I've got a ratter!

[SuzanneRM82]

There are some local ladies who barn hunt and set up a practice ring. They invite all the local dog fanatics out and we all get to practice for a few hours one Saturday or Sunday morning and it's a lot of fun. I usually take Ferg, and I did today but sometimes random stuff will upset him. Somebody brings out a rat in one of those toy ball things, and he was great with it the first two times she brought it out, but the third time he just freaked out and had NO focus all day after that. Sooooooooooo... on a whim I ran home and switched dogs. I had really low expectations for Shark because he normally has no interest in sniffing things unless they'll get him in trouble. He totally blew me away today though! He did the instinct portion twice and seemed to catch on pretty quick. The first time they hid a rat for us he found it in 1:13 (I think at the novice level they have 2 minutes to find the rat) and the second he found in 49 seconds. You can't tell in the video because she was too far away, but he trotted by where the rat was hidden, came to a screeching halt and went RIGHT to it! And he has SUCH a fabulous alert- he flips the tube with his nose, so I don't have to wonder if he's found it like I do with Ferg. If I could just get his ginormous butt to go through one of those tiny little barn hunt titles, I bet he could get a novice title super duper quick. Sorry to ramble, but I am just SO stoked at how great he did today!

https://www.facebook.com/MommaSaurus...711849&qsefr=1

[21softballstar]

Bravo Eisen! That's so cool!

[oshagcj914]

That's awesome - what a smart Shark! Aren't those tunnels like 24" or some thing tiny? Seems discriminatory to me I wanted to try barn hunt with Finn, but I couldn't find it anywhere local. All I can find is obedience and nosework, and I don't think Asaah would have much interest in either of those.

[SuzanneRM82]

That's awesome - what a smart Shark! Aren't those tunnels like 24" or some thing tiny? Seems discriminatory to me I wanted to try barn hunt with Finn, but I couldn't find it anywhere local. All I can find is obedience and nosework, and I don't think Asaah would have much interest in either of those.

Agility tunnels are 24". These are about 18x18! And the more advanced classes have looong tunnels with lots of turns. We might could do novice, which is a straight tunnel, and maybe the next level up, open I think, which only has one turn. We need to go visit grandma Jp so he can practice tunnels and hunting with his auntie. Good hunters clearly run in his family!

[oshagcj914]

Agility tunnels are 24". These are about 18x18! And the more advanced classes have looong tunnels with lots of turns. We might could do novice, which is a straight tunnel, and maybe the next level up, open I think, which only has one turn. We need to go visit grandma Jp so he can practice tunnels and hunting with his auntie. Good hunters clearly run in his family!

So are the tunnels the same size for all dogs? I mean, they change the jump heights for smaller dogs in agility, so why not bigger tunnels for bigger dogs in barn hunt? Or does it have something to do with getting back to the roots of getting around an actual barn to hunt actual rats?

[SuzanneRM82]

So are the tunnels the same size for all dogs? I mean, they change the jump heights for smaller dogs in agility, so why not bigger tunnels for bigger dogs in barn hunt? Or does it have something to do with getting back to the roots of getting around an actual barn to hunt actual rats?

To make the tunnels they turn hay bales on their sides, so it's one bale high. The ladies helping today said a novice tunnel is approximately one Shark long and it's straight, so I'm pretty sure if I could teach him to crawl and to just get his snout in there, he'd go right through. My daughter and I have managed to get Ferg through a 14" tunnel, so I have faith in my Shark!

[emeko]

So are the tunnels the same size for all dogs? I mean, they change the jump heights for smaller dogs in agility, so why not bigger tunnels for bigger dogs in barn hunt? Or does it have something to do with getting back to the roots of getting around an actual barn to hunt actual rats?

That's what I said! Our trainer is starting us with tunnels this week (or she plans to!). I saw the tunnels in her yard this weekend and just laughed hahaha.

[SuzanneRM82]

That's what I said! Our trainer is starting us with tunnels this week (or she plans to!). I saw the tunnels in her yard this weekend and just laughed hahaha.

How big is Peach? Ferg scoots right through agility tunnels. Eisen got stuck on his first try lol.

[emeko]

She's 33 inches, 126 pounds. I mean, I'm sure she *could* physically fit, I'm just not sure we'll convince her of that.

[DANEger]

Love seeing giant breeds doing this! My doggie PT does this with his mastiffs....They are not the fastest, but focused!

[SuzanneRM82]

She's 33 inches, 126 pounds. I mean, I'm sure she *could* physically fit, I'm just not sure we'll convince her of that.

Lots and lots of chicken! With Fergus we started out with the tunnel squished down really short. Trainer held him at the front, I stuck my head in the end and called him. She tossed chicken to start him, I tossed it to get him all the way through. It took about 3 times and he was going through it fully extended. The only thing that made me laugh was that he would sometimes stop about halfway through and have a rest lol.

Love seeing giant breeds doing this! My doggie PT does this with his mastiffs....They are not the fastest, but focused!

I think Shark turned out to be the fastest big dog there yesterday. He was on a mission for sure! One of his breeders brings her Dane bitch(Shark's auntie) out to hunt usually too and she is freaking amazing! The last time I went (with Fergus) her and an 11 year old retired American Cocker stole the show! I like watching the old guy go out there and kick butt.

[MeMyselfAndI]

This is awesome, congrats! I was really hoping to do barn hunt too but unfortunately it didn't work out. Mine loved going through the hay tunnel but had zero interest in sniffing out the rat lol.

[SuzanneRM82]

Wanted to update: Eisen attended his second ever barn hunt practice this morning. We only took one run through the masters/senior level ring set up with 2 rats hidden, but he did so super awesome! We went to the novice ring to practice the straight tunnel. My daughter & I were both in there with him and we got him about half way through there when he decided to back out. There's a trial a couple hours from me next month and I'm giving some thought to entering him. Even if we can't get the tunnel portion down by then, I might enter him in the instinct test and go watch everybody else. I already have a travel buddy lined up and it's just a day trip, so...