Dogs show off their agility, obedience at rally competition

Carleta Yarain of Denver and Chappe, a border collie, waited patiently for their turn as they watched trainers and dogs complete the rally competition Saturday during the annual Greeley Kennel Club Dog Show.

The rally competition was added this year to the show and tests the dogs' obedience and agility skills.

For Chappe, who was competing in the advanced rally competition, this was his first competition in Greeley, Yarain said.

"We're excellent in agility, and we wanted to focus on that." Yarain said. "We wanted to do the rally because we thought it would be fun."

In the rally competition dogs are timed and judged on their obedience as they follow their trainers to different stations and follow the command listed at the station.

"It gives us another venue to work with, and it's good for obedience," Yarain said. "It's hard to say what we'll do today; he's quite the show off."

The leading judge for the rally competition on Saturday was Lynn Eggers, who followed the trainers and dogs through the course taking notes.

There were several trainers on Saturday who said they enjoyed the new competition because it was a an alternative from the obedience competition where owners are not allowed to follow their dogs on the course.

Janice Butler of Parker has trained her dog Angus for more than six years and said the rally competition is an event that recently began to grow in popularity in the last two to three years. She and Angus, a Portuguese water dog, were entered in the excellent level rally competition.

"He has two water titles and we're hoping to set another one in rally," Butler said. "I think rally is a great way for people and dogs to get obedience training."