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Dressage for DogsJune 11, 2009 Trav and I got caught in a downpour this morning, sans raingear. I'm not talking your basic little sprinkle that the leaves will keep you dry from; I'm talking sheeting torrents that turned the oak leaves vertical. Why does it take so much longer to dry off from getting rained on than it does to dry off from a shower? The waterlogged clothing obviously has something to do with it, but even after I'd peeled the wet layers off, toweled myself off, and put on something dry, my skin still felt damp. My hair stayed in tight little curls all day. You'd never know I'm due for a haircut. Travvy, also without raingear, likewise got drenched. He wasn't happy. Now that he's blown his winter undercoat, rain reaches his skin faster than it used to. He shook a lot. He doesn't like stepping in puddles either. Neither did Rhodry. Since he blew most of his coat, people have been saying stuff like "He's smaller than I thought" and "What a big head!" and "But he's so skinny!" Whereupon he looks at me and says, "See? I told you I wasn't getting enough to eat!" Last night we went from the barn to a West Tisbury School field to practice Rally exercises with some of our classmates. The course ended two weeks ago, with a mock Rally trial at the Ag Hall that was lots of fun, but Karen Ogden, our teacher, volunteered to meet regularly with any of us who wanted to keep working. So what's Rally, or Rally O as it's often called? The "O" stands for "obedience," which is part of it, though Rally, I'm told, doesn't focus on precision the way traditional obedience does. I think of it as dressage for dogs. A Rally course consists of a dozen or more stations. At each station you and your dog does what the sign says. See, it's easier than dressage: in dressage all you see is the letter; in Rally you get full instructions. Many of the signs have arrows curving and pointing this way and that. Once you know what they mean, they're clear. Until then -- not. Class was held in the indoor arena at Arrowhead horse farm. Each week Karen taught us three or four or five of the movements, then we'd each practice on a short course. First we'd walk through it solo, then we'd do it with our dogs. In Rally Novice leashes are used, but the leash is mainly to keep the dog from going AWOL. It's supposed to hang loose at all time. You're penalized if you have to use the leash to drag your dog into position or even to keep him from wandering off-course. In the Arrowhead arena Travvy was frequently distracted by horse smells: it didn't have to be a bit of manure, only some olfactory evidence that a horse had once upon a time pooped or peed somewhere in the vicinity. Most of the exercises don't look all that difficult -- until you're doing them alongside a dog who's happy enough to follow your lead except when he sees, smells, or hears something more interesting. The basic maneuvers are forward, halt, sit, down, and turn. At one station you might halt-sit-down. At another a yellow arrow looks like it's giving you instructions for getting off the freeway, but it's actually telling you to make a 270-degree turn to the right. Sometimes cones are involved: you're supposed to weave your way through them in the prescribed manner. Four cones mean a serpentine, three mean a spiral (which as performed is actually closer to a paper clip). It's been fun and challenging -- and the improvement in Travvy's ability to focus has been overwhelming. At the first class, Trav's brain was totally disengaged for about a third of the time, and most of the rest of the time he was not exactly attentive. On occasion he performed "airs above the ground" that would have done credit to the Spanish Riding School. The Easy Walk harness I bought from Karen improved matters immensely; not only did I have more control, but I knew he couldn't slip out of it. Week by week his ability to focus got better and lasted longer. This has transferred to the "real world" too: he no longer does caprioles and courbettes when he spots a deer in the woods or when a rabbit darts across the path, and when he gets overexcited it takes him less time to calm down. I've never been to any kind of dog show or trial, but I'd like to take Travvy to one -- well, it would probably have to be two, because he'll probably go into canine overdrive the first time he's exposed to all that other doggish activity. One thing for sure, transporting a dog is a lot easier than transporting a horse.
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