#akc rally

[southerntchiorny]

There’s a reason my dad calls Kaiju’s gangly ass Snuffleupagus 🤣 He was pretty great this weekend though

Finished with a 3rd and 4th place, got two legs of his Rally Intermediate title, and so many compliments

[dalecorgi]

Thank you to the Santa Ana Valley Kennel Club for a well-organized event this past weekend!

Mr Link earned his NEW Rally Excellent title (pending AKC confirmation) with a 4th place finish, as well as his first Q in Master level.

Miss Dolly earned her 2nd Q with a 3rd place finish in Rally Excellent so she needs 1 more qualifying score to finish her Rally Excellent title!

Link

AKC: RE (pending) NAP NJP OFP BCAT TKA

NACSW Nose Work: NW2

Dolly

AKC: RA FDC BCAT CGC TKI

NACSW Nose Work: L1C L1I

[gar-a-ash]

And the video of our run! He scored 98 out of a possible 100 points and earned us first place, couldn’t be prouder. I do see a few hover sits he decided to fix halfway through the course, but honestly I’m just glad he did that stationary front. He tends to be 50/50 on whether or not he feels like doing them correctly lmao

If you���ve been following me for a while you know how long I’ve struggled with him, and after our last trial I was about ready to give up. But I’m glad I didn’t, because he finally decided to grow up this year and I couldn’t be happier. Love you Reese!

[fetchquesting]

This is Da Vinci. Currently has VHMA and TKN.

FastCAT season is coming soon. First weekend we will hopefully get BCAT. Goal is a DCAT by next summer.

UKC SPOT will be done in April.

Still continuing Rally and now starting Nosework. Hope to do Rally in C-Wags by the end of the year.

Herding ducks currently and hope to get titled with Herding Instinct this summer.

[elvenferretots]

My friend took some gorgeous pictures of TenSoon the first day of the trial, which entirely makes up for the club not having blue ribbons for his first place rally run and him not earning any ribbons in obedience (tried to befriend the judge off the broad jump???).

[feralhound]

This is Nimbus. He is a Brittany and he is the goodest boi! (And I say that because his is the only boy dog I have haha). He will be 2yrs old in March, and he’s really maturing lovely! He’s got his CGC, TKI, and RATI titles so far.

He is my sports prospect. However due to complications while recovering from his knee surgery (illiospoas strain), we are still working or stabilizing some of his muscles. I have been told no dock diving, no more fast cat, and agility maybe if he can jump 12” instead of 16”. Which, I can probably do CPE at least. Heartbreaking, as I was really looking forward to another do it all partner, but he’s got so much potential for other things! We are going to our first rally trial next weekend, he is fantastic in Barnhunt (and a beast at it!), and we’re going to try some AKC and CPDS Obedience as well! He’s already showing so much promise! I do also hope to do some feild trials, if I can figure out where to help me learn that haha.

We did do some for fun international dog show stuff since he’s on limited registration and I can’t show him elsewhere (not breeding stock so breeder doesn’t feel there is any reason to show him, which I respect). Handling classes really started us off strong in the ring and for obedience stand for exam! (He just looooves people so much he gets extra wiggly and excited)

[doberbutts]

Do you do/train for/compete in any dog sports with your dobermann? Would you recommend a dobermann for a beginner sport dog? Thank you!

Yes, Fenris and I are currently training in a protection dog sport called mondioring, or just mondio for short, and we'll probably pick up a few obedience-only titles in IGP (used to be called IPO, which used to be called schutzhund, another protection dog sport) along the way to support the United Doberman Club (which is mostly IGP-based tbh). I debated AKC obedience and rally but honestly right now my focus is mondio because I like it more and he seems to be doing really well in it. If we hit a wall we may switch tracks. But so far he's got nothing but compliments, so I'm not really worried about it.

As for whether I'd recommend dobes for a beginner sport dog, it sort of depends what you mean by that and what sport. I have had 4 dobermans total thus far. Only two have done anything in sport due to temperament of the other two, and of those two neither has actually accomplished anything in competitive sport. Creed had a mock BH under his belt (preliminary title to begin competing in IGP), but it wasn't an official trial so it doesn't count, and he's been gone for the past 2.5 years. Fenris just turned 13 months and being a young puppy I'm honestly in no hurry to put any titles on him- he passed his puppy temperament test and that's all I've done with him thus far because I am deliberately taking things slow with him. (and I didn't even enter him in the temperament test, his breeder did because she was showing her keepers at the same event!)

So... I mean... it's not like I'm a seasoned competitor. To the folks at training club, I'm a beginner too. And to my knowledge, Fen's breeder's foundation bitch was her beginner sport dog- his grandmother. Far be it from me to discourage you if you feel it's the right fit.

However, I will say that if you are wanting a doberman you should be committed to the doberman, vs if you want the sport you should be committed to the sport. What I mean by that is- if you are looking to really excel and have a nice dog right off the bat for your introduction to a sport, you may want to consider breeds more suited to the sport you are thinking about playing in. There's nothing wrong with getting a border collie for agility, or a golden for obedience, or a shepherd for IGP, or a malinois for mondio. But if you want to get a doberman, then commit knowing that your journey will likely look very different from those who chose more in line with the breeds that do well in their sport of choice.

The doberman was never intended to be a sport dog. It was intended to be a personal protection dog. That doesn't mean dobermans can't do well at various sports- in fact many dobermans excel at many sports! But it does mean that you're probably going to experience different challenges in your training than your fellow competitors, and you should keep that in mind instead of feeling discouraged.

[southerntchiorny]

He’s so fucking majestic

[dalecorgi]

Team “3 Musketeers à la Pembroke Welsh Corgi” earned new Rally titles last week! 😊

Our BFF, Mochi, earned her AKC Rally Intermediate title! 🎉🎉🎉

Dolly and Link each earned their AKC Rally Advanced titles. 😄😆

Belated “Thank you” to all the judges, ring stewards, and awesome volunteers. Heartfelt gratitude as well, to the supportive community of fellow Rally participants. 💛

[gar-a-ash]

Have a pair of WET RATS going through the serpentine. Love him to death.

[theadventurek9]

2025 Goals and Hopes

---Aayla

Goals

ASCA OTCH (only 8 more points!)

Continue working towards ASCA RTCH and AKC RACH

Work more on Scentwork

Work more on fitness

Hopes

ASCA UDX (7 2Qs)

ASCA RTCH (97 more points) and AKC RACH (9 3Qs)

Qualify for Superdog Finals and Rally Finals for ASCA Nationals.

Compete in a nosework trial

Do some low level agility for fun

Complete her OTCH and maybe UDX (or know that is not something we want) and retire Aayla from Obedience

---Ryker

Goals

Build more confidence in training

More arousal control around other dogs

Build a better relationship with more play

Fully trained weave poles

Consistent running A frame behavior

Confidence and enthusiasm to do all behaviors needed for Novice Obedience exercises and Novice Rally signs.

Build ring confidence behaviors and exercises

Work more on open and utility foundations and exercises.

Hopes

FEO in Agility

Trial in BN and RN

Bike Joring

Ski Joring

CGC title

[elvenferretots]

I don't think the idea of what retirement should be is talked about enough in dog sport spaces.

People "retire" dogs from sports all the time. The dog gets too old to safely play, acquires an injury that makes the sport unsafe or uncomfortable, or has a behavioral or temperament issue that makes the sport unenjoyable. I don't think anyone can argue that it's unethical to keep pushing a dog in a sport to their detriment.

But what I see from there, I can argue with. So many people get high drive working dogs and do... nothing with them when they retire. They often refer to them as a "couch ornament". They leave them home on sport weekends. They use the lack of finances or time to do an extra sport as the excuse to stop coaching and building new repertoires with the dog.

We spend so much time arguing these dogs NEED jobs, then do nothing with them for months to years at the end of their working life. Retirement (for humans as well as dogs-- but that's a whole new can of worms) should not mean doing nothing. Living beings aren't meant to stop learning and growing and doing. Puppies are less capable, but we don't do nothing with them until six months anymore. We meet them where they're at. It's so important for physical wellness and neural plasticity that we do the same with our retired dogs.

I have a dog whose health meant he would be retired in any serious competitive context. Biting a sleeve or suit is too high injury risk. He can't jump his full obedience height or to catch a disc. He will never get the AKC RACH or OTCH I had him slated for. But he still plays! He comes with to mondio club and is preparing to trial in obedience with no jumps. He trials in AKC preferred obedience and got his rally choice title, the highest level without jumps, last fall. We're going to compete for our UKC RACH this trial season, since they don't require jumps for rally and let you jump minimum height. He still competes in every disc dog competition my competitive dog does, and even surprised me by placing in the last two despite only catching rollers. We started shed hunt and a Nosework class even though I currently don't have the funds or time to compete in more sports.

The biggest difference I've noticed in him since competing with him and taking him to classes again? He's so so much more behaviorally sound. He's happier. He's fulfilled. And he's physically more sound on top of that, because he's using his body in healthy ways and is not so pent up that he's injuring himself with normal movement.

Retirement should mean a new phase in life, not life being over. Rest and stagnancy are not the same. Quite honestly, if my retired working dog isn't ready to learn a new activity or play a new game, it's time to have a serious talk with my vet about quality of life.

[x22817]

We had some great adventures at the Farmer's Market! The nice lady who bakes all the fun puppy treats was there with new stuff to try. An ice cream cone, peanut butter stars, and our favorite Pup Tarts are in the treat cabinet for this week!

Hek and I are now honorary trainees of the local service dog trainer. We got to hang out with her group of clients for a bit before walking around with them all. There were eight teams of handlers with pets, therapy dogs, and service dogs. Hek and I have never hung out around so many dogs at once! I'm kinda sad I didn't take a picture of everyone. It was so much fun!

The trainer wants to help us get All The Titles because it turns out she is an AKC judge! She also wants us to do rally as she's very impressed with Hek's focus heel and her position work (the exact things we have been working on at home this last week). We also discussed doing scent work and agility because why not do All The Things?

I'm not going to lie it was a bit overwhelming being told that all this can be possible. Everyone was so surprised when I kept saying that we practiced these things at home but never took any of the tests or competed or anything. I was always told that because Hek is a mutt and not a pure bred registered AKC pup, we can't do any of them.

Everything is under consideration, but I don't want to put any kind of strain on our relationship. I had to perform in front of people and get judged for every performance my entire life. I just want to have fun with Hek.

I am grateful to finally have puppy friends in real life. It's nice feeling safe around other people and their dogs. Even if Hek and I don't get into any of the competition or certification stuff, we can still have friends!

[whatisshelties]

I still find it ridiculous that my (known) mixed breed has more AKC titles than my last two dogs combined.

[groenendaze]

Do you have any tips for getting into dog sports? I've got an 8-month-old dalmatian/gsd/pit mix (my absolute best friend and also the bane of my existence, teenagers are a menace lol) who's crazy smart and athletic. The stuff you do with your pups looks awesome and I think we'd both really enjoy it! I'm just not sure where to start to look for clubs/events/etc. Any advice is appreciated!

Dog sports are one of those things where you either just happen to accidentally fall into it or you fight tooth and nail to find a place.

Some of the best ways to find places are to reach out to trainers/competitors in your area or close to you (FB and instagram are the easiest for this imo - if you have found any!). The rest depends on the sports you want to do and where you're located. A good way to try and find more sports would be to see if there are any in your area: google your city + "dog training club" or the sport you're looking for. See if any places offer classes (classes are a GREAT way to get started and test the waters!). Or look for events in your area and go watch! I wouldn't recommend trying to volunteer my first time watching an event, but it's a great place to get started and look for people who might know more people in your area that could help you. Most people are nice and like helping newbies out, but there are always some bad eggs in the pot!

Unfortuently, I'm not super great at finding non-American events, so I apologize if you aren't in the US! But if you are, there are a couple websites that you can check out. For AKC sanctioned events (FastCAT/AKC agility/Rally-O/Confo/etc), AKC has an event calendar.

For things like disc, you can check out UpDog's event page, Skyhoundz event page, USDDN (international), UFO (international), Quadruped, or AWI.

Agility has a couple besides AKC: UKI, CPE, NADAC, and USDAA.

Dock has a few with the main one being NADD and Ultimate Air Dogs.

For flyball, UFLI has a tournament list page. NAFA also does tournaments but I only do UFLI and NAFA's website looks like hasn't been updated since, like, the 90s.

There are other sports, like bitesports (PSA/IGP/Mondio/French Ring) or racing (AOK9, etc) but I know nothing about the racing world and bitesports are one of those sports (much like Flyball tbh) where you'd need to reach out to a club first because a club will make or break a dog.

I got into agility back in like, 2019 or something because I took classes from a local facility and went to some AKC events and asked around. I got into PSA because I googled "bitesports [city]" and found the closest club was an hour a half, so I emailed them. And then made that drive every weekend for 10 or so months haha (I put so many miles on my car). Moved to Wisconsin and reached out to a disc club local to me asking for a private lesson in disc on Facebook, ended up accidentally getting invited to play Toss & Fetch and my disc obsession spiraled from there. Ended up getting into flyball because I made friends with a lot of flyball people at disc. Everything else I've tried (like barn hunt/herding/etc) was a combination of looking on the AKC event page and going "I can do that", a friend going "you can do this, come to X event", or me frantically googling locations or sports or classes or private lessons.

When I first started out, I struggled a LOT. In Texas, there were quite a few places and clubs around me, but I only had about three months of that before I moved to Arkansas, which was a dog sport dead zone. I didn't have the connections or knowledge to even know where to look to get access to those places. It took me months to find the one single place where I could rent an agility field. I spent most of my time throwing a frisbee in a park not even knowing that disc was a dog sport I could compete in. Luckily, where I am now is pretty dominated by the sports I love and I've made a lot of really amazing connections which helps with knowing the who's/what's/how's of everything!

Good luck and I hope this helps!

[darkwood-sleddog]

What is your most disagreement take within the dog community? Not to start anything, but honestly curious as I'm wondering what you think needs to be addressed more within the community; like breed discrimination, or certain breeds having bad traits, or people having not so good ideas on what certain breeds should be.

1.) the dog community is huge so there’s not going to be a single opinion I can have that is is wide disagreement with it as a whole as it is too diverse for this to occur, however these are all my ~unpopular~ dog opinions:

I think the way that the AKC registers and titles dogs for conformation needs major reform. I think saying conformation is a “sport” as a majority of people here in North America do is harmful and breeds a competitive spirit in breeders/owners/and handlers as well as an unnecessary amount of physical uniformity within dog breeds.

What I would like to see (and what would never happen):

-graded conformation. (Meets standard Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor as an example). Get rid of the current point system.

-dogs must pass breed appropriate health testing and temperament testing to be championed or graded excellent and good examples of breed). For working breeds this in my opinion should include a working test of some kind.

- do not allow professional handlers.

-only register puppies of health tested parents.

- allow intact mixed bred dogs to compete in sporting, trick, companion test events and generally stop the villainizing of breeding mixed breed dogs when said breeding is done appropriately.

Not AKC related I think that in North America more shelters need to not be so strictly no kill (this opinion may be controversial amongst some dog folk but idc). There are dogs that are not temperamentally okay to live, such as those posing a legitimate danger to people and the general public, and letting them go painlessly is better than them languishing in the shelter system for years. The funds used to keep these dogs could be better served helping dogs that can actually be homes safely and/or helping struggling community members so their dogs do not have to enter the shelter system.

-FUND LOW COST VETERINARY CARE

-stop continuing to push laws and local legislation that seeks to restrict how people contain their dogs outside. Instead focus on reaching out to struggling community members in a positive way and respond to ethics concern with care for both the dogs and people involved. Funding low cost alternative containment/helping generally better containment and welfare of animals is imo better than legislating away the problem.

in a dog breed sense: stop woobifying dog breeds with the potential for aggression both towards dogs and people. Playing down a breed or dog type’s potential for dog or human aggression is not only dangerous but does a huge disservice to these breeds.

In a dog breeding sense: I think that those looking to better legitimize several popular companion breed mixes are doing good work but ultimately if they can’t drop the designer name and/or rally their communities instead of dividing into a bunch of little groups they are unlikely to succeed as they are then falling into some of the same traps as some purebred breeds. They have an opportunity to do better without hard baking those divisions into their communities.

-Stop naming dog breeds after indigenous racial slurs. Stop naming non indigenous dog breeds after indigenous groups.

-Companionship is a purpose.

-many dogs bred for sport are not fit temperamentally for their original purpose.

-“hated” dog breed mixed such as doodles and wolfdogs are NOT going away and are already being bred in large numbers (doodles way more obviously). Any attempts by the dog fancy or ethics groups to legislate these out of existence is pointless and will fail. Instead try and nudge these communities towards better breeding ethics and customer education. Uplift the breeders in these communities doing good work for health and temperament testing.

-people really need to stop adding Merle into every goddamn dog mix. It takes a lot of knowledge to breed Merle carefully. Some Merle variants in established purebreed dogs need serious examination from an ethical standpoint.

-crates are fine but like many other tools are very often over used to the point of cruelty. I usually find them unnecessary past puppyhood for well adjusted adult dogs.

-stop expecting everybody else to love your dog just because YOU love your dog. Your dog’s freedoms should not come at the expense of the general public’s ability to walk, bike, exist safely within public spaces.