Here’s a video of Photon and me doing our practice rally-o trial at our last class yesterday.
I’ve annotated all the stations so you can see what we’re supposed to be doing. Halfway through at the Halt — Call Front — Finish Left station Photon immediately started going right instead of left, so we redid that move. Near the end where Photon was supposed to lie down she didn’t quite do it—and popped up early as well—so we redid that move as well. If this had been a real trial, redoing a move would only cost us 3 points or so (out of a total possible score of 200), whereas going on without properly completing a station would’ve disqualified us.
Please note that I’m leading Photon’s nose with my left hand a lot; I never had food in my hand during moves. In rally-o you’re only allowed to use food for rewards after each station is completed; you’re not allowed to use food to lure the dog into position. However, because of Photon’s behaviour during the previous week’s class (totally ignored me in favour of licking crumbs on the floor) I used the ne plus ultra of dog treats: smoked salmon! And can I help it if my hand was (as far as Photon was concerned) delightfully smelly?