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| RALLY WITH YOUR ENGLISH COCKER BY CINDY MOUNTS Looking for a fun thing to do with your English Cocker, try Rally Obedience. You and your dog will move continuously at a normal, but brisk pace through a course of 10-20 stations designed by a Rally Judge. Your dog will be in heel position at your left side as you go through the course, but his position does not have to be perfect as in regular obedience. You may talk to your dog and encourage him as needed. You may use your hands and arms to help him as long as you do not touch your dog. All handlers are permitted to walk the course before the class begins. When it is your turn, the judge will ask if you are ready and then will say “forward”. Signs for each station will usually be to your right. Now you and your dog are on your own, navigating the course until you pass the last “Finish” sign. Deductions are taken for a tight leash; dog interfering with the handler or out of position; slow response or resistance to a command and so on. Rally only deducts what would be a full point deduction in regular obedience competition. A perfect score would be 100 and 70 is the lowest score you can receive and still qualify. Your performance is timed and will be used to break any ties in scoring. There are three levels in Rally. You must qualify three times in a level to get a title. You can then list abbreviated letters for the title after your dog’s name. RN - (10-15 stations) Rally Novice is done on leash. RA - (12-17 stations) Rally Advanced is off-leash and has one jump with no dog jumping higher than 16”. My English Cocker jumps 12” in Rally. RE - (15-20 stations) Rally Excellent is off-leash and has two jumps. In Excellent there is also an Honor Exercise at the end of your turn. Your dog must perform a sit or a down which will be determined by the judge at the start of the class. It will be on leash while another dog and handler are running their course. There are additional titles you can get in Rally if you continue showing. In January 2008 there are new rules for Rally along with additional titles and classes. See the AKC site below. Complete rules can be found on the AKC site: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf Here are pictures and descriptions of the Rally signs: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/ROR999.pdf Here is another good site with lots of information on Rally. It also has the actual signs you can print for yourself: http://www.rallyobedience.com/ Rally is a great way for a person new to dog competitions to get started. It is great for starting a young dog and getting them used to performing in a ring. I used Rally as a fun way to sharpen my dog and my skills for regular obedience. It also is a great activity for older dogs. There is nothing like going into the Rally ring with your English Cocker looking up at you grinning and ready to go. The judge says “forward” and it is just you and your cocker floating through the exercises with those cocker ears flying in the wind. It really feels like dancing with your dog |
| OBEDIENCE |
| OBEDIENCE WITH YOUR ENGLISH COCKER By CINDY MOUNTS In Obedience, dog and handler teams are judged on how closely they match the judge's mental picture of a theoretically perfect performance as they execute a series of specified exercises. Obedience is more formal in that you may not touch or talk to your dog while performing the actual exercises other than giving commands. However, you can quietly praise your dog between exercises. There are very specific rules that must be followed as far as ring procedures. As in Rally there are three levels Novice, Open, and Utility. Novice includes heeling on and off leash, coming when called, standing for a simple examination and staying in both a sit and a down with a group of dogs. After receiving a qualifying score under three different judges dogs can earn an AKC Companion Dog (CD) title. Open is more challenging. All exercises are performed off leash and retrieving and jumping are added. The Open Class finishes with a group sit and down while the handlers go out of sight. After receiving a qualifying score under three different judges, dogs can earn an AKC Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) title. Utility is the highest level. It includes scent discrimination, directed retrieves, jumping and a silent signal exercise. After receiving a qualifying score under three different judges, dogs can earn an AKC (UD) Utility Dog title. After completing the UD title, dogs can continue to compete and earn additional titles. There are also various non-regular classes that are described in the AKC Obedience Regulations. Here is the link: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf The United Kennel Club also offers obedience trials. The rules are a little different than AKC Obedience and the trials are a little more relaxed. Here is their website to learn more about UKC Obedience: http://www.ukcdogs.com/obedience.htm I enjoy obedience and the precision of it. Teaching the dogs to work with precision, but yet with the utmost willingness is the challenge. Here are some things I have learned training obedience with my English Cocker: 1. Keep it fun. You cannot drill an English Cocker or they will shut down. 2. Don’t just use treats. Teach them to work for toys, praise and play. To borrow a phrase from a well-known trainer, “you become the cookie”. The less food you use the better. 3. Once they learn a behavior, start randomly treating them for it. Can they perform the behavior two times in a row? If they can’t, then more work is needed. They don’t really know the exercise. 4. English Cockers love to try to convince you that they can’t do things. Sometimes you have to insist. Make a game of it. Give them a little playful poke, saying I’m going to get you, you better pay attention. 5. Play games where you show the dog a treat, but he has to look at your face to get the treat. You always give the treat. Do not allow them to get the food themselves or pick the food up off the floor. 6. English Cockers are natural trackers. This is not good in the obedience ring. As the dog progresses in training, practice with different things on the floor, including pieces of tape, chalk lines, toys and even pieces of food. Teach the dog to ignore the distractions on the floor while working. A lot of people teach a “leave it” command. I try to teach the dog that it is not allowed to sniff while working. 7. Start teaching your stays early. English Cockers don’t like to stay still. They might miss something. 8. And don’t forget English Cockers love LOTS of praise for a job well done! Here are a few of my favorite books for training obedience: Building Blocks for Performance – Bobbie Anderson Clicker Training for Obedience - Morgan Spector Competition Obedience: A Balancing Act – Judy Byron & Adele Yunck Smart Trainers, Brilliant Dogs – Janet R. Lewis Success Is In the PROOFING – Debbie Quigley & Judy Ramsey |
| BRAGS |
| On October 4th we got up at 4 a.m. and drove to Fairfield, Ohio for Hamilton Dog Training Club's Obedience & Rally Trial. It was a one ring trial with really nice prizes for placements and new titles. We went into the ring at 8 a.m. for the Rally honor down and then had to go right back in the ring for our run. Kaiser ended up with a 93 and a 1st place giving him his RE title. At 1:30 we went back in the ring for Novice B. Kaiser got a 192 and a 2nd place for his first CD leg. CH Spring Run Ivywoods Good To Be King RE, NA, OAJ, OF, NAP, NJP, TN-N - "Kaiser" Owned by Cindy Mounts/Christina Kirby |
