Front & Finish^®
2017 Rally Combined Rating System
Compiled by Dave Pluth
Ratings Editor

Tracie Kolnsberg & Jelly Bean Top The List
Second Year in a Row!

Click Here To View The Entire Front & Finish^® Rally Combined Report

It is a sincere pleasure to provide the Rally Combined Ratings for the 2017 competition year.  A great deal of work is required to prepare these results for the fancy.  In this regard we are indebted to Dave Pluth (Chaska, Minnesota), who volunteers his time and talent to tabulate these results for the fancy.  Dave’s excellence in providing accurate findings is unparalleled by any previous tabulation method we have ever used.  To date, Dave has provided these results for three years without error.  Considering the thousands of records that must be tabulated this is an impressive feat.  Thank you Dave!

Protocol for Tabulation & Publication

The Front & Finish^® Rally Combined Rating System ranks dogs and handlers competing in AKC Rally Advanced and Excellent all breed competition.  Among teams that place in these classes, one point is earned for each dog defeated.  For example in a class of twenty competing teams the first place winner would earn 19 points as it defeated this number of other dogs.  The team in second place would receive 18 points, the third place team would earn 17 points, and the fourth place team would earn16 points.  After points in each class are determined they are compiled across a given competition year.

Ratings are published by Front & Finish^® listing the top ten dogs ranking highest across all breeds (Top Ten All Breed), the top ten dogs ranking highest within their respective groups (Top Ten By Group), and the top ten dogs ranking highest by breed (Top Ten By Breed).  All dogs tying for a given position are listed. Dogs are listed with the recognized AKC titles they received during the competition year and may not reflect current titles at the time of publication.  

Click Here To View The Entire Front & Finish^® Rally Combined Report

Copyright Notice

All material in this report is the property of Front & Finish LLC., publishers of Front & Finish^®, The Dog Trainer's News. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner whatsoever, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC, is a violation of copyright law. Users may not distribute such copies to others, in any manner or form, or for any consideration, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute this information can be made by writing to Front & Finish LLC, 2310 US Highway 150 North, Wataga, IL 61488-9520; or by sending an email to dogs@frontandfinish.com

To view more ratings please visit our Members Page!

Front & Finish® 2017 Delaney Ratings Lynn & Tapper Top All  "OTCH Sunfire's What's On Tap UDX31 OGM GN GO" Picked by Joe… Showcased by Lynn…

The Delaney Rating System compares performances of dogs in AKC all breed obedience competition. This system was originally devised by Kent Delaney, a highly respected obedience and breed judge.  The philosophy of the Delaney Rating System is that teams placing in each class are the best performers and comparisons of teams should only include these participants.  Therefore this system only ranks dogs that place first through fourth in Open and Utility classes.  Novice class dogs are not included in this system.

Among teams that place, one point is earned for each dog defeated in a given class.  For example in a class of twenty competing teams the first place winner would earn 19 points as it defeated this number of other dogs.  The team in second place would receive 18 points, the third place team would earn 17 points, and the fourth place team would earn16 points.  After points in each class are determined they are compiled across a given competition year.

Ratings published by Front & Finish^® list the top ten dogs ranking highest across all breeds (Top Ten All Breed), the top ten dogs ranking highest within their respective groups (Top Ten By Group), and the top ten dogs ranking highest by breed (Top Ten By Breed).  Dogs must earn a minimum of four points in a given year to be listed and all ties for a given position are reported.  Dogs are listed with the recognized AKC titles they received during the competition year and they may not reflect a dog’s current titles at the time of publication.

Top Ten All Breed Contenders

Click Here To View The Entire Front & Finish^® Delaney Ratings Report

Copyright Notice

All material in this report is the property of Front & Finish LLC., publishers of Front & Finish^®, The Dog Trainer's News. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner whatsoever, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC, is a violation of copyright law. Users may not distribute such copies to others, in any manner or form, or for any consideration, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute this information can be made by writing to Front & Finish LLC, 2310 US Highway 150 North, Wataga, IL 61488-9520; or by sending an email to dogs@frontandfinish.com

To view more ratings please visit our Members Page!

Front & Finish^® 2016 Delaney Ratings

TOP TEAM...
OTCH Sunfire’s What’s On Tap UDX19 OGM GN GO & Lynn Heidinger

"Tapper is a very special dog and I’m sure Joe is smiling down.”    ~ Lynn

Top Four All Breed Contenders

Click Here To View The Entire Front & Finish® Delaney Ratings Report

Copyright Notice

All material in this report is the property of Front & Finish LLC., publishers of Front & Finish^®, The Dog Trainer's News. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner whatsoever, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC, is a violation of copyright law. Users may not distribute such copies to others, in any manner or form, or for any consideration, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute this information can be made by writing to Front & Finish LLC, 2310 US Highway 150 North, Wataga, IL 61488-9520; or by sending an email to dogs@frontandfinish.com

To view more ratings please visit our Members Page!

Front & Finish^® 2016 Open A Ratings

Eldorado's Magnum P. I. CDX BN GN GO RN TD ACT1, Flynn, will be three in June.  In his short life he has gotten me through some tough times and has been the light of my life.  Flynn finished his CDX  in three straight trials and three straight wins!!  (197.5; 198; 195.5)  

He continues to amaze me with his work ethic, enthusiasm and sheer joy for life.  He loves to train, which is great 'cause so do I...but he also has an off switch which is equally as important, 'cause so do I!  No matter what I ask him to do, he's willing to give it a try and to do his best!  

At the Clarion trail 2015, he tied in Novice with a 198, and won the run off to win the Novice class... Then had to run off later that day for HIT against Fred Hulme's Cooper, (one of the top, if not the number 1, obedience Golden's in the country at that time).  To my disbelief, he won the head to head run off!  What a thrill!  But what really impressed me is that he was as enthusiastic and comfortable with the last run as he was for the first one which is great for a green dog!

He earned his tracking title at the Golden National in October of 2015.  But I wondered , was it just a fluke?  I x also entered him in the Golden Triangle tracking test, as a backup and since the test didn't fill, I decided to run him again.  And again, he passed.  This track was significantly more difficult.  The first leg was 200 yards straight up a hill, right over a ground hog hole... he nailed it!  

Our journey has just begun, Flynn and I are looking forward to having lots of fun throughout his career.  I have so many people to thank for our success.  Chris Browning for breeding such a wonderful dog and entrusting him to me.   Gayle Geiger who mentored and encouraged us through tracking.  While Fred Hulme has never worked with Flynn he taught me the basics and provided a good foundation for our  obedience training.  Ted Walshesky, also has never worked with Flynn, but  has offered innovative training advise to help us over problem areas.   And Rick Hood has worked tirelessly week in and week out to help us bring out our  best.  Thank you all.    

~Peggy Bowers

Click Here To View The Entire Open A Ratings Report

Copyright Notice

All material in this report is the property of Front & Finish LLC., publishers of Front & Finish^®, The Dog Trainer's News. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner whatsoever, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC, is a violation of copyright law. Users may not distribute such copies to others, in any manner or form, or for any consideration, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute this information can be made by writing to Front & Finish LLC, 2310 US Highway 150 North, Wataga, IL 61488-9520; or by sending an email to dogs@frontandfinish.com

To view more articles please visit our Members Page!

First Above All Others
Marcia Dawson & Standard Schnauzer
CH Oakwood Thousand Memories UDX OM2
BN GN VER RAE3 AX AXJ OF THDN RATN

His registered name is Oakwood Thousand Memories and his call name is Kylan.  My dog names had always been after composers: Maestro Copland, Maestro Mozart and Maestro Bernstein.  He was to be named Maestro Bach with a call name of Sebastian.  But when a month after he was born my Dad passed away, all name plans changed.  My Dad had been quite an athlete and was called “Lanky” by all his sports friends.  I couldn’t call this breed dog “Lan-ky” so turned it around to “Ky-lan.”  Oakwood from the kennel who bred him and Thousand Memories from the many, many wonderful years spent at my parents’ summer home in the Thousand Islands in New York State.  It was because of my Dad and his love of dogs that he trained and hunted with that I came to love them, too.  

Kylan was shown in Rally to help us in the obedience ring.  He tends to get very distracted and doesn’t settle down to the building until the second day.  I’d thought that showing him in Rally, which often precedes his obedience turn, would help his attention issue because I could talk to him and remind him of his responsibility.  But along the way I came to really enjoy the competitors, the judges and the challenge of the Rally courses and continued on long past my original plan.

I need to thank Linda McConnell (Oakwood Kennel) for selling me this incredibly funny, talented, smart, loyal, affectionate, personable and beautiful boy.  A well-bred Standard Schnauzer can do it all and Kylan exemplifies that with titles in breed, obedience, Rally, agility, herding, Barnhunt and therapy.  In our spare time Kylan is a therapy dog at the Veteran’s Hospital in Albany, NY, which is the only place where I call him “Lanky” in honor of my Dad who was a WWII veteran.  

Thank you Front & Finish for this recognition.  My first competition dog, a Miniature Schnauzer named Maestro Copland, won a Novice A class and was awarded a subscription to your magazine and I’ve never missed an issue since. 

Top Four All Breed Contenders

Click Here To View The Entire Rally Combined Ratings Report

Copyright Notice

All material in this report is the property of Front & Finish LLC., publishers of Front & Finish^®, The Dog Trainer's News. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect these materials. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner whatsoever, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC, is a violation of copyright law. Users may not distribute such copies to others, in any manner or form, or for any consideration, without prior written consent of Front & Finish LLC. Requests for permission to reproduce or distribute this information can be made by writing to Front & Finish LLC, 2310 US Highway 150 North, Wataga, IL 61488-9520; or by sending an email to dogs@frontandfinish.com

To view more articles please visit our Members Page!