There IS a place for Rally

I've been one of those Rally-bashers. I will apologize in advance. Thought it was lame and useless. Felt it did not succeed in its original plan - a stepping stone for Obedience newbies to enter the Novice ring. All that is changed for me now, however.
Moto is making huge strides in the more advanced training now - his Utility work (go-outs, scent discrimination, directed jumping) is almost at full ring-size and all articles. Whew! He just needs fine-tuning for Open work. But Novice? Nooooooo, we're not ready. Why? That darned attention and the technical perfection needed for heeling just is not there.
Enter Rally. You can talk to your dog. You can pat your leg. It has some cool pivots, 180's, and non-patterned heeling that is very cool. It is the perfect stepstone, even better than Wild Card. So I'm eating crow.
And...because of the cloudy cool weather, Blitz is feeling really really good. He's begging to work. I know now that he cannot withstand the rigors of training needed to enter the Novice ring. But...he has enough foundation work to go all the way through Rally Advanced. We can enter with maybe a few brief reminder sessions before-hand. It will be stress free and he'll have a great time and can earn that much-deserved title behind his name. He'll get to work and we'll get our time in the ring together. There's a trial in Lawrence in a few weeks. I'll enter him, and of course if he takes a turn for the worse we can pull. But in the meantime, we'll have a good time working together and I'll learn this new sport.
Yes, Rally is a Good Thing. I've said it, and I'll stand behind that statement.