Rüdi and Rally

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Ruedi in the Rally Ring
Courtesy: Skinny Dog Photography

We're also working on the rally side of obedience (the main difference other than a bigger variety of test elements is that I get to talk to him the whole way through the test); I find rally to be a lot of fun. He wrapped up the Rally Novice title (1st level) in three straight tests at the South Bay Kennel Club on August 5/6, 2023, and the German Shepherd Club of San Diego County trials on September 3. He also finished the next level, Rally Intermediate, in three straight tests at the Bakersfield Obedience Training Club and Skyline Dog Fanciers Club of San Mateo County trials in mid-October. He even pulled off a Rally Advanced (entirely off-leash) in his first attempt at the Del Valle Dog Club of Livermore trials (two days after finishing RI at Skyline), then followed with a second pass at the Swissy Nationals. Number three came at the Kennel Club of Riverside trials the day before he turned 16 months, so he earned his RN, RI, and RA titles all within the space of three months.

After trying to refine some of his basic skills and training him for some new, more difficult signs, we started our quest for a Rally Excellent title at the Silver Bay show on February 24, 2024 — or at least I thought we did. Silly me, I forgot that in the not-so-fine print in the rally rules that the Excellent A class, which I had registered for since it is generally for new dogs and new handlers (i.e. people like me and Rüdi), that dogs who have already earned a CD title (i.e. like Rüdi, even though it doesn't seem like it) are not eligible. Two and a half weeks later I got a letter from AKC indicating that he was ineligible for that class and that they were withdrawing his qualifying score. Sigh. Three weeks later, now properly registered in Excellent B, he pulled off two very decent scores at the Del Sur show on March 16/17, and squeeked by with a third pass at the German Shepherd Club of San Gabriel Valley trials on March 23 for his RE title. A friend took a video of us on the 16th and can be found below.

We closed out 2024 by earning his RAE title (Rally Advanced Excellent, where you must qualify in both Rally Excellent and Advanced on the same day ten times—AKC has invented many ways to extract cash from your wallet) while we continue to learn the Rally Master signs. He got his last two “double-Qs” at the Greater San Diego Basset Hound Club rally trial the weekend of November 16/17, 2024. His Saturday Advanced score was a 97, his highest score at any level by 4 points.

We started working on Rally Master at the Palm Springs show, January 3–5, 2025. To my delight, he qualified all three days, though the Sunday test had two of the signs he has no idea how to do, so he just barely squeeked by on that one. He picked up pass #4 at the German Shepherd Dog show in Camarillo on March 22, then passes #5–7 at the Chintimini Show in Albany, OR, on April 4–6. His Friday score was a 93; we were definitely chuffed about that one.

The last three passes came at the Mission Circuit series of shows in San Bernardino on the Memorial Day (2025) weekend. He passed the Thursday morning Tri-Valley Working Dog Club test with a very respectable 87, but then failed the afternoon test in spectacular fashion (his first NQ at Master level). It was hot, so I put water on his head to cool him off, forgetting that he considers water to be a deadly poison to be avoided at all costs. About a third of the way through the course he started rubbing his head on my left leg, then moved between my legs to keep rubbing. I couldn't get him off me, so I pulled him. Sigh! Happily, Friday morning was a solid 88, so we were back in business. We took Saturday off for a Swissy social, then tried again on Sunday. It was a fairly ugly run since he was very distracted by external sights and scents, but it was good enough to qualify for his tenth overall pass, so Rüdi now has RM to his name as well.

We kept plowing along, with a naive idea that maybe a Rally Champion (RACH) would be vaguely possible. However, ten more passes in each of Master, Excellent, and Advanced levels have made it clear that neither Rüdi or I are capable of achieving that; he is a very solid “85-ish” dog and we would need to need to increase his average scores by 10 points to have any chance of getting to RACH, and I don't know how to train him to do that. So, on March 22, 2026, at the Pennisula show in Bremerton, WA, Rüdi finished off his RM2 and RAE2, and we're going to call that the end of his competitive Rally career. We'll still do special events (like Nationals), but no more title chasing.

Warning! Some serious braggin' right here: since Rally was added as an AKC sport in 2005, Rüdi is just the 9th Swissy to earn an RAE title, the highest title available from the beginning. The more advanced Rally Master title was added in 2017; Rüdi is just the 6th Swissy to earn an RM. With the completion of the “2” levels, unless I missed anyone in late 2025/early 2026, Rüdi is only the second Swissy to earn an RM2 and the third to earn an RAE2. I'd say he has done okay!

Rüdi in the rally ring is just a big slow goofball. Because big working group breeds are not common in obedience/rally (see above), he is a bit unusual and has thus built up something of a fan club cheering him on. Thanks to all of you for the congratulations and well-wishes; I really do appreciate your friendship and support, and I wish you all the best with whatever flavor of dog you are running.



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Last update: 2026-05-04