I have two questions:
Is a six month old puppy too young to start a beginning Rally class?
What are the major differences between AKC and APDT competitions?
Can the same dog be successful in both venues, or do you think it would be too confusing for the dog?
Ok, there were three questions!

No Probem as long as you don't get confuse. It's all the same just know your rules. You can show a dog when he is 6mos old in Rally /Obed.
Go on the AKC website all the rules are there, and check out the APDT site.
Good Luck & Happy Heeling

"No Probem as long as you don't get confuse."

Ahhh, the million dollar question. We've NQ'd a few times in the AKC rally because of MY confusion!

Thanks!

I have a boy that I kept more for personal reasons than him being a show pick, and he was trained right away on rally moves. I just incorporated them into his standard training. He's a year now, and he'll be competing soon.

If you train for competetive OB, you can start with your CGC, then go to Rally, then finish off with a CD, and progress from there.

""No Probem as long as you don't get confuse."

Ahhh, the million dollar question. We've NQ'd a few times in the AKC rally because of MY confusion!"

Ain't that the truth? I've shown only 4 times in Rally RN and only NQed once, but almost every point we lost was MY fault, not my dog's!

Both my dogs have RN titles and every point we lost were my error. When Trey was 4 months old, my friend who is a trainer ran him in a fun match and he took fourth place! Just goes to show if the handler knows what their doing the dog can do it! She made everything really fun for him and talked to him the whole time, which is really the point of rally. Have fun with your dog!!!

Thank you!

And I am glad to hear I am not the only one who got confused!

I have 3 dogs titled i both AKC and APDT rally. Merlin has his RE and his Level 1 and 2 APDT and will most likely finish his level 3 and his Arch this weekend in APDT.

The dogs don't get confused, the handlers do. APDT has more signs per course, and tougher things on courses including drop on recall, signals and directed jumping by Level 3. APDT you can treat, at a stationary sign, but don't drop the food or let the dog spit it out

My favorite, he carried the treat for 12 stations or so, spit it out, under the jump and took out the jump , NQ'ing us to get the treat , feeding is not all its cracked up to be

AKC has shorter courses, less difficulty. You can start at any age in AKC, 6 mos in APDT, APDT even has puppy classes. And Veteran classes for those at the other end of competitive life.

Barb