Rally obedience is another form of showing off dog training through competition. Rally dog training prepares dog and handler teams to perform certain short exercises on a timed course. The emphasis is on teamwork between dog and handler. Rally is less formal and offers more fun than traditional obedience competition. It is a level up everyday obedience training.

Dogs are not required to hold stays at a distance from their owners or work in close proximity to other dogs. Handlers are allowed to talk and gesture to their dogs throughout the course and point deductions are not taken for minor errors, although errors deemed over 1 point in severity are scored. Handlers are allowed to re-perform stations if they are unhappy with the way they performed it the first time, although they do take a point deduction for doing so. The course is timed, but time only comes into play if it is necessary to break ties for the top four class placements. There are many exercises that are used to train for a rally obedience competition.