Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

I recently had the pleasure of showing and competing with my 12 year old Brittany in rally obedience trials sanctioned by the American Kennel Club (AKC). Rally is the AKC's newest competition sport. It was started originally by Charles "Bud" Kramer in 2000. It consists of a course with 10 to 15 signs that you must perform. The Novice level is performed on-leash while the Advanced and Excellent levels are completed without a leash. Each level requires the dog to pass three different times under at least two different judges to earn the title for that level. You must also earn at least 70 out of the maximum of 100 points available. The AKC started offering titles in this exciting new sport in 2005. The great thing about rally compared to regular AKC obedience competition is that it is much less rigid in its standards. You can give your dog more than one command to complete an exercise. You can talk to your dog and encourage them as you complete the course.

My Brittany, Murphy, had retired more than seven years before from any type of competition. We previously had competed a few times in regular obedience competition, but Murphy likes to wander and check out all the smells when he is off leash so we never full-filled the requirements for his obedience title. (he had one qualifying score when he was retired). I was interested in checking out rally for myself and thought Murphy would enjoy getting to spend some one on one time with me as well as the car rides to a few local trials.

We practiced the various exercises over the winter months. At the novice level there wasn't really anything new to learn since he has previously competed in regular obedience. The important thing is understanding the signs and doing what the sign says correctly. So its really the handler (me) that needs the practice. There are a number of similar signs that are performed slightly differently.