Our very first Barn Hunt trial of 2019 is this weekend and we are super excited - well, I am, and Fly will be once we arrive and she smells rats! The premium was mailed off a few weeks ago, I received confirmation that we have been successfully entered for the weekend, road trip snacks have been bought, and the Scamp is prepped and ready to travel: the trials will be held in Soldotna, so TheMother, Fly, and I will be road tripping down there after work Friday evening.
Fly is competing at the Master level now. She has one successful run under her belt and needs nine more to earn her Championship title. I am so excited!
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| Info cards for each level: Instinct, Novice, Open, Senior, and Master. |
To get us all back in the Barn Hunt mindset, I thought I'd do a recap of Barn Hunt and Fly's most recent BH trials. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, or need a Barn Hunt refresher, read my Intro to Barn Hunt post.
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| Rat tubes - some empty, some with rat bedding inside, and some with a rat inside; only the dog and the Judge know which. |
Usually, I am rather busy during BH trials - everyone is needed to pitch in and help run the trial, so if people aren't in the blind with their dog or getting ready for their turn, people are wrangling rats, holding gates, and making sure handlers and dogs are where they need to be to ensure trials are run fairly and efficiently. Therefore, I don't normally have a lot of time on my hands to take nice photos and spectate, but I have managed to cobble enough images together to get us a good glimpse of what we can expect this 2019 season.
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| Volunteer sheets, drawing jar for dogs who didn't qualify, and other BH paraphernalia. |
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| All the straw bale dust and rat odor leave everyone sneezing and asthmatics wheezing. |
Every trial has a different look and feel to it. The judges are different and have varying personalities and the courses are all unique. I love this, because it makes it more challenging for the dogs and the handlers.
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| Setting up a new course. |
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| Dogs and Handlers wait in the blind until their course is ready. Then they will be called one at a time to complete their run. |
This first video shows rat wranglers hiding rat tubes in specific places with the Judge directing placement.
These two videos show two of my favorite competitors - they have different approaches to how they search.
Here is Fly's run where she earned her Master's title. What you miss at the end is Fly going through the tunnel and I call "Clear" to say we are finished. The judge said "Yes" and we all celebrated.
I am so proud of Fly and our progress through the levels of Barn Hunt. We have made our share of mistakes and learned from them, as well as from watching our competitors and listening to the advice of other handlers. I can't wait for this weekend and the rest of the 2019 season; hopefully you will follow along with us on this journey as we work toward our Championship title!
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| Did you know, in Barn Hunt, Fly is currently the highest ranked Karelian in the world?! |
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