Kuyu earned his Rally Novice (RN) title in January 2015.  The jump from competition in the Novice Class to the Advanced Class is a big one.  In Novice, the dog works on lead and most of the exercises are in motion.  In the Advanced Class the dog is off lead and many of the signs do not allow the handler to move while directing the dog to make a movement.  Just 2 weeks after earning his RN title Kuyu and Linda made the big step to competing toward his Rally Advanced (RA) title at the Silverbay shows in Del Mar.  It wasn’t necessarily pretty and Kuyu continued to entertain while he sniffed his way around the rings.  But at each sign he was a great teammate and earned 3 qualifying legs and his RA title in 3 days of competition.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kuyu and Linda have been working together for some time preparing to compete in Rally and Obedience.  Qualifying in Rally and Obedience are no easy tasks for Ridgebacks (especially the boys who like to sniff their way around a course).  Three qualifying scores are needed to earn a title in each of these events.  Kuyu earned 2 legs in Rally Novice and his first leg in Beginner Novice Obedience in the spring of 2014.  Titles seemed just around the corner when Linda was seriously injured.  Several months went by before ‘Team Kuyu’ could compete again.  And then there was the need to get back in practice.  Kuyu and Linda re-entered the Rally and Obedience rings in January 2015 in Fresno, CA.   In two days of competing Kuyu earned his last leg in Rally Novice, earning his RN title and he earned two legs in Beginner Novice Obedience capturing his (BN) title.  Once again, Kuyu offered lots of entertainment while he sniffed much of the way around the courses.  The best part of the trip was that Kanzu got to meet his daughter Quinn (Kanzu x Smyth) for the very first time.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Like his dad before him, Kuyu and Linda have been practicing  to compete in Rally and Obedience. Qualifying legs in Rally and Obedience are no easy tasks for Ridgebacks (especially the boys who like to sniff their way around a course).  Three qualifying scores are needed to earn a title in each of these events.  Kuyu made his debut in Rally Novice and Beginner Novice Obedience at the Orange Coast Rhodesian Club Specialty in April 2014 where he earned a leg in Rally.  He was busy guarding and watching the judge in the obedience ring and just missed a Q when it took 3 signals to urge him to return to mom.  At the Bahia Sur Kennel Club Show in Chula Vista in June 2014 he earned his second leg in Rally and his first leg and a 4^th place in Beginner Novice Obedience.  While the Qs were welcome, they were extremely humorous as Kuyu was more interested in sniffing the bunny droppings on the course than lifting his head when he walked the course with Linda.  He has just one more leg to go in Rally for his Rally Novice (RN) title and 2 more legs to go in Beginner Novice Obedience for his BN title.  And, the best part was that after the Bahia Sur shows Kuyu and Kanzu got to celebrate at the Lazy Dog Café in San Diego.