First Rally trial coming up!

And here are my worries:
a) Bates will get hurt the day before the trial. He plays with two great danes, he barrels through the woods at mach 5. Right now he's sporting a half dozen nice scratches on his belly from this, one really good one that looks pretty gory. If I confine him the week before to prevent injury, he's going to be a spazoid, but if I don't and he pulls something and wakes up stiff and lame the day of the trial, how wrong would it be to dose him with arnica and deramax?

b) I will go off course. What is my friggin problem?! Last nights practice course had 3 finishes, two right and one left. I swear I stood at one sign for five minutes trying to figure out if it was a right or left finish. Oh, and I just LOVE to skip signs. You'd think I can't count or something. If I miss a sign, realize it and ask the judge for a re-do, can I do that? Or is it an automatic NQ? My trainer told me to take rescue remedy LOL!

c) I will show up and realize I have forgotten something vital, like oh, a leash. Or drool rag. Or I filled out my entry form wrong and I'll show up and they won't let me show.

I'm such a dork. I showed horses for YEARS, and would be the same excited, nervous wreck. I was a lot younger then though! Surely there is a trick besides hard liquor to help with this?

I find rally more stressful than agility. Comprehending the signs stresses me out. I have taken rescue remedy at times.

Each venue has slightly different rules, which venue are you doing?

AKC - yeah, I tried to look it up the "re-do" rules and just got everything muddled in my head. I mean the obvious answer is to stay on course and do each exercise correctly LOL. But if I can re-do a station instead of NQ it would be nice...

Good to hear I'm not the only one who goes brain dead when I see a rally sign. I keep hearing just go to lots of trials and practice, but um... the mommy and wife thing, full time job, and lack of disposable income means I'm not going to be going to trials every weekend... Or even once a month for that matter!

Does he get hurt often while playing with the other dogs? I mean, how many times in the past month or year has he woken up stiff and lame to the point that you don't think he'd do rally?

Of course, the easy answer would be to find some other, safer way to exercise him a few days before the trial.

b) I will go off course. What is my friggin problem?! Oh, and I just LOVE to skip signs. You'd think I can't count or something. If I miss a sign, realize it and ask the judge for a re-do, can I do that? Or is it an automatic NQ? [/QUOTE]
I'd think that in a novice trial the judge would probably let you redo a sign. Can't hurt to ask.

And yeah, the best thing to do is to just keep practicing and trialing.

I know this was one of my biggest problems in agility, that I'd loose count of the obsticles and go off course. But after lots of practice (about two years' worth!), I figured out ways to keep the course straight in my head, and it became a lot easier to learn new courses. Just takes practice.

c) I will show up and realize I have forgotten something vital, like oh, a leash. Or drool rag. Or I filled out my entry form wrong and I'll show up and they won't let me show.[/QUOTE]
I do this a lot too. I've found that checklists work really well for me. A week or two before I start packing, I start my checklist. I carry it around with me all day, so that if something pops in my head that I remember I'll need, I can write it down. Then when I pack, I mark off the stuff on the checklist that I put into my bag, so I know for sure that if it's marked off, it's in there.


And don't forget to BREATHE.... And have fun!

Bates is... how do I phrase this? A maniac. That's just him. There is no "safe" way to exercise as far as he's concerned, he goes on a 3 to 5 mile leash walk every day, but that's just a warm-up. We live in the country, their "yard" is 20 acres with 500 more we hike in pretty much daily.
This dog has no sense of self preservation whatsoever. So even if he's not playing with the other dogs (which would be torturous in and of itself), he's still going to zoomie through the woods and tear up his legs and belly.

He had a bout with ehrlichia about a year ago, and since then, especially when I forget his MSM, he does start out stiff some days, but he could be 3 legged lame and still not say no to training time. That's not so much of a worry honestly as having to walk in to the ring with him sporting a torn ear or bad scratch or something.

And yeah, already have the checklist

I play CARO.. You can redo a few times in novice. Blow the sign redo it, I'd think most lowest levels you could redo a few times.

Rally sign comprehension stresses me out. I used to stress agility too. Now I stress a little, but I stress rally more. To the point that our last trial I managed to do half a sign and didn't realize it.. I haven't dosed myself with rescue remedy in a while, but I totally stress rally, and Cider has an excellent title, and is a Q from a bronze championship.. yet I stress

Thank you both! The support helps! And so will rescue remedy I hope!

Oh, and what do I WEAR?! Khaki pants and nicer tee or should it be a dressier shirt? June here even though indoors and air conditioned is going to be hot - shorts out of the question?

I simply don't care.. I've worn skorts, t shirts.. pants.. It's more about the weather than anything else for me. I only care when I've shown conformation. Anything else is about not flashing the judge if I pick up my dog .. which sadly I have likely done once when Smudge was being a jerk..

Was March I think, and cold out a few years ago


October maybe, also cold.. also a few years ago

Take the rescue remedy... you guys are going to rock it. And if you don't, so what? You will rock the next one. Laugh at yourself and your dog will forgive you.

I feel like if you miss a sign in AKC it's a 10 point "Incorrectly Performed Station" deduction. In APDT it's an NQ. You cannot retry if you've attempted the next station. It's been awhile since I've played AKC though, so if you're concerned, ask the judge.

I try my best to count signs on course, but it's a lot to take in at once sometimes. I try during walk throughs to make special note of signs I'm likely to miss.

I was an absolute mess before my first trial. I still get all kinds of nutsy waiting for my trial confirmations- I'm always *certain* they got lost in the mail and didn't make it in.

And we do this to ourselves for *fun*. Imagine that! LOL

Good luck!

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's an NQ in AKC, too. At least according to the scoring hand out I have from our instructor.. Under NQ- Station Not Attempted (SNA)- Minimum requirements not met.


Take full advantage of the walk thru time. A suggestion our instructor passed on was to walk the course at least 3 times. The first time, just walk from station to station counting them as you go. Then go through the course a couple more times as if you have your dog with you, tweeking steps, etc as you go. I always aim for at least one walk thru without having to do retries, etc.

Leash- for Novice, a 6ft one is better- less chance of tight lead deductions! I used a nice, shoe lace width one because it was easier to fold up in my hand, and feed out if needed.

Signs- remember, the arrows show you what to do. Also, call fronts- the dog does one more sit than there are stop signs/Halts (the sit at front doesn't have a Stop/Halt sign).

I have a list of hints I've passed on to others I'd be happy to share if you want.

Good luck!

It very well could be, and makes more sense. Just don't miss a sign and then you don't have to worry about it, eh? LOL

My dog already laughs at me (and trips me on course)! Yes, will be chugging rescue remedy!


I'd love that! I'm working with a really wonderful trainer, and several of us are entered in this trial, so I'll be among friends which will help too! But I'm still taking all the hints I can!

Here you go! Some of them I already mentioned, nd not all are for Novice.

-Walking the course I walk the course at least 3 times (usually 4). The first time I just walk from sign to sign, counting as I go. Then I go back and walk it again as if I’m doing it with my dog, “tweaking†my footsteps as needed. I always aim for at least one walk thru without re-doing a station.
-Leash a 6 foot one works best for Novice to prevent the dreaded tight leash deductions. I prefer a thin one.
-Start Dog does not have to be sitting at the start.
-Finish Time stops when the team passes the Finish sign (remember to keep it on your right! )
-Stop signs (Halt) mean handler halts and dog sits.
-Halt/Sit All you have to do is stop and have the dog sit once, just like a halt in traditional obedience.
-Call fronts with stop/Halt signs the dog does one more sit than there are stop signs (there's not a stop sign for the sit at front)
-You can take a couple of steps backwards with all Call Fronts in Novice.
-Once you stop moving at a Halt or on the Call Fronts, don't move your feet.
-Sits don’t fix crooked sits. You’ll only lose a point at most for out of position. Fixing it can result in losing 10 for not doing the sign correctly , and a retry will cost you 3 points.
-Spirals Count the cones out loud as you do them. I usually say how many I'm going around (as I make my first "loop", I say 3, second "loop", 2, etc) You can also the opposite- Count the number of the loop you’re doing.
-Walk Arounds when returning to Heel position, you need to pause before continuing. I count to 3 (1 one- thousand, 2 one-thousand, 3 one-thousand). Saying, “Good dog†will work, too. I also do this on all Halts. The idea is to make it obvious that you’ve paused.
-Halt or Call Front- 1,2,3 Steps A good cue for the dog is to count out loud how many steps you’re taking.
-“Phantom cookies†you can pretend to take a cookie out of your mouth to keep your dogs attention, pat your “magic pocket†(don’t put your hand in the pocket or your mouth, tho). I actually had a judge tell us that before the walk thru.
-Halt, Down, Walk Around Don’t stop walking, even if your dog doesn’t go down right away. He/she has to be down by the time you get back to heel position, but can take the whole time you’re doing the walk around to get there (you’ll probably lose a point for slow response, but it’s better than losing 10 for not doing it right or 3 for a retry).
-360 Left and Right these are not change of direction signs, so should be done with the sign on your right. Also, remember to keep your circle as small as possible.
-Moving Side Step Right remember to do it directly in front of the sign (it is a change of direction).
-Change of Direction Signs like with the Moving Side Step Right, remember to do them right in front of the sign.

i can't tell you HOW MANY people i've seen fix crooked sits and crooked fronts during a trial. yes, it's not as nice sit/front as you'd like. acknowledge that in your brain, make note of it to work on at home, and LEAVE IT ALONE in the ring!

also, remember you can repeat commands as many times as you'd like in AKC. so if you're concerned your dog won't hold a stay during a walk around, you can repeat the stay command the whole way round.