Congratulations to our Rally Obedience Students!

This past weekend, February 26 through 28, our Rally Obedience students entered and placed at the Sportmen's Dog Training Club of Detroit's Spring Obedience and Rally Trial. Monika with George, a Dalmatian, finished their second leg of the Rally Novice title with an 86 out of 100. Cathryn and Locke finished with a perfect score of 100, took second place, and earned their Rally Novice title. On Saturday Kirstin and Ammo, a Labrador Retriever, got a score of 96 and also earned their Novice title.

It was a great show, with lots of competitors, and Congratulations to all!

The Motor City Winter Classic Dog Shows

This year's Motor City Winter Classic Dog Shows took place this past weekend. This four day event was hosted by the Livonia Kennel Club and the Oakland County Kennel Club in Novi. Conformation, obedience, and rally trials were held all four days. As an added bonus there were Alaskan Malamute Weight Pull Trials, Flyball Tournaments, Border Collie Duck Herding, and Police K-9 Demonstrations.

Best Friends had a few competitors from our classes compete this weekend. Wally, the Borzoi, earned points towards his Championship. George, the Dalmatian, and Ammo, the Labrador Retriever, both took great scores in Rally Obedience. It was a fun weekend with lots of fellow dog enthusiasts and of course great dog related shopping!

Meet Troy the German Shepherd Dog

Troy is a year and a half old German Shepherd Dog belonging to Robin of Clinton Township. It was Troy who picked Robin out when he was only five weeks old. His breeder (Treu Schaferhaus Kennels) had promised him to someone else but when she saw the bond that Troy had with Robin she stuck by Troy's decision. The breeder told Robin the good news on her birthday. "There was no other dog but Troy for me." said Robin.

Troy takes a break during Doggie Day Camp.

Troy lives with two cats and will often play ball with his kitty pal, Zeus. Troy loves balls and stuffed toys that squeak and gets quite disappointed if they stop working. Troy's favorite foods are cherries, watermelon, strawberries, animal crackers, and blueberries. He has been going to Partridge Creek Mall since he was 3 months old, so all the perfume ladies give him cookies. He comes to Best Friends Pet Care for grooming, rally training, and his favorite Doggie Day Camp. His best buddies are Locke and Indie who like to chase balls and play tug-o-war with.

Robin and Troy's favorite thing to do together is go to hospitals as a Therapy Dog Team. He loves children and the staff at Henry Ford Macomb love him so much they give him extra cookies for doing such a good job.

Troy poses in his Halloween best at this year's Doggie Day Camp Halloween Party. He was quite the impressive vampire!

Rally Obedience

Rally Obedience is a relatively new sport for dogs combining obedience exercises on a course like agility. It was originally devised by Charles L. "Bud" Kramer from the obedience practice of "doodling" - doing a variety of interesting warm up and freestyle exercises. Rally stresses the importance of team work between the handler and dog over precision. The course is a series of stations with a sign explaining the next exercise to be performed. After the judge gives the forward command the team must briskly navigate the course in the correct sequence.


On the course handlers are allowed unlimited communication including hand signals and the handler's hands do not have to be in any particular position. The handler may not give harsh verbal commands or touch their dog on the course. The dog does not have to be in perfect heel position and scoring is not as rigorous as traditional obedience.


Rally may not burn as much energy as agility but it provides non-impact exercise as well as great mental simulation. Some handlers don't ever plan to compete but use Rally as a way to practice basic obedience in a less formal class setting. There are a four venues that offer Rally obedience in the United States. They are American Kennel Club (AKC), Association of Pet Dog Trainers (ADPT), United Kennel Club (UKC), and the newly formed Canine Work and Games (C-Wags).

Best Friends offers two options for those wishing to take Rally classes. The first option is a six week class for those who have no prior rally experience. The first two weeks we cover the stations for AKC rally including practicing proper performance and introduction to simple courses. The following weeks we will increase the length and difficulty of each course with the final class set up as a mock trial. The second option is for those who have some prior knowledge of rally, even non-AKC venues, and consists of a drop-in class. While AKC obedience is covered the other venues will be added in as some of their stations differ. In order to join either class basic obedience is a minimum and advanced obedience is preferred.

For more information please give us a call at 586-792-3000.