# Rally Excellent A or RAE after Advanced



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Hmm, not actually hypothetical since the rally rules clearly address eligibility for all classes. I can certainly understand there could be a question about this since eligibility for doing RACh triple Qs just changed to being eligible for teams with an RE, but you must do the RE before doing RAE (no change there). Once the RE title is earned and you want to either pursue triple Qs or RAE then you must go to the Advanced B and Excellent B classes. There are no A/B classes for Intermediate or Master classes. For those not familiar A classes are for dogs and handlers who have not earned any obedience titles. B classes are for dogs that have earned obedience titles or for dogs whose handlers have earned titles. The courses for both classes (A/B) are the same and judging is the same. Since A classes are often smaller one is more likely to place than with a green dog out of the B classes. Lily was my novice A obedience dog and got her RN in the A class since I did it almost simultaneously with her CD. Javelin has been in B classes for all his entries (same for Peeves) since Lily and I had earned titles more than 60 days before the boys.


I know that is way more information than you were looking for, but I'd rather over explain something than not give enough info.


Here is the explanation of RAE eligibility from the AKC rule book (bold is my emphasis):

Section 15. Rally Advanced Excellent Title. *Upon completion of **the Rally Excellent title*, qualifying scores may be accumulated from the Rally Advanced B class and the Rally Excellent B class to earn the Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE) title.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

I guess it wasn't very hypothetical :lol: Thank you for the explanation, and a big "duh" to me. :embarrassed:


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

zooeysmom said:


> I guess it wasn't very hypothetical :lol: Thank you for the explanation, and a big "duh" to me. :embarrassed:



Aww no big duh. Sometimes the way the rules are written what to do is not really clear. I know a few people who have lost legs because they entered the wrong class. That is distinctly unfun and my lengthy explanation was for the general audience not just you with Frosty!


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## Raven's Mom (Mar 18, 2014)

I lost an RA leg with a really good score because I accidentally was in the A class and I was supposed to be in B. You are correct about not fun!


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

I know once I get a CD, I'm not longer eligible for Rally A class. But, can I show in obedience Novice A and Rally Excellent A at the same trial?


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Click-N-Treat said:


> I know once I get a CD, I'm not longer eligible for Rally A class. But, can I show in obedience Novice A and Rally Excellent A at the same trial?


Pretty sure you can until you title in Novice A. I'm curious why you're skipping Beginner Novice?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Yes you can show in both of those classes and you can even stay in rally A classes if you already sent the entry and it is less than 60 days after you titled in obedience (at least I think that is still the rule). I suspect if I was doing upper level rally first I might skip beginner novice too, depending on the dog.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Catherine, optional titles in Rally and Obedience stay on their record, correct?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Yes they will always show in their names.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> Yes they will always show in their names.


Thank you for answering all my beginner-ish questions  :love2:


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

Noelle has been practicing the Novice routine and has never practiced BN. So, the sit, stay walk around the ring is confusing. She knows Novice very well, so we're just gonna skip BN, just like we skipped RI. 

We're going to a new obedience class and a new rally class in March. We will trial in both RE and Novice in either April or May. Cross your fingers!


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Click-N-Treat said:


> Noelle has been practicing the Novice routine and has never practiced BN. So, the sit, stay walk around the ring is confusing. She knows Novice very well, so we're just gonna skip BN, just like we skipped RI.
> 
> We're going to a new obedience class and a new rally class in March. We will trial in both RE and Novice in either April or May. Cross your fingers!


Oh, I see! The sit, stay, walk around the ring is super challenging for us still. I'd say he stays 50% of the time. Not good enough for trial yet. 

Are your new classes at the same club or a new one? I wish you lots of fun and luck  We will be cheering you on.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

zooeysmom said:


> Thank you for answering all my beginner-ish questions  :love2:



You are most welcome. I love that there are people who have been bitten by the sports bug and want all that alphabet soup after their dogs' names. We all started with an A dog at some point.


I should clarify that if you say had beginner novice and then novice and open after that your dog's name as you would enter it on your forms for utility would be Great Poodle Boy BN CDX, not BN CD CDX. There is no way to be CDX without having first been CD.


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

I'm taking a class at a training school near me. Liz is the same trainer who first introduced us to rally. They're not offering advanced class right now. We'll be ringers in the beginner rally class, but since I'm working on focus and attention, that doesn't matter. There's also a competition class taught by the same trainer. We signed up for both. I'm excited and looking forward to it.

My usual training club has a lot of old timers who are all about the leash pop when the dog loses attention. Well, since Noelle is a soft dog, that's not working. I need a positive reinforcement trainer to help me. I'm glad I found one.

Liz helped me fix ring sniffing by having me let go of Noelle's leash when she sniffed the floor, and vanish to the other side of the ring. Noelle would look up, realize I wasn't there, and kinda freak out a little. Noelle quit sniffing the ring and started keeping her eye on me after that. 

I'm sure Liz can help me sort through attention and distraction issues in our classes. My hope is by mid-April we can trial and succeed. If not, we'll keep working on it until we get where we need to go. Noelle is three. We have time.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

zooeysmom, I’m glad you asked this question. I’m thinking of signing up for AKC rally. Not sure what I should enter but sadly I will never be able to enter as A since we have our BN obedience title. I also have to learn the signs. Lots of challenges. 



zooeysmom said:


> Oh, I see! The sit, stay, walk around the ring is super challenging ​for us still. I'd say he stays 50% of the time. Not good enough for trial yet.
> 
> Are your new classes at the same club or a new one? I wish you lots of fun and luck  We will be cheering you on.


with the new rules that went into effect last year, the sit, stay, walk around the ring in Beginner Novice is the hardest stay. I’m glad we have that under our belt. When you do do it, walk quickly, as fast as you can to minimize the time. So many people dawdle walking around the ring which just gives the dog more chance to break their stay. 

Click I’m glad you found a great trainer. Babykins sometimes sniffs, often in the same spot other dogs have sniffed. I’m going to try this idea. Please post anything else she suggests. And a big no to the leash pop, I know several judges in my area don’t like them and deduct the full amount of points for them.


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

Thanks for the tip, Skylar  You are right, most people take their sweet time on the walk around! 

You and Babykins will love AKC Rally. The most important thing is to have fun


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