Kelly Murphy and Wessel, at the Responsible Dog Owner’s Day in New York City September 2004.

My name is Kelly Murphy, and I am 16 years old. I have been training dogs for about ten years. I am currently training my 5-year old Australian Shepherd named Wessel. We began training in Rally-O in 2002, and started competing when it was a non-regular class.

At the obedience club we belong to, Port Chester Obedience Training Club, a bunch of the members began talking about having a trial on the first of January, when Rally became a titled event. I heard all about the planning of this event, and became extremely excited as the date came close.

On the day of the first trial everyone was a little tired, because we had to set up really early since the trial was going to start at eight o'clock. When the first trial started everyone slowly began to wake up because of all the excitement. When Wessel and I were about to go in for our first run we were both a little jittery, partially from excitement and partially from anxiety because this was the first time that our score would really count. Once we got in there though it was really a lot of fun. He really enjoyed it because I was able to talk to him and encourage him the whole time, and that is why I find Rally to be so enjoyable. That afternoon, during the second trial, everyone there was extremely tired, especially some of the dogs, so for some people, like me, the scores were a little bit lower, but not that drastic.

When we came back on the second day everyone was well-rested, and ready for a full day of showing. Wessel and I went in for our final run and did exceptionally well. Then we hung around the ring watching some of the other dogs go in, all of which also did exceptionally well. It was really exciting to see all of the different breeds compete.

The end of the Rally competition was by far the best part of the whole weekend; this is because it was time for the new title ribbons and for the group picture. It was really nice to see all of the different breeds receive their new title ribbons. At the end of the awards all of the photographers that were there wanted to get a large group photo, so they brought all of the qualifiers back into the ring and had everyone sit together with their dogs. Those pictures came out beautifully, because they were a perfect example as to why our club wanted to put on the show, to celebrate the accomplishments that different people have made with so many different dogs.