Ever considered trying rally dog with your dog, starting at home? Grab some treats or a toy, and let’s get started! Rally dog is a spin-off from the sport of dog obedience. Many of the foundations in obedience are necessary in rally dog too. To successfully execute rally dog signs, your dog needs to follow cues like sit, down and stand, and walk on your left-hand side on a loose leash. What makes rally dog exciting is that these classic handler-dog manoeuvres are highly varied.
Starting point
Before you start, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself. Does your dog show more interest in food or toys? Which will motivate him to learn and stay engaged? You want to use a reinforcer that will be exciting for your dog!
Secondly, how do you communicate to your dog that he is doing the right thing? Ideally, you want a word that acts as a ‘marker’ to your dog. Any word will do, but you need to be consistent with it, so use something that makes sense. Common marker words are ‘yes’, ‘nice’ or ‘good’, or you can use a clicker. Keep sessions very short – not more than three minutes. And keep up your dog’s enthusiasm by varying rewards from your hand or throwing the reward so that he needs to run after it.
Let the training begin
There are almost a hundred different rally dog signs. Signs are ranked from levels one to four according to the level of difficulty. Examples of signs are available at www.kusa.co.za.
Let’s go through some level one examples. A fun place to start is signs 114-115 (360°) spin to the right or left. Start by having your dog on your left-hand side. Get his attention by showing him the food or toy. Turn right in a tight circle while encouraging your dog to follow you. Once your circle is complete, mark and reward. Repeat with your dog on the other side (right-hand side) and spin left together. Keep the circles very tight; imagine you are turning on a sheet of paper.
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By Sanjo Rose – a biologist with experience training dogs in various dog sports. She is passionate about improving the relationship between pets and people.
