Rally On

I got a phone call yesterday afternoon about a new Rally class starting up... tonight! Short-ish notice aside, I was thrilled that this class was starting up so soon since Roxie and I will definitely benefit from the practice for our upcoming trial(s). And then today, I remembered that we also have an agility class that starts next Wednesday night. I have just over an hour between the two classes, so hopefully traffic will be kind to me for the next five Wednesday nights while I drive from Manassas to Leesburg.

We had a good class tonight. Roxie did pretty well. We started doing some advanced Rally signs, which meant that we also did some courses with Roxie off-leash. Rox actually did better off-leash than on-leash. I haven't tested her off-leash skills much other than around the house, so I was pleased that she did so well. She still has to get used to working with distractions, since she was riveted by someone in class filling a water bowl in the sink while we were about to start our run-thru. But that will come with time. I'm pleased with Roxie's work and progress so far. She's a smart little girl. We even got a little extra attention from our instructor because I told her that we're entered in a rally trial next month, so she wanted to help us polish and perfect everything, which was very helpful. What's really nice is that our class only has four dog/person teams in it, so really, there is quite a bit of individual attention.

Speaking of extra attention, tonight, it seemed like everyone's attention was on my new Rally cards that I received in the mail from my wonderful sister today.







They're really cool because they're pocket sized and laminated. They have every AKC Rally sign and on the back of each sign, there's a description of what the dog and handler team is supposed to do at the sign. I had them in my pocket while I walked the Rally course tonight and used them to clarify what one of the signs meant... hey, I'm easily confused! I know these will be a huge help if I need to quickly go over any of the signs while we wait for our turn in the ring at trials. When the rest of the people in class saw them, I feared that they would mug me for them! Good thing I had my little dog to protect me! Apparently, these cards are a hot commodity because they're in color. Someone else in class only had black and white ones. Now everyone in class wants a set of these cards for themselves! So thanks, J, for the cards. It felt like I was back in first grade on "show and tell" day and I had the COOLEST thing in the class.