CANCELLED

To our Exhibitors and Friends of The Gallatin Dog Club:

After much discussion and deliberation, as well as a renewed awareness of the average age of our exhibitor pool, the Officers of the Gallatin Dog Club have unanimously voted to cancel our March 2021 Obedience and Rally Trials. The situation across the country has escalated and we feel very strongly that we have to be a part of the solution – not the problem.

We are sorry for the cancellation and please know that we will miss seeing your smiling faces!  Hopefully, we can all get together again later this summer/fall in a safe environment.

Stay safe everyone!

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Obedience trials demonstrate a dog’s ability to follow specified routines in the obedience ring and emphasize the usefulness of the dog as a companion to humankind. It is a team sport, where the dog and its handler are judged on how closely they match the judge’s mental picture of a perfect performance as they complete a series of exercises; such as walking on and off-leash, retrieving, jumping and staying in place. There are multiple levels of competition from basic to more advanced exercises. Obedience deepens the bond between a dog and its owner, and is a joy to watch.

Rally provides an excellent introduction to AKC events for new dogs and handlers. The dog and handler team move at their own pace through a course of 10 to 20 exercise stations, which are labeled with a sign so that the crowd and handler knows what action the dog needs to perform. The handler can communicate to the dog throughout the entire course and there should always be a sense of teamwork and enthusiasm. Rally was designed with the traditional pet owner in mind, but can still be very challenging for those who enjoy higher levels of competition.