🐾🏆✨ Rally is a fun, fast-paced sport that builds on basic obedience skills and turns them into a team challenge. Handlers and their Corgis navigate a course with signs at each station, performing different exercises along the way. It’s a great way to strengthen communication, build confidence, and enjoy working together in a relaxed, encouraging atmosphere. ✨🐾 🙂
Rally Obedience (or Rally-O) is a fun, fast-paced dog sport that combines the precision of obedience with the excitement of an obstacle course. Instead of performing a set routine, dog-and-handler teams navigate a course of numbered signs, each with a specific exercise such as sits, downs, turns, or recalls.
The aim isn’t perfection — it’s teamwork, communication, and enthusiasm. Handlers can use praise, encouragement, and body language throughout the run, making Rally an especially welcoming sport for beginners.
Rally-O is open to dogs of all ages and experience levels. Many handlers begin once they’ve mastered the basics of loose-lead walking, sit, stay, and recall at their local obedience club. From there, you and your Corgi can start learning how to tackle a course together.
Signs range from simple tasks at entry levels — like heeling in a circle or pausing in a sit — to more complex combinations at advanced levels, including pivots, jumps, and even off-lead work. Courses change every trial, so no two runs are ever the same.
Corgis thrive in Rally because it channels their intelligence, enthusiasm, and natural sense of fun. The sport rewards attentive dogs who enjoy staying connected to their handler — exactly what Corgis excel at. Their eagerness to learn (and occasional cheeky independence) makes every run entertaining and rewarding.
Like obedience, Rally is a titling sport. Dogs start at Novice and can progress through Advanced, Excellent, and Masters, each level introducing new challenges. Success is measured not just in points and ribbons, but in the joy of working as a team.
Whether you’re looking to keep your Corgi’s clever mind busy, build confidence, or step into the world of dog sports for the first time, Rally Obedience is a fantastic choice. It’s social, supportive, and full of laughter — and a brilliant way to deepen your bond with your dog.
Rally Signs & Demonstrations
Learning the signs is the first step to enjoying Rally with your Corgi. Each sign shows a different exercise you and your dog may be asked to perform on a course, ranging from simple moves at Novice level through to more advanced exercises in the higher classes.
Rally is also less formal than Obedience, making it a perfect way for first-time competitors to have fun. Handlers are encouraged to interact with and cheer on their dogs throughout the course, so it’s as much about the enjoyment and teamwork as it is about precision.
Thanks to Shanelle Corben, there are helpful demonstration videos available that show exactly how to perform each Rally exercise. You can view the complete set of signs along with the videos by clicking here.
For full rules and regulations, please see the Dogs Australia website.
Members enjoy discounted specialty show entry fees, as well as many other benefits.
