# What next?



## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

We're team rally and obedience here. They are challenging for the handler as well as the dog. I can't pick a favorite out of either one. The thing I like about rally is the course is always different, so I don't feel like I am repeating the same thing over and over. The thing I like about obedience is striving for precision. It really depends on what your dog enjoys and which sport you find fulfilling right now.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I pretty much agree with Click although if you want great obedience I think that should be first since I think rally chops up heeling. Many will disagree on that though. The important thing is to do more and have fun with your dog.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I wonder if nosework might complement the obedience work you're already doing with Annie? I think engaging the nose is always a good thing (although Peggy is fairly hopeless at it).


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Rally does chop up heeling because of all the pauses and doing stuff in the middle. Plus, judges aren't as rigorous on where heel position is during rally. However, that being said, Noelle did obedience classes first. She and I failed at it. Then we did rally, and she and I loved it. Our success in rally gave me confidence for getting her CD. And now we are going to try for CDX in November (cross fingers).


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## Muggles (Mar 14, 2015)

I vote rally - it’s a good obedience foundation but more relaxed (and I think more fun).


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Well - I've emailed the kennel club to find out the schedule. I wont book until later until I am sure I wont have to go back to working in the office (and move away again). If all things are equal - I will try for Rally probably to get my confidence up. But I wont turn down any of the options if that's what works in our schedule. 
I am likely to be changing meds again - not sure I will be able to manage agility


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

The kennel club isnt holding classes this fall due to COVID and inability to rent training space, but i found a trainer nearby who is offering beginners rally classes, taught by a rally judge. Annie and i went and were tested today to see if we would be a good fit (i expected they would make me do the intermediate obedience course first). 

Annie was on her best behaviour, and they said we could start with Rally!!! I am thrilled with her, she was very good in a completely new environment! 
Especially considering she had major bout of zoomies last night at our final agility class - an hour long high energy class like agility is too much for her brain at this point. I could watch her getting more and more keyed up, as i tried to deflect and calm her the whole night. Admittedly, it was a way lower distraction environment, but she just settled into working with me and was her normal awesome friendly self, and did a great downstay while i practiced footwork. Helps when the trainer likes and understands the breed. Plus i got some great pointers on improving our heelwork and about turns that we can practice while we wait for class to start. 

So - starting Rally in November. Good girl, Annie!


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Good on you both! Rally is my favorite. It requires lots of thinking for the handler and is challenging for the dog. It's a blast. I hope you love it as much as I do.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Awesome! When I started rally with Lily 10 years ago it was a pretty new sport and frankly we did not need to train or practice to qualify in novice or even much in advanced. We went through those titles in 3 entries each pretty much as I recall. Things started to get challenging in excellent and we had some NQs and some ugly scores, but by the time we had earned RAE things were pretty nice and consistent. Then they introduced Master and later the RACh. We have had a wonderful experience doing it and if you saw my recent pics from our first COVID era trials you can see that she doesn't give a hoot about the mask wearing and at 12 years old is still spry and having fun. I think you will really enjoy rally as it is true a team and bond building activity.


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## Fenris-wolf (Apr 17, 2018)

Congratulations!! Please keep us updated and maybe a few pics or even a video.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Woohoo! Had our first rally class. Annie did very well, despite another dog who would not shut up the whole class. I was worried she was going to BE that dog, so it was a huge relief. She got tons of treats for being in her crate and NOT joining in the barking, and I ended up covering her crate so she couldn't see the other dogs, which helped too. I loved crating the dogs, and I loved that we were in the ring only one or two at a time. 

She did really well - as usual, far more human errors than dog errors! She had a alot of fun, her tail was up and wagging the whole class, despite it being her first formal obedience class she did a decent heel ,and we learned the first 8 signs. She was very focused, only wandered off to sniff three times, and I only tripped over my own feet twice.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Great start! I am so happy you liked it.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Yay! Happy to hear you both enjoyed yourselves, and I'm so impressed she did well in her crate in such a stimulating environment.


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