On October 20th at the Bay Area Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (BARRC) Specialty in Northern CA, Kanzu earned his first Obedience Title. The Beginner Novice Optional Titling Class is a transition between Rally and Obedience and combines elements from both sports. Kanzu earned his Rally Novice, Advanced and Excellent titles in 2009. This year we made the jump to obedience.

The Beginner Novice Class includes the following activities: Heal on Leash, Figure Eight, Sit for Exam, Sit Stay, and Recall. All exercises are conducted with the dog on leash with the exception of the recall. The Heal on Leash pattern is established with Rally signs and handlers are allowed to give on verbal encouragement. A dog receives a qualifying score when it earns more than 50 percent of the points for each exercise, with a total of at least 170 points. A perfect score is 200.

Kanzu and Linda’s first attempt at Beginner Novice Obedience was at the Orange Coast Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (OCRRC) B Match in February 2012. Kanzu earned a first place encouraging us to enter a real trial. Our first leg was earned at the OCRRC specialty in April with our second leg in June. At the BARRC trial Kanzu earned a score of 194.5 and a first place. With the 3 qualifying legs Kanzu earned his BN title that adds another set of initials behind his name. Next we will begin work toward his Companion Dog (CD) Obedience title. This competition is performed off lead and requires a group sit and a group down with other dogs.

 
 
For a video demonstrating Beginner Novice Obedience see below

In 2009, Kanzu and Linda worked as a team and earned 3 Rally Obedience Titles. In January, in his very first Rally Trial, Kanzu earned his first of the 3 needed qualifying legs and took a 1st place in rally on the same day he won his second major conformation show in Indio, CA. He earned his Rally Novice title (RN) in February 2009 at the Scottsdale, AZ shows with another 1st place and a 2nd place. He moved up to Rally Advanced competition in June and earned his first leg with a 3rd place, his second leg with a 2nd place and earned his Rally Advanced title (RA) in August 2009 at the Mensona Kennel Club show in Santa Rosa with another 1st place finish. His Rally Excellent (RE) qualifying legs followed rapidly with two 2nd place finishes and he earned his RE title with another 1st place finish at the Cabrillo Kennel Club trial in Del Mar, CA in October 2009.

Kira (CIB CM DC Ahram Bordwalk No More Drama RN MC FCh JOR) is an Ibizan Hound owned by Justin Dannenbring and Curtis Freeling. Kanzu’s “uncle Justin” has been Kanzu’s primary handler in lure coursing, helping Kanzu earn his 2009 Top 10 AKC ranking. Recently Kanzu’s uncle Curtis has begun handling Kanzu in the show ring. So, it was only natural that we would keep it all in the family and Linda would team up with Kira to take her into the Rally Obedience Ring to work toward her Rally Title.

It is believed that the Ibizan Hound’s origins were in ancient Egypt making them another African Treasure with many similarities to the Rhodesian Ridgeback. As primitive sighthounds they have a strong prey drive and cannot be trusted off lead. Like their other sighthound relatives, they are independent and stubborn at times and they are easily bored and have an exceedingly low tolerance for drill. Hence, sighthound owners often joke about being ‘gluttons for punishment’ when they take their visually vigilant, sniffing, nervous, very independent thinking sightounds, who refuse to drill to learn into the ring to compete with the ever-eager-to-please working dogs. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are relatively few sighthounds who compete in Rally or Obedience. In fact, since the sport of Rally Obedience began in 2005 through Dec 2009 only 17 Ibizan Hounds have ever earned a Rally Novice title.

Armed with her experience earning Kanzu’s three Rally titles, Linda saw in Kira a very special girl and took the challenge to take Kira into the rally ring. Kira received her first qualifying leg in Rally Novice at her very first Rally Trial put on by the Cabrillo Kennel Club in Del Mar, CA in October 2009. Her first time in the ring she earned a score of 98, only 2 points away from a perfect score of 100. There was applause all around the ring from many seasoned obedience handlers who had never before seen an Ibizan in the ring. Kira’s second leg came at the Palm Springs Kennel Club show in January, 2010 and she received her RN title at the Inland Empire Kennel Club show in January 2010.

Kira’s Rally Novice title combined with her conformation and field championships assure her a spot in the Ibizan Hound Club of the US Hall of Fame.