Rally vs Agility

[jelly8bean]

I want to do agility with my new young dobie, Indigo (now 2 yrs). However I also want to work on some competitive training with my older (7yr) dobie Sara. Because she is older (and has lots of anxiety issues) I was wondering if Agility or Rally might be a better target for us? When Sara gets worried about doing something wrong she tends to shut down.. nothing can get to her there, treats, corrections, loving nothing. So while I think she could excel at agility (very athletic and small so has good ability for weave poles etc), I am thinking that Rally may be a better fit? A bit more laid back than agility. Any Thoughts?

[Big Dogs]

How close are Indigo and Sara? If they are really close and want to spend time with each other you could use Indigo as a confidence builder. We have used some of our senior dogs in the past to help train some of our younger dogs. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. We had a Dobe that was 3 years old and was being trained in advanced obedience in a small group with his 6 year old partner looking on. At they end of each class we would work with the 6 year old and he would preform as well if not better than the 3 year old. They spent all there time with each other at home and were close. My point being is you could use Indigo as your assistant and confidence builder with Sara. Rally would probably be a better fit but give her some exposure to each of them. The shutting down thing is really hard to figure out does she do it when your working with her? We have worked with some dogs in the past that sound similar to what you are experiencing and some times I have had my wife look on or I would look on to see when it was going to happen or what was causing it. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes helps. Good luck!

[Dobs4ever]

Rally is more hands on structured liked obedience and agility is more letting the dog work loose. With a dog that is shutting down, agility might be a better selection as she can work free. Does she shut down if you correct her??? Does she just shut down because you put a leash on her??? What happens that makes her shut down?

Guys a real big key is to build in a strong toy drive starting as a puppy. If you play with them with a toy and make it a special toy one that they only get when they play with you then the toy becomes a strong motivator and you use it to get a dog through training. I start my puppies out with food and transition them to the toy by about 6 months. Before then I just play with the toy to build desire for it.

Some dogs just do not have a strong recovery tolerance so if corrected and they shut down then they don't want to come back out of it. I like a dog that when something happens they bounce back with a give me more attitude. For the dogs that are not as strong I use the toy to help teach them to work through a problem not shut down. It is like teaching them that a correction is not the end of the world.

For an older dog that does not have this to fall back on will be a bigger challenge to get them through the behavior. Does she like to chase a ball??? or play tuggy toy??? I would start by playing with her a lot and play with agility.

[RKCM]

Rally, to me, is the handler knowing how to read the signs. The dog is on lead with less consistancy since it is on lead. Your dog does have to sit automatically and heal. Rally or beginning obedience would be fine with an older dog. Many of the fosters for rescue take their dogs through those beginning classes without competing. I think you should do at least one obedience class before you do Rally, just so the dog knows the basics. You have to memorize the signs and I think it is more work on you learning....as is all training truthfully.

In obedience competition, they have to have a perfect sit, heal, stays, and really the dog has too be more trained than in Rally. The higher level competition involves scent work and jumps etc. We require obedience on all our pups because whether you compete or not, it's a good way to further the puppies socialization etc. We have several dogs that have a CDX.

In agility, the dog has to be good off lead and be willing to go through the exercisers. Our club requires obedience first. Thought I'd add that for those that don't know. We have to two dogs with a OAJ title. That's with the jumps. If they love it, they just LOVE it!

Agility equipment is usually lots of fun for the dogs. My dogs all love the tunnels and that wasn't work. Most of them needed no encouragement to walk in the ramps or jumps. They have always watched my hands. It is fun for the dog, like a playground with you as the guide.
The bulk of the training is training YOU to train your dog and making sure the dogs enjoy the exercises. We use toys as rewards, but begin with treats because all of our dogs will work for treats.......then, we use it less and less, still rewarding with toys after the exercise.

This year I have a red male, Cody, that will be at the school this summer. He is a mess and should of done more with him earlier. I worked our rescues and didn't work enough with him. Whether our dogs compete or not, they all have to be able to go off lead, stay, come, and walk with us without running off etc. and have basic house manners. Cody is good with house manners, and but needs work....he's a funny dog and fearless. He isn't one that likes the agility course and looks at me, like "you run up that thing, I'm not interested." He's wonderful on the tunnels though.....