Who can do Barn Hunt?
ANY dog can do Barn Hunt! It doesn't matter if it is purebred or mixed breed. It doesn't matter if you don't have any other kind of registration or paperwork.
However, dogs must register with Barn Hunt LLC to participate. It is not a difficult process and they don't ask you for any kind of verification process - you could register Snoopy if you wanted to...you just might have a hard time getting him to show up at the trials.
What is Barn Hunt?
Almost every dog, deep down inside, retains some level of hunting instinct. For most dogs, they never get a chance to use it, or end up using it in destructive or dangerous ways like digging up your yard or chasing cars. Barn Hunt is a way to channel your dog's hunting instinct in a way that is fun and safe for both you and your dog.
The idea of Barn Hunt is very simple: put live rats
in PVC-pipe tubes with air holes, hide them in bales of straw, and
then let your dog sniff them out. This may seem strange or
even gross to you if you are not fond of rodents, but there is a
good chance your dog will love it.
The rats used in Barn Hunt are not harmed in any
way. The Barn Hunt clubs take extreme care to ensure their
rats are healthy and happy; special "Rat Wranglers" are designated
at every trial whose sole job is to ensure that the dogs don't roll
the tubes in their exuberance and to ensure the rats are handled
gently. In fact, at many clubs dedicated to Barn Hunt you get
the feel that it is more of a rat enthusiast club than a dog
enthusiast club! I have two rats of my own that I acquired to
practice Barn Hunt with, and they seem to look at practice as an
exciting adventure - they immediately hop into the tubes on their
own when I present them the opportunity, and they are not eager to
get out when I put them back in their cage. They seem to
enjoy teasing the dogs. When the dogs sniff at their cage
they chase the dogs' noses around the bars of the cage. If my
rats are traumatized by the life of a Barn Hunt rat, they sure
don't show it.
The Barn Hunt website contains everything you need to do Barn Hunt; I am not going to repeat the rules in detail here. Also, a thorough briefing on procedures is given before every trial. I will simply outline some key elements of Barn Hunt with the goal of giving a basic understanding of how Barn Hunt works.
The offical rules for Barn Hunt can be found here.
A FAQ on Barn Hunt can be found here.
Classes of Competition
In Barn Hunt there are five classes (Instinct, Novice, Open, Senior, and Master) which are each further divided by the height of the dog:
Small: 13" and under
Medium: 13.1" to 18"
Large: 18.1" and taller
Height is measured from the dog's withers (top of
the shoulder bone, which is usually behind the base of the neck) to
the ground. The owner.handler is responsible for measuring
the dog and entering it in the right height class. If the
judge feels the dog is in the wrong class, the judge can require
the dog to be measured. Also, any competitor can request that
the judge measure his/her own, or anybody else'e dog. I have
never seen a dog measured at a Barn Hunt trial; just do the best
you can and be reasonable when making the entry; if you are unsure
you can ask for your dog to be measured and you will almost
certainly be allowed to move to the correct height division if you
were mistaken on the entry. The Barn Hunt people tend to be
super nice to newcomers.
Awards are given for first through fourth place in
each height division for each class except Instinct, based on how
fast the dog finds the rat, provided the dog receives a qualifying
score. For example, the second fastest qualifying dog in the
medium height division in Novice class will get a Second Place
ribbon as well we a qualifying ribbon. Usually the fastest
dog in the class regardless of height will also get a "High In
Class" ribbon.
Rules for height divisions can be found on page 17 of
the Barn Hunt rulebook.
Instinct
The most fundamental level is the Instinct Test.
You are not required to have the Instinct title or to enter
Instinct in order to enter Novice. You can get your
Novice title before Instinct, or choose not to get the Instinct
title at all.
Instinct is always set up the same way. It has a
short tunnel and some straw bales. You can encourage your dog
to go through the tunnel or climb the straw bales as practice for
Novice, but it is not required.
There are three tubes in Instinct. One contains
the rat with some litter (wood chips or shredded cloth). One
contains just litter that has recently been used by rats, but is
currently unoccupied. And the third tube is empty and
clean.
The tubes are not hidden - they are laid out in a
line about two feet apart. You can point to the tubes and
encourage your dog to sniff them. The point of Instinct is to
(1) give you some idea of how your dog reacts to a rat, and (2)
help you dog understand that you want him or her to look for the
smell of the rat and (3) let your dog know that something very
exciting is in those tubes, so it will be motivated to find the rat
in Novice.
To earn the Instinct title (RAT-I) you, the
handler, must correclty identify the tube with the rat in
it within one minute of either you or your dog leaving the starting
box (whichever happens first). Notice that you, the handler,
must identify the rat. Even if your dog is pawing and howling
at a specific tube, you will not get a qualifying score unless you,
the handler, clearly identify the tube as containing the rat.
In theory, you could guess and your dog would get the title without
doing anything. In practice, you won't know which tube
contains the rat without your dog's help...unless the rat sticks
its little nose thorugh one of the holes and you happen to see it,
which may or may not have ever happened to me
before!
If you call the incorrect you do not qualify; you
only get one chance to call the correct tube. However, you
are encouraged to show your dog the correct tube and get very
excited and praise the dog for showing interest in the tube after
the judge tells you which tube the rat is in.
Your dog only needs one qualifying score in Instinct to get
the RAT-I title, which can then be added to the end of his/her
name. Check your BHA account after a few weeks to see if they
have your title certificate for you!
Novice
Novice is where the real hunting begins. The
judge will set up the course in any arrrangement s/he likes, within
the limits of the rules (they are limited to a certain number of
bales and can only stack the bales two high, for
example).
The judge then hides three tubes somewhere in the
straw. The three tubes are again Empty, Litter, and
Rat. The course will include a short tunnel.
You and your dog have two minutes to complete three requirements: (1) your dog must go entirely through the tunnel from one end to the other and (2) your dog must climb the straw bales so that all four feet are on the straw bale for at least a moment. The judge will clearly call "Tunnel" and "Climb" when these requirements are satisfactorily accomplished.
The third requirement is actually YOUR
responsibility. Like Instinct, you, the handler, must
correctly identify the tbe with the rat (or identify the location
where the tube is hidden with enough accuracy to reasonably believe
that you know where the tube is). You are not allowed to
touch the straw and the tubes will usually not be readily visible,
so you have almost zero chance of identifying the correct tube
unless your dog tells you where it is. However, if your dog
showed interest in a spot and you are running out of time, you can
guess that spot and if you guess correctly and your dog completes
the climb and tunnel within two minutes, your dog will get a
qualifying score.
If you call the incorrect tube you do not qualify; you only get one
chance to call the correct tube. Again, you are encouraged to
show the correct tube to your dog and praise him or her for showing
interest in it.
Your dog needs three qualifying scores in
Novice to get the RAT-N title, which can then be added to the end
of his/her name. Check your BHA account after a few weeks to
see if they have your title certificate for you!
Open, Senior, Master...
The Open, Senior, and Master classes introduce more
difficulty by increasing the number of tubes. Your dog must
have the RAT-N title before progressing to Open, and so on for
Seior and Master.
In Open, there is one empty tube, two litter tubes,
and two rat tubes. There will be more hay bales and they will
be stacked higher, and the tunnel will have a turn in it.
Your dog must complete the Climb and Tunnel as before, but now you
must correctly identify both rat tubes in the time
allowed.
In Senior you again have more tubes: one empty, three
litter, and four rats. You also have more turns in the
tunnel, and more bales of hay, stacked higher.
In Master, you have more of everything, but one key challenge is that now you have ten tubes, but you no longer know how many tubes contain rats - there can be anywhere from one to five tubes with rats! Your dog must find and indicate to you which tubes contain rats, and your dog must indicate to you, somehow, that there are no more tubes with rats. I personally have not gotten to this level and am a bit in awe of how this is done...but plenty of dog/handler teams have done it!
After earning the RAT-M title you can continue
competing in Master class. Ten additional qualifying scores
give you your RATCH (Rat Champion) title. As a Champion-level
title, this title precedes your dog's name. Ten additional
qualifying scores in RAT-M get a RATCHX title, and then each set of
ten adds a number, ie, RATCHX2, RATCHX3, etc.
The Barn Hunt webpage usually features
whatever dog/handler team currently holds the highest title, or you
can look at the title statistics to
see the dogs that have attained each level. If your dog earns
a title, you will be listed there, too!
How to get started:
(1) To participate in
Barn Hunt you must register with Barn Hunt LLC so that they can
track your entries and accomplishments.
Read the info under the "Dog Registration" heading
(green cursive script) and then click on "Click here to Register
Your Dog(s)!" which is in black cursive script three paragraphs
down.
They do not send you a bunch of unwanted emails;
in fact, I think the only email I ever got from them was my
registration confirmation.
It costs $26 dollars as of January 2015.
This is very reasonable for this type of thing.
(2) They say it can take up to 48 hours to get your number but for me it took less than an hour. Make sure you write down your BHA numbers and your username/password for the BHA account; they will confirm qualifying scores and titles on this account and they will send your certificates to this account. You are now ready to enter a show.
(3) Consider attending a training class or clinic. Clinics and fun tests are listed on the BHA Events page:
(a) Wait for the page to
load. It can take a second or two.
(b) Check "CL" and "FT" for the event
type.
(c) The calendar will automatically update to show clinics and fun tests only.
(d) You can narrow the search by date and location.
You can also try to find a Barn Hunt Club in your
area that may offer training classes. There is a Club Map on
the Barn Hunt website that can hep you find something near
you. Or you can try googling "Barn Hunt Club" plus the name
of your state.
Another way to find training opportunities is to search for local trials (same as above but check "TR" for event type), and then see who is hosting the trial. Usually, clubs that host trials also offer classes. Sometimes you may have to be a member of that club to attend the classes. For example, Columbus All-Breed Training Club has Barn Hunt Classes for members only. Classes are free for members, so the annual membership fee is an amazing deal fro all the classes you could want. You can also attend a Barn Hunt Trial and just meet people; many of them will be locals who can tell you where to go to get training.
(4)
Enter a Barn Hunt Trial! You can enter a Barn Hunt Trial with
zero training - that is what I did! But you will be more
likely to get a qualifying score on your first try if you have
training first.
To enter a trial, check "TR" on the BHA
Events calendar and find one near you. I have found that
the Barn Hunt-only trials offered at small training facilities are
easier than the ones offered at large, multidiscipline events and
held in county fair buildings.
VERY IMPORTANT: Nearly every
event will require you to pre-register, usually two weeks or more
ahead of time.
If you want to try Barn Hunt, you
will have to plan more than three weeks in advance to include time
to receive your registration number, and time to mail your entry
in.
Once you have picked an event that you want to go to, you need to find the Premium List. The Premium List contains all the information you need for that trial, including the entry form and where to send it.
If you have some training, you probably have an idea of what you should enter. If you do NOT have training, I recommend entering either JUST Instinct, or entering Instinct and Novice on one day only. That will give you an idea of how the trial works as well as whether or not your dog will be able to do it without any further training. Aerial got Instinct on her first try with no training, but had no clue in Novice for two trials. Lexi didn't seem to have any interest in Instinct on her first try, but then, partly through sheer luck, she got a qualifying score on her second Novice trial with no other training. Huda got Instinct and Novice immediately on her very first try. You can't really predict how your dog will react to smelling a rat for the first time.
(5)
Check to make sure your entries were received. Usually you
will receive an email within a week of the trial closing date
confirming your entry, but these are often run by volunteers with
busy lives. If you haven't heard anything about a week after
closing, check with the Trial Secretary listed in the Premium
List. You can also check with the Trial Secretary on the day
of closing to make sure your entries were received.
You should receive an email or letter that
includes your dog's number, information on the running order, and
other information pertinent to the trial.
(6)
Have fun and meet people at the trial! You might not get
qualifying scores at your first trial, especially if you were not
able to attend any training classes. Don't lose heart.
Meet people. Find training classes, or people who have the
equipmetn to train at home. Learn how the trials work.
Learn how your dog responds to the trial environment.
A few things about the trials:
(a) Get there a little earlier than you think you have to.
(b) Bring a crate or be prepared to leave your dog in the car or with another person; usually you cannot have your dog with you during the briefing. There is usually a crating area available.
(c) Sometimes they have food or dog items
for sale, but not always. Bring some treats for your dog and some
snacks for yourself. And bring water!!
(d) Pick up after your dog!
Often clubs are renting the facilities from another club or from
the county. They will get in trouble if the grounds get
messed up, and may have to find another location for their next
trial. This drives up costs and might force them to move
further away. There will ALWAYS be a designated area for you
to take your dog. Seriously, if you can't pick up after your
dog maybe you shouldn't have a dog.
(e) Respect the other rules the club sets
and be cooperative. The entry fees you paid usually go
towards the facility, paying the judge, flying the judge to the
event and paying for their hotel and food, paying to use the
facility, and some amount goes to BHA for administering the entire
sport of Barn Hunt. The entry fees usually do NOT go to staff
the event, other than the judge - these trials are staffed with
club members who volunteered to give up their day so you and your
dog can have fun.
Hopefully that covers the basics to help you get
started in Barn Hunt. Have fun and Happy Hunting!
IMPORTANT: How to watch Barn
Hunt!
The key aspect of Barn Hunt is that the handler must use the dog's cues to correctly identify the tubes with rats in them. This, unfortunately, means a careless spectator can ruin a good run and even get the dog/handler disqualified by indicating - even unintentionally - where the rat is hidden.
For example, if you know the rat is hidden in a particular corner, and you groan as the dog walks away from that corner, your vocalization gave a clue to the wherabouts of the rat, which constitutes coaching from outside the ring. The handler/dog team will be disqualified through no fault of their own.
Similarly, getting ready to take a picture or showing any other sign of excitment when the dog gets close to the rat can get the team disqualified.
Also, dogs have between one minute (Instinct) and
four minutes, thirty seconds (Master) to accomplish some difficult
tasks. If a dog becomes distracted by you or your dog outside
the ring, you could cost the team precious time that could lead to
a non-qualifying run.
So if you have kids, please make sure they
understand this. People spend a lot of money and time
training for Barn Hunt; they will not be happy if you, your child,
or your dog causes them to fail to qualify.
Here are some general rules for observing Barn Hunt.
Some thoughts on training and trialing...
The following are just some of my own strategies for training and trials.
(1) Don't waste time trying to get your dog to climb or go through the tunnel until after you have correctly identified the rat. Most of the time my dogs hit the tunnel, the climb, or both on their own just while searching for the rat. They are usually pretty eager to start searching and you interrupt and often lose this eagerness trying to get them to go in a direction that probably is not the direction of the rat.
(2) I have heard that adult male rats have the strongest smell and young females have the lightest smell. I have heard that a tube containing litter used by an adult mae may smell more like rat to your dog than tubes containing actual live young female rats. If you can train for this kind of variety in scent, it would be worthwhile.
(3) A bale of straw is about $4. It is worth
it to get about six bales to build a tunnel at home and teach your
dog the commands "tunnel" and climb" and to get them used to the
scent and feel of the bales, even if you don't have rats to train
with. Get straw, not hay, as hay is more expensive and smells
different. Aerial's primary challenge when we started Barn
Hunt was that she thought the straw smelled more interesting than
the rat. Lexi required considerable confidence training
before she would put all four feet on the bale of straw as required
for the climb because the bales did not feel solid or stable to
her. Don't waste an entry fee watching your dog vainly sniff
wisps of straw that are clearly not hiding the rat tube, or trying
to train your dog how to do the tunnel or climb. Get yourself
a few bales!
(4) Instructions for making the tubes are included
at the end of the rules. They are not too difficult to make
but the parts will end up costing about $20 per tube.
However, I have been told that you should not train with just emty
tubes, or with treats in the tubes, becaus ethis trains the dogs to
look for a different smell. Also, you can't just get litter
from a pet store and train litter/vs empty or your dog will start
identifying the litter tubes rather than th rat tubes. If you
want to train with tubes you really need live rats.