Summary of Significant Revisions of Rules & Guidelines (06/11)

This summary can be found here and goes in to effect June of 2011.

RULES AND GUIDELINES
www.apdt.com/rally/rules 

GENERAL INFORMATION
Aggressive Dog Behavior - Any dog with a warning from the APDT Office will NOT be allowed to enter in a Junior's class, nor any off-lead exercise or class, i.e. Level 2, Level 3, and Veteran. (Special Note: Dogs with a warning on their record as of 5/4/2011 will be grandfathered in so that they can continue to compete in any class except Junior Level.)

Exhibitor Conduct - Officiating Judges or the Trial Host may excuse any person from the competition who delivers harsh corrections (including harsh tones [yelling at or intimidating dog with
tone of voice,] physical corrections [rolling a dog on his back, grabbing, hitting, kicking,
slapping, shaking, pinching, muzzle popping, or finger jabs,] and/or leash corrections
[also known as leash pops, leash jerks, or leash checks]) while on the trial site.


Exercise Modification Request - An example of an appropriate Exercise Modification request is to lower the jump for a dog that has previously had torn cruciate ligament surgery. In the interest of safety, this is a proactive request. An example of an inappropriate Exercise Modification request is
to request additional time to complete the course if a dog has arthritis and moves
slowly. The latter is a blanket request for leniency in judging, and not a request to
modify an exercise.

PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES
Bonuses - While repeat cues are permitted in a Bonus exercise, there are no retries of the Bonus
exercise.

Scoring Guidelines -
A 3 point deduction is taken for splitting a cone, i.e. dog and handler pass on opposite
sides of a cone.

A 5 point deduction is taken if the dog leaves the ring but returns to the handler
immediately upon being recalled. In other words, if the dog briefly breaks the
plane of ring entrance or exit with one or more paws, but it is apparent that the
dog is still actively working with the handler and immediately returns to handler
upon recall, a 5 point deduction is taken.

A 5 point deduction is taken for failure to change pace.

The following exercises may be retried as per guidelines for Retries, but if after retrying, the dog still has not successfully completed the exercise, it will result in an NQ:

• Failure of dog to perform “Sit” in # 1 HALT – Sit
• Failure of dog to maintain “Stay” in the following exercises:
   o # 5 HALT – Sit – Walk Around
   o #6 HALT – Sit – Down – Walk Around
   o # 49 Moving Stand Walk Around
• Failure of dog to down in the following exercises:
   o # 45 Moving Down – Forward
   o # 59 Right Turn, 1-2 Steps – Down Dog – Forward
   o # 60 Left Turn, 1-2 Steps – Down Dog – Forward
   o # 61 HALT – Leave Dog – Down on Recall / # 62 Turn, Recall, Down, Recall, Finish or Forward

The following exercises may NOT be retried:

• Dog refuses any jump and passes jump uprights, uses jump as aid in going over,
knocks bar off, or knocks jump over – This is scored as an immediate NQ
• Dog advances forward on Level 2 and Level 3 recall exercises before being
called – This is scored as an immediate NQ

The following situations will result in an NQ:

• Deductions of ten or more points at the completion of any individual exercise
• Dog fully exits the ring and is no longer actively working with handler, and/or
dog does not return immediately upon recall if dog steps out of ring 
• Dog eliminates in the ring, or becomes ill in the ring
• Consistently tight leash
• Unmanageable behavior
• Exceeding course time
• Appearance of luring
• Handler misses an exercise or performs an exercise out of sequence
• Handler touches dog to prompt an exercise (unless specifically allowed in
exercise description)
• Food reward given before exercise is completed (except Puppy and Veteran
Levels)
• Food reward is given while moving towards an exercise sign (except Puppy and
Veteran Levels)

RALLY LEVEL PUPPY
Puppy Level Class
Once a team earns the RLP title and the puppy is at least one year old, the team must
move to Level 1. The Puppy Level Championship title designation is RLPX and must be
earned before the puppy is one year of age. (Special Note: Puppies already working
toward their RLPX and puppies who already have their RLPX will be grandfathered in so
that they have until 18 months of age to complete their RLPX and/or to earn multiple
RLPX title designations.)

RALLY LEVEL VETERAN
Veteran Course
The following exercises are prohibited on a Veteran Level course:
Level 1
• # 4 Sit – Down – Sit 
Level 2
• # 43 Send Over Jumps – Handler Runs By
• # 45 Moving Down 
• Bonus # 2 Moving Down – Turn – Call Front
Level 3
• # 53 Down – Sit – Recall – Finish 
• # 54 Moving Backup
• # 55 Recall Over Jump
• # 57 Halt – Leave Dog – Send Over Jump
• # 59 Right Turn, 1-2 Steps, Down
• # 60 Left Turn, 1-2 Steps, Down
• # 61 Halt – Leave Dog – Down on Recall
• Bonus # 2 Call Front Back Up 3 Steps