Section VII. Leaving the Ring Was talking to a friend the other day and she said that someone she knew once had her dog run out of the ring and she still qualified. Reason was that the dog ran out *between* exercises. Steward carried the dog back in and they proceeded on to the next exercise. Now - since Rally is pretty much *one continuous exercise*, if a dog should run out of the ring between signs - is that an NQ? I'm not a Judge, but I thought it was against the regs to carry a dog into the obedience ring. Under any circumstance. Should have N/Q - just on that? From the Obedience Judge's Guidelines: (I know it's not Rally, but this may illustrate my point) Misbehavior: A dog which demonstrates uncontrolled behavior must be penalized according to the seriousness of the misbehavior. There is no reference in the Obedience regulations to leaving the ring, nor is it mandatory to award a non-qualifying score to a dog which leaves the ring. If a dog is working smartly and continuously, but goes outside of a ring boundary while completing an exercise, (as opposed to a dog that bolts out of the ring or leaves the ring between exercises), the penalty, if any, is left to the discretion of the Judge If the dog in Rally is working, and say takes a jump then goes out of the ring, but comes back when called, I would not have a problem with that. If the dog is out of control and leaves the ring, I might excuse the dog, but it would depend on the circumstances. My Cavalier once got a placement in Open A after running out of the ring between exercises, and no deductions were made. She thought we were done, and was trying to beat me back to her crate for cookies! She came right back when I called her. This is one issue that will be solely up to the Judge to decide. I had the same thing happen to me in Obedience when Bentley, who tried to visit a baby in a stroller on our way into the ring, just couldn't control himself a second longer when the judge said "exercise finished" on the heel free, he took off OVER the ring gate to go give the baby a kiss (and check out the stroller for food). I was mortified. The judge said "go get your dog" (he tried not to laugh) and we finished the class. Happened between exercises so he was still qualifying. (Had to share-after that episode, Bentley was famous. However, (please excuse my reminiscing) in agility, since it too is one continuous exercise (?) if the dog leaves the ring it's an NQ. I'd say in Rally, it's an NQ. Not necessarily. If the dog leaves the ring, and the handler is able to get him/her back relatively quickly and he/she starts working again, no NQ. If the dog leaves, and won't return, they're excused, and don't finish the run. However, I do feel that a dog that leaves the ring isn't "under control" and should NQ. For more information e-mail us Home ~~ History ~~ AKC ~~ UKC ~~ WWKC ~~ APDT ~~ Guidebook ~~ Links Copyright 2003 by Carawind Web Work. No part of this site may be copied or reproduced in any way without the express written consent of Carawind Web Work.