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| RALLY OBEDIENCE CLASS HOMEWORK |
| Rally-O Week 1 Homework Welcome to Rally-O! Rally-O is a relatively new canine sport - a mixture of agility and obedience work. You are encouraged talk and praise your dog the entire time and make the experience fun! Rally-O mixes body language with verbal and hand signals to communicate with your dog. FRONT SIT: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog sit in front of you. Position yourself to face your dog and ask for a sit. When the dog is facing you and sitting, C & T and praise. This command will eventually be called “Front.” LEFT SIDE SIT: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog sit on your left side. Lure the dog to heel position with a treat - then ask for a sit. When the dog is in heel position and in a straight sit, C & T RECALL: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog come when called. Get your dog’s attention on you by saying his name and “COME” in an excited voice. C & T on the FIRST step your dog takes toward you. Your dog should love to come to you, so make it fun, be exciting, and give lots of praise every time! TOUCH: The goal of this exercise is to have your dog‘s nose touch a target. Offer a plastic lid to your dog. If your dog expresses interest toward the lid, click and treat. Repeat several times until your dog immediately touches the lid with his nose. THE FRONT GAME: The goal of this exercise is to get a quick, straight front. Toss a cookie a few feet away - allow your dog to get it! After your dog eats the cookie, call him to you - drop a cookie between your feet - your dog should come in nice and straight to get that cookie. Stand up straight, keep your legs together and your arms down at your side. Work on eye contact - if you are looking at your dog, most likely they will come in straight. C & T when your dog comes in straight - cover the treat if they come in crooked. THE FINISH: The goal of this exercise to return your dog to heel position. When you teach your dog to finish, it is very important to keep your body posture straight and have your feet planted. If you lean into your dog in any way, your body language will throw them off-track and they will be confused! Left Finish: With your dog in front of you, bring your left hand (palm flat, facing your dog) straight as far as your arm can reach. Once your dog is following your hand turn your hand around and lure him forward to be in a sit position. This will be called “Finish.” Right Finish: Have a treat in each hand and your dog in front of you. Use your right hand and lure your dog back behind you - give your dog the treat in your right hand but DO NOT click. Reach around with your left hand and lure the dog forward into heel position - NOW C & T! This will be called “Around.” Practice, practice, practice! Work Rally exercises in your back yard, anywhere you take your dog, while out for a walk, with distractions around, and without distractions. Each week’s homework builds on the last. Next week we will be covering turns and your dogs should be familiar with the Right Finish in order to properly execute the turns. Please try to practice as much as possible! Rally-O Week 2 Homework: Learning how to move! TURNS: Watch your body language - stand up straight and keep your shoulders back until you’re ready to turn! Do not look down at your dog or back at your dog - it will throw them off-track! RIGHT TURN: If your head and left shoulder turn away from your dog, you are going to be moving right. Have your dog in a sit in heel position. Turn your head and left shoulder to the right and take one slow step. Look straight ahead - NOT AT YOUR DOG! If your dog follows, C & T! ABOUT RIGHT TURN: The same as a right turn, except you turn in place and go back the way you came. LEFT TURN: This is more difficult for your dog because they have to learn how to move their hind end in. We start teaching left turns by doing circles to the left. Have your dog in heel position and make a brisk left turn - spiral the turn down smaller and smaller until your dog moves it’s hind end in - C & T any effort they make. Your body language should be straight, with your head and shoulders looking left. ABOUT LEFT TURN: To complete a “Left About Turn” your dog must know the right finish. Have your dog on the left in heel position - walk slowly and turn into the dog. Stay in place and give your “Around” right finish cue. Wait until you see your dog’s nose on your left and then turn, and C & T. HEELING: The standard position is to walk with your left arm on your stomach, elbow in and your head and shoulders straight. Walk with your dog - any time they are in or near to heel position, C & T. Talk to your dog - tell him “This Way!” add some speed changes, turns, zig zags, etc to keep it fun. Practice everywhere - parking lots, ball fields, parks, the bike path, on the street, in your back yard, anywhere else you take\ your dog! THE HALT & AUTOMATIC SIT: Having a halt/stop and automatic sit are very important in Rally. To start, practice this chain of steps without your dog. Take one small step with your left foot. Take a small step with your right foot. Bring your left foot up to meet your right foot. Now with your dog: Stand with your dog in heel position. Your posture should be straight, your shoulders back. Take a small step with your RIGHT foot - tell your dog “Come up” lure them forward with you. Bring your left foot to your right foot and ask for a sit. C & T if your dog is sitting in heel position and sitting straight. Your dog will have four cues for the halt & automatic sit - we will wean your dog off of these cues eventually! Their four cues are: 1. Your footwork, 2. Your lure hand, 3. Verbal cue “Come up”, 4. Your sit command. Next week we will start actual courses! Your dogs will need to have a basic knowledge of both front and left sit, recall, touch, left and right finish, turns, halt and automatic sits. Practice!!!! Rally-O Weeks 3 & 4 Homework: Continue working on loose-lead heeling and your turns! We will be doing course work and learning the signs for the next two weeks. |
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