Are you ready to RACH and roll? Rally has undergone a facelift and it’s just not the program that it was before. If your past experiences with Rally events have been boring for you and your dog, not fun and just not worth the time, then look again and read up on the new Rally exercises and titles! I have personally competed with my dachshunds in Rally events since its inception. After each of my dogs earned the RAE, I strayed away from the program and worked almost exclusively in obedience. I felt that Rally was simply not challenging enough, so it lost its luster. However, I recently became reacquainted with the program and I have now come away with a new impression.
R E ADY TO
RACH MASTERING RALLY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL By Karen R Scheiner
Rally was originally introduced by the AKC in 2005. At that time, there were three (3) levels, Novice, Advanced and Excellent, leading to the highest title, the RAE. From my viewpoint, it became mundane, and viewed with not much excitement, as the sits, downs and walk-arounds were doldrums. Apparently that was the opinion of many exhibitors, as well. Therefore, the AKC took a second look at the program, putting a lot of time and thought in invigorating its Rally program. In November, 2017, the RACH was introduced. Along with the RACH title, also came the new Master class signs1. To attain a RACH, the dog must maneuver through courses of about 20 signs that are fairly challenging and with increased difficulty at the Excellent and Master Levels. In the Master classes, you can still talk to your dog, but you cannot clap or pat your leg. You also cannot redo any sign that may have been incorrectly performed (IP) by your dog; you will just suffer a 10 point deduction which takes you out of earning Master points, as you need at least a score of 91 to earn points.
Classes Advanced B Excellent B Master Class
Score 100 99 98 97 95-96 91-94
Points 10 9 8 7 6 5
The RACH (pronounced “rock”) has become the “brass ring” for those trainers who want to have a meaningful goal at the end of the rally journey. This is the Rally Championship, with the title preceding the dog’s name, as with MACH (agility), OTCH (obedience) and CH (conformation). In order to attain a RACH, the dog must earn 20 tripleQ’s plus 300 points. A triple Q is a qualifying score, earned in Rally Advanced B, Excellent B, and Master, all at the same trial. The
32
Dachshund Club of America Summer 2022
requirement for 300 points would, in and of itself, not be so difficult, except that 150 of those points must come from Master classes. Aaah, the rub! Here’s the breakdown to earn RACH points:
Points can be earned in any of the three classes; there is no more or less weight given to one class or the other. So if you get 100 in Advanced B, you will get 10 points, which is the same as getting 100 in Excellent B or in Master. This information is from the AKC Rally Regulations (orange cover) booklet, amended to February 9, 2021. The AKC enhanced the Rally program in February, 2019 to make it somewhat easier (and less expensive) to earn a RACH. The changes included: RACH points can be earned from the Advanced B class, as well as Excellent B and Master classes. The point schedule was amended to award more points on a given score. Points are now calculated once the dogs earns RE title (instead of requiring the RAE first). The number of Master points required for a RACH was reduced to 150. It is pretty much agreed among Rally exhibitors that it is not too difficult to acquire the 300 points need; the difficulty is in earning half of them out of the Master class. On a practical note, most exhibitors, after earning the 20 triple Q’s and 150 points from the Advanced and Excellent classes, just enter their dog in Master, to save money and acquire the balance of those needed Master points. Some of the signs in the Excellent and Master signs can be tricky. So even if you
