LOT. Grin not the least of which has been how to tell when Monster is confused!

Yep those tight leash errors are the most common one in novice Obedience or Rally so it is thrilling to see him working towards that J leash the instructor and other class members have been showing him.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*Class 5*

LOL this week was fun to watch, no tight leads, but lots of oops how many times did I do that figure 8 as she moved it from across the path to in line with the path... introduced the spiral to left, and a couple of other new signs.

One that gave folks a bit of trouble was the "call dog front return to heel position" Most folks read it as call dog front (ie walking stop going forward and call your dog to come sit in front of you) then have the dog finish (dog moves to your heel position) OOPS nope that is not it at all. The first part was easy ie call your dog to front. But after all the dog finish right or left this one actually means YOU move into heel position by walking around your dog. This one got almost everyone the first time. 

For some reason Monster was so not in the game for this class and was wandering and forgetting simple things he should know. At one point Toli just stood in front of him and starting dancing a jig while Monster sat there with a what huh look on his face having totally forgotten what the word finish meant and could not even figure out Toli had food in his hand if he would follow it... 

I had to laugh at them, Toli was like I couldn't be mad at him ...


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

We had AM and PM rally trials at my club today. The figure 8 with and without distractions was present in abundance in excellent, advanced and novice. One of my friends went through the middle five times in advanced and apparently someone else only went through twice. I count out loud when I do that station!


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## coffee&curls (Nov 18, 2015)

Lily cd re and spindledreams thank you so much for the encouragement. I will definitely look into classes in the future, I've wanted to do this so badly and this thread just gets me more excited about it! 

It sounds like you had a fun and interesting class  I love reading the interactions between Toli and Monster, it sounds like they have a wonderful relationship.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*last novice class*

but we are not finished with classes yet. We start Advanced next week and then in January we will start the Rally Excellent class. Same teacher, same time, same place. 

Since it was our last Novice class there was a full course for them to run this week including a spiral, figure 8, left and right turns of all sizes. We also talked about angling over to the turn signs and performing the turns directly in front of the signs to set your self up better for the next sign. 

Monster did well for the first run through even passing the sit and walk around your dog as well as the down and walk around your dog. They still need to work on finishes and downing in heel position but all told they have both came a long way. The last run through Monster only went about half way through he just stopped, was standing looking at me so I went outside but he was done, there was no getting him back into the game so Toli just called it quits and we came home.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I am glad to hear they have come along so nicely. As to Monster quitting because he saw you, I still have times where Lily is distracted by the presence of people she knows. In the PM trial last weekend she knew very well that my mom and Wolfie were there. She left position a couple of times on the excellent course to look for my mother and we only got an 83 on that run. Then she decided she didn't need to be concerned about that during advanced and got a 100! Who knows what thoughts were rolling around in that little marble?

I think in the long run in trials that the walk through is really important for planning your specific route from sign to sign so you are in the right place for correct performance. The teacher sounds fabulous if she is helping you to fine tune those parts of it. I wish you all great fun with the advanced and excellent classes.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

*Snow Day*

Yep we were supposed to start learning Advanced signs yesterday but that little snow storm postponed the start of class until next week...


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