Can anyone link me to some good sites on Rally/how to teach it please? It's something my club is considering but we don't know where to start (and because we're not on the mainland, we can't just nip to another club for help!)

Thanks!

After doing a few classes I got a book  The Ultimate Guide to Rally-O by Debra Eldredge (amazon).

Thank you :)

Feel free to send me a message if you have any specific questions about Rally. I've done quite a bit of Rally in the States and would be more than happy to help out. The book mentioned above is a good one. You can find quite a bit of information about it on the AKC website:
http://www.akc.org/events/rally/getting_started.cfm

And you can find a score sheet and all of the signs here:
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf

Ooh, Jersey, how nice! APDT rally www.apdt.co.uk is sort of out west. Then there's TD Rally www.talkingdogsrally.co.uk which is Cambridge, Norfolk, Hampshire, Kent sort of patches. And there's also PDRO rally janetwest-rallytraining.co.uk which is Suffolk & Essex. The signs and rules are slightly different for each, but it's similar enough that we've competed successfully in all three - my girls have APDT titles, TD championships, and are about to gain their PDRO championships hopefully! I know Becky & Pam from the TD Rally club are always thrilled to go to clubs and give them introductory courses and tips on how to train successfully. :-)

ps TD and PDRO also have facebook pages, not sure about APDT.

Thanks everyone :) We've got a couple of weeks left of term, then we break up for the summer, so over the summer the trainers are going to get together and hash it all out. Our club's aim is very much to include as many dogs (and handlers!) as possible and although the club was initially started for juniors, it welcomes everyone and Rally seems like something that'll be all inclusive.

Am I right that we'll start off by teaching the class what each sign is, and work on each aspect, before when they seem ready they move onto the test? I am not sure that we'll be able to get to the mainland for a starter class (or have someone over) before we want to start.

You can download all the signs and other info here http://www.apdt.co.uk/ukrally.asp
I would do it soon as the KC is taking over and will probably not let you have everything for free!!

Start with the simple signs, go through how each sign is performed and do a little simple course.  Then introduce different signs each week, adding them into a course, until all level one has been done.  Then you can have fun inventing courses!

The KC won't be taking over TD though, we're staying independent and are less fussy about it than APDT - their rally is much closer to traditional obedience than TD in my opinion. And yes, as Toller says, start with the easy signs (stop sit, stop sit down) etc, then move gradually through the similar ones (270 left, 270 right) and so on. Then start linking 3 or 4 together, gradually building up to a course. If you get as far as competing, you would probably want to have someone over or visit the mainland just to make sure you haven't inadvertently taught too small a circle or too sharp a turn, for example. I used to lose loads of points in TD for doing APDT style turns! TD have a course manual you can buy which gives lots of nice course examples. Just think, if you started doing TD in Jersey, we'd all have to have a holiday over there and compete in your trials! :-D

You should come over next Summer for our big 2-day breed show :D Judges are Frank Kane and Liz Cartlidge.. :D

Ooh, Frank Kane liked my girl at DD a few years back. Throw in a rally trial and I'd be trying to talk hubby into it for sure! :-D