Border Collie Rain wins AKC Rally National Championship title

Border Collie Rain won the 2026 AKC Rally National Championship at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, Ohio, putting a high-drive breed back in the spotlight at one of AKC’s marquee dog-sport events. The title came during the July 16-19 championship week and landed in a sport built on teamwork, accuracy, and fast thinking under pressure.

Rally is scored as a team performance between handler and dog on a numbered course of exercises, and that format rewards clean communication as much as athleticism. Rain’s win fit that profile. In rally, a dog has to stay responsive through a sequence of signs, transitions, and changes in pace while the handler keeps the run organized and efficient. For a Border Collie, the challenge is not just speed but control, because the best runs are the ones that look composed even when the work is demanding.

The national title also carried the weight of the event itself. AKC says it stages about 22,000 events each year across its sports, and the Rally National Championship sits among the standout championships on that calendar. AKC catalog material shows the event has a longer history too, with a 4th AKC Rally National Championship in 2017 and a 9th championship in 2022, evidence of a series that has become a regular proving ground for the sport’s top teams.

Rain’s win continued a pattern of strong Border Collie performances at the nationals. Border Collie Zayne won the 2023 AKC Rally National Championship, while Norwood Color Me Zayne, handled by Kim Berkley, took the 2022 title. The 2025 champion was Golden Retriever Tara, a reminder that the title can move across breeds, but Border Collies have stayed near the center of the conversation when the course demands drive paired with discipline.

AKC identifies Diane Schultz as director of Obedience, Rally & Tracking, and the championship page also features Karen Su among the people pictured around the event. For handlers of hyperenergetic dogs, Rain’s title is the kind of result that makes rally so compelling: it turns intensity into a job, channels energy into a sequence of precise decisions, and leaves no doubt that a focused dog can own a national stage.