Special vote on reducing the Rally-O Qualifying Score for Excellent


Rationale 
The recent vote on Remit 11, “Rally-O Qualifying Score for Excellent be Reduced,” offered three options for consideration. Although no individual change option reached the required threshold, collectively 74% of respondents indicated support for change, while 26% supported retaining the current qualifying score.   The Dog Training Committee has listened to this feedback and, to better determine the preferred way forward, has agreed to conduct a further vote between two options:  

Change:       Reduce the Excellent A & B qualifying scores to 98%.

No change:  Retain the current qualifying score.  

Rally-O has evolved significantly over the years, with more complex signs and exercises progressively introduced into the discipline. As a result, achieving the current qualifying score of 100 has become increasingly challenging. It is therefore timely to consider whether the existing qualifying threshold remains appropriate and reflects the Rally-O discipline as it operates today.

The following will remain unchanged
9.4.7 Rally-O Champion Title: requires 100-point scores in both Advanced and Excellent.
9.4.8 Rally-O Grand Champion Title: requires 100-point scores in both Advanced and Excellent.  

For the result to be valid, at least 40% of the eligible Rally-O community must vote.
Participation will be calculated by comparing the number of eligible voting emails issued with the number of votes received.  
That means 168 or more of the 420 eligible Rally-O voters need to vote.

Here is the link to the follow up survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L2TKP8V   

This survey will close at 11:45pm on the 20 November 2026 and the results of the survey will be posted on this web site with links to them placed on the Rally-O Facebook Group.


Dog Training Committee

October 2026 Voting Results

Working Trials 26 responses from a possible 50 = 52%

 

Remit 122.1.10.1 Use of Leads and Collars                92.3% (Pass)
Remit 2Update to Tracking Trials Judging Panels        100% (Pass)
   

Rally-O 175 responses from a possible 469 = 37%

Remit 1 9.4.9 Rally-O Milestone Awards        89.7% (Pass)
Remit 2 3.7.1 Subcommittee Composition     94.7% (Pass)
Remit 3New Signs #36, #37                           84.6% (Pass)
Remit 4New Sign #158                                   73.8% (Pass)
Remit 5New Signs #159, #160                       76.2% (Pass)
Remit 6New Signs #161, #162                       86.3% (Pass)
Remit 7New Sign #262                        57.1% (Fail)
Remit 8New Sign #263                                   86.9% (Pass)
Remit 9New Sign #264                       53.3% (Fail)
Remit 10  Number of Advanced and Excellent signs in an Excellent course be increased  71% (Pass)
Remit 11 Rally-O qualifying score for Excellent be reduced  59% (Fail)
 

Obedience 164 responses from a possible 657 = 25%

Remit 1 Companion Dog (CD) Trial – Temperament Test           85.2% (Pass)
Remit 2 Value of Prizes                                                               78.5% (Pass)
Remit 3 Test C Judges – reduce qualifying score requirement to judge Test C  72.3% (Pass)
Remit 4 Judging Obedience – Exiting the ring                            67.5% (Pass)
Remit 5 Judging Obedience – Exiting the ring                            81.2% (Pass)
Remit 6 Stewards Orders – Exiting the ring                58.7% (Fail)

Links to the text oi the Survey Questions that provided the above results

Working trials Survey link

Rally-O Survey link

Obedience Survey link

August 2026 Discussion Items

These are the links to download the Remits for Discussion in August 2026


August 2026 remits - Rally-O


August 2026 remits - Obedience

  
August 2026 remits - Working Trials

April 2025 Voting Round Results

The results of the April voting round were as follows. Note that all items passed:

Obedience

Item 1: Introduction of Obedience Supreme Champion title and milestones for dogs achieving challenges (75/100,125 etc.) PASS (91.79%)

 

Rally-O

Item 1: Replacement of the words "not qualified" with "disqualified" PASS (81.82%)

 

Working Trials

Item 1: Change for WD, TD article size PASS (90.48%

Item 2: Correction to criteria for the TTI and TT2/3 Judging Panels PASS (95.24%)

Item 3: Change of wording for Cross Tracks in TT3 to clarify the distance the cross tracks should be apart PASS (100%)

 The documents showing the rationales and the details of the regulation changes for the above items can be accessed below along with the Survey Monkey result details:

Voting Items April 2025 - Obedience (detail)

April 2025 Voting Round Obedience Results

Voting Items April 2025 - Rally-O (detail)

April 2025 Voting Round Rally-O Results

Voting Items April 2025 - Working Trials (detail)

April 2025 Voing Round Working Trials Results

October 2024 Voting Items

The following have been included in the October 2024 voting round:
General
•              Item 1: Allowing affiliated breed clubs to become registered dog training societies.
•              Item 2: Not allowing video recordings or photographs to be used to influence a judge’ decision

Obedience
  • Item 1: Allowing the use of dog coats during stays
Rally-O
•              Item 1: To reinforce that knocking a jump bar off does not incur a penalty

The documents showing the rationales and the details of the regulation changes fr the above items can be accessed below:

Voting Items October 2024 - General (detail)

Voting Items October 2024 - Obedience (detail)

Voting Items October 2024 - Rally-O (detail) V2

April 2024 Voting Items

The April 2024 voting round consists of two General items:

General Item 1: Clarification of requirements for regular training by registered Dog Training Societies

General Item 2: Clarification of Show/Event/Trial etc. to remove ambiguity

The document showing the rationales and the details of the regulation changes can be accessed below:

Voting Items April 2024 - General (detail)

October 2023 Voting Items (including results)

The following have been included in the October 2023 voting round:
General
•              Item 1: Addition to responsibilities of the Working Trials Subcommittee
•              Item 2: Addition to responsibilities of the Rally-O Subcommittee
•              Item 3: Change to expand the ability for non-dog training clubs to run Rally-O shows

Rally-O
•              Item 1: Reducing the qualifying score for Rally-Excellent A from 100 to 95
•              Item 2: Clarification of penalties for touching course equipment

Working Trials
•              Item 1: Tracking Trials L1, 2 and 3 Panels – Appointment and Promotion
•              Item 2: Appointment to the Utility Dog Panel – additional criterion
•              Item 3: Mock Trials Regulation for judging probationaries

The documents showing the rationales and the details of the regulation changes can be accessed below:
 Voting Items October 2023 - General (detail)
October 2023 General Voting Round Results

 Voting Items October 2023 - Rally-O (detail)
October 2023 Rally-O Voting Round Results

 Voting Items October 2023 - Working Trials (detail)
October 2023 Working Trials Voting Round Results

April 2023 Voting Results

The results of the April 2023 Voting round were as follows.  Full details will be posted here: https://dogobedience.dogsnz.org.nz/voting%20and%20discussion%20items/

 General (200 votes)
  • Item 1: Voting on regulations changes regarding judging matters: 77.78% (Pass)
  • Item 2: Change of date/time of year for the NDTA to early May: 42.64% (Fail)
  • Item 3: Change to DTC Secretary regulation: 96% (Pass)
  • Item 4: Addition of Treasurer regulation: 97.5% (Pass)
Obedience (221 votes)
  • Item 1: Allowing the use of coats in the Obedience ring: 50.68% (Fail)
  • Item 2: Removing one of the heelwork exercises from Test A: 71.62% (Pass)
  • Item 3: Choice of which heelwork exercise to remove if Item 2 passes: 82.49% for removing on-lead heelwork
This means that from 1 January Test A will only have off-lead heelwork (no on-lead)

  • Item 4: Awarding a Test C challenge for 3rd place if on 295 points or more: 66.97% (Pass)
Rally-O (101 votes)
  • Item 1: Combining Excellent A and Excellent B into a single class: 42.57% (Fail)
The items that passed will come into effect on 1 January 2024.

April 2023 Voting Items

The following items have been included in the April 2023 voting round:
General
  • Item 1: Voting on regulations changes regarding judging matters
  • Item 2: Change of date/time of year for the NDTA
  • Item 3: Change to DTC Secretary regulation
  • Item 4: Addition of Treasurer regulation
Obedience
  • Item 1: Allowing the use of coats in the Obedience ring
  • Item 2: Removing one of the heelwork exercises from Test A
  • Item 3: Awarding a Test C challenge for 3rd place if on 295 points or more
Rally-O
  • Item 1: Combining Excellent A and Excellent B into a single class

The documents showing the rationales and the details of the regulation changes can be accessed below:
Voting Items April 2023 - General (detail)

Voting Items April 2023 - Obedience (detail)

Voting Items April 2023 - Rally-O (detail)


Results

April 2023 General Voting Results

April 2023 Obedience Voting Results

April 2023 Rally-O Voting Results

April 2023 Voting Key Items - Results by Region

October 2022 Voting Results

The results of the October voting round were as follows:

General
      Change to the composition of the Dog Training Committee: Pass (76.98%)
Obedience
      Alternative Pathway for promotion from the Test B to the Test C Judging Panel: Fail (65.38%)
Rally-O
      Item 1: Remove the penalty for the dislodging the jump bar: Pass (76.92%)
      Item 2: Option for judge to omit the jump in Advanced and Excellent: Pass (76.92%)
      Item 3: Add a mandatory penalty for leaving or entering the ring without a lead: Pass (85.71%)
      Item 4: Deletion of Moving Down (sign 131) and replacement with Stop and Down: Fail (62.64%)
      Item 5: Encore Champion Titles: Pass (69.23%)
      Item 6: Encore Grand Champion Titles: Pass (68.13%)
      Item 7: Allow clubs to run more Encore classes if they wish: Pass (69.23%)
      Item 8: Changes to procedure for promotion from Excellent to Encore panel: Pass (85.52%)
      Item 9: Add Rally-O Rapid as optional class: Fail (51.65%)
      Item 10: Add Rally-O Rapid Awards: Fail (49.45%)
      Item 11: Change to eligibility for Novice B (requiring three Advanced qualifications before moving out of Novice B): Pass (70.33%)

October 2022 Voting Items

Below are the documents showing the detailed regulation changes for each of the October 2022 voting items.  Links to the Survey Monkey voting forms will be emailed to eligible voters by the region representatives.  Voting closes on 31 October.

Voting Items October 2022 - General (detail)

Voting Items October 2022 - Obedience (detail)

Voting Items October 2022 - Rally-O (detail)

The results of the October 2022 voting round can be found here: October Voting Results

February 2020 Discussion Items

February 2020 Discussion Items - General
February 2020 Discussion Items - Obedience
February 2020 Discussion Items - Rally-O

April 2019 Voting Items - Working Trials (detail)

Please use the Survey Monkey links provided by your Region Representative to place your votes:
For those unable to vote using Survey monkey you may use the following PDF voting forms and forward them to your region representative:
General Survey Monkey Voting form April 2019

Obedience Survey Monkey Voting form April 2019

Working Trials Survey Monkey Voting form April 2019

April 2018 Voting Round

April 2018 Voting Round Results - Obedience

April 2018 Voting Round Results - Rally-O

April 2018 Voting Items - Obedience (detail)

April 2018 Voting Items - Rally-O (detail)

Please use the Survey Monkey links to place your vote:
Obedience April 2018 Voting Survey

Rally-O April 2018 Voting Survey

For those unable to vote using Survey monkey you may use the following PDF voting forms and forward them to your region representative:
April 2018 Obedience Voting Form PDF

April 2018 Rally-O Obedience Voting Form PDF

April 2017 Voting Round Results

The results of the General and Rally-O April voting were as follows.  All items passed and the regulation changes will be effective from 1 July 2017:
General
Item 1: Change to two-thirds majority for all voting items
97.11% in favour: passed
Item 2: Removal of need for physical marked-up catalogue
92.49 % in favour: passed 
Item 3: Allowing recognised clubs to hold Rally-O ribbon trials instead of (or as well as) obedience ribbon trials
 87.86 % in favour: passed 
Rally-O
Item 1: New Advanced exercise – Forward around pole
 92.05 % in favour: passed 
Item 2: Amendment to Advanced exercise “Halt – Stand”
92.05 % in favour: passed