New Activities for Older Dogs

I am looking to begin a new activity with my older dog (9 years old). This
Cocker Spainel is still very active and I think it would be very beneficial
for us to get out and learn something new. Please reply with any
suggestions!
Love,
Nina

Goodness, Nina, your dog is just now good and "broken in"! grin

If she's had basic obedience training, there's the new AKC sport of
Rally that is great fun.

If she has nice manners and is healthy (I presume she is) the two of you
might enjoy doing therapy dog work.

Tracking.... rhe sport...

New tricks.

Obedience training if she hasn't taken a class before.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

I was just about to mention Rally too!

--
Kristen and
Kali CDX, CGC, TDIA, TT
www.kristenandkali.com



"Jo Wolf" wrote in message
...
Goodness, Nina, your dog is just now good and "broken in"! grin

If she's had basic obedience training, there's the new AKC sport of
Rally that is great fun.

If she has nice manners and is healthy (I presume she is) the two of you
might enjoy doing therapy dog work.

Tracking.... rhe sport...

New tricks.

Obedience training if she hasn't taken a class before.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

I am not familiar with Rally. Could someone please explain this? I'm located
in Eastern Ohio. Any local chapters where I could attend?

She has taken basic obedience and has won some awards at some local dog
shows.

Thank you all for all your help.

Nina
"KrisHur" wrote in message
...
I was just about to mention Rally too!

--
Kristen and
Kali CDX, CGC, TDIA, TT
www.kristenandkali.com



"Jo Wolf" wrote in message
...
Goodness, Nina, your dog is just now good and "broken in"! grin

If she's had basic obedience training, there's the new AKC sport of
Rally that is great fun.

If she has nice manners and is healthy (I presume she is) the two of you
might enjoy doing therapy dog work.

Tracking.... rhe sport...

New tricks.

Obedience training if she hasn't taken a class before.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

Rally is generally thought of as a blend of obedience and agility. It's a
numbered course that's different each time, like agility, but at each number
there is a sign with a basic obedience command on it (sit/down or call
front/finish left, etc. etc.--in novice there are 31 different signs).

It's not judged as strictly as regular obedience (a dog sitting at heel has
to be *really* crooked before a point is deducted). Unlike regular obedience
you can talk to your dog the whole time and give him real encouragement! You
can repeat commands, but the dog needs to respond to the first one. You can
retry a station if you mess up and only get points off.

Novice is done on lead and has 12-15 stations, Advanced and Excellent are
offlead and have a few more signs. In the upper classes there is one and
then two jumps but they are really low, making this a great sport for
veterans or young dogs.

APDT also has a great Rally program but it's a bit different from AKC--you
can treat in the ring.

Some websites:
http://www.akc.org/dic/events/obedience/rally.cfm
(AKC Rally will be a titled event starting 1/1/05)

http://www.apdt.com/rallyo/index.htm
APDT Rally

The Yahoo group is extremely informative:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rally-obed/
They put together this guidebook:
http://www.geocities.com/rallyobedience/guidebook.htm

It sounds as though your girl would be perfect for Rally. Call around to
different training clubs/schools to find one who offers it and sit in on a
couple classes.
--
Kristen and
Kali CDX, CGC, TDIA, TT
www.kristenandkali.com



"Deana Hall" wrote in message
...
I am not familiar with Rally. Could someone please explain this? I'm
located
in Eastern Ohio. Any local chapters where I could attend?

She has taken basic obedience and has won some awards at some local dog
shows.

Thank you all for all your help.

Nina

Sounds wonderful Kris! Thanks for all of your help in this matter! I'm
looking forward to checking out all the sights you gave me!

Nina
"KrisHur" wrote in message
...
Rally is generally thought of as a blend of obedience and agility. It's a
numbered course that's different each time, like agility, but at each
number
there is a sign with a basic obedience command on it (sit/down or call
front/finish left, etc. etc.--in novice there are 31 different signs).

It's not judged as strictly as regular obedience (a dog sitting at heel
has
to be *really* crooked before a point is deducted). Unlike regular
obedience
you can talk to your dog the whole time and give him real encouragement!
You
can repeat commands, but the dog needs to respond to the first one. You
can
retry a station if you mess up and only get points off.

Novice is done on lead and has 12-15 stations, Advanced and Excellent are
offlead and have a few more signs. In the upper classes there is one and
then two jumps but they are really low, making this a great sport for
veterans or young dogs.

APDT also has a great Rally program but it's a bit different from AKC--you
can treat in the ring.

Some websites:
http://www.akc.org/dic/events/obedience/rally.cfm
(AKC Rally will be a titled event starting 1/1/05)

http://www.apdt.com/rallyo/index.htm
APDT Rally

The Yahoo group is extremely informative:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rally-obed/
They put together this guidebook:
http://www.geocities.com/rallyobedience/guidebook.htm

It sounds as though your girl would be perfect for Rally. Call around to
different training clubs/schools to find one who offers it and sit in on a
couple classes.
--
Kristen and
Kali CDX, CGC, TDIA, TT
www.kristenandkali.com



"Deana Hall" wrote in message
...
I am not familiar with Rally. Could someone please explain this? I'm
located
in Eastern Ohio. Any local chapters where I could attend?

She has taken basic obedience and has won some awards at some local dog
shows.

Thank you all for all your help.

Nina