A barn hunt is a necessity for some dogs who live on a farm and have the job of keeping rodents away from barns, hay bales, and animal feed. A barn hunt event is a fun game some dog owners play using rats, hay bales, and tunnels to test your dog's agility and skill. There might be several reasons a dog owner participates in a barn hunt with their dog, whether it be for fun or to train a farming work dog. Barn hunt dogs can be compared to detective dogs. They are trained to search and find, retrieve, and recover.
The sport of barn hunting is an organized sport with judges, teams of dogs, and rules. However, dog owners cannot let their dogs just run freely in a barn hunt; they need to understand the rules, the goals, and how to participate so they can catch the best prizes. Dogs who naturally barn hunt as part of a working dog duties may have similar rules in that the farmers use the dogs to keep their barns clear of vermin, so they have time to focus on farming. No matter the reason your dog is training for a barn hunt, the training is similar if not close to the same. Though there are rules in a barn hunt game such as don't touch the hay, if you are a farmer, training your dog to protect and hunt your barn, you could make your own rules.
You will need a few things to set up a barn hunt course and train your dog properly for a barn hunt.
Are there any barn hunt rat wrangler/trainers in Baltimore County or Harford county? And that are open.
Hello DeEtta, I am not located close to you unfortunately, but I suggest looking on the website linked below and contacting the club closest to you. Ask your closest local club if they are aware of any barn hunting events, trainers, locations near you. http://www.barnhunt.com/clublist.html Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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Would like instruction to get us started on barn hunting. Which I know very little about. But, My guess is Bella will love it, and may have some natural talent. She loves sniffing out animals.
Hello! The best way to get started is to work on scent tracking. I am going to give you some very beginner tips on training this skill. After you work with your dog on this, you can contact a local trainer in your area for more advanced training. Start Early in the Morning To teach scenting a track, you need some treats and a grassy area, such as a baseball field or park. Although hot dogs are not the most nutritious food, I find they work best, and you won’t over stuff your dog’s belly. Begin early; many people start by 6 a.m. before anyone has walked on the grass. Create a Treat Track Have your dog sit or lie down and stay. Take a couple of inch-long pieces of hot dog and use your shoe to mash them into the grass. Make sure to crush the grass under the hot dogs, which will release a grass scent. Then, with the hot dog residue on the bottom of your shoe, walk a straight line away from your dog. Every six or ten feet, drop a piece of hot dog. Stop after about 20 feet and drop one of your gloves or one of your dog’s toys; your dog needs to find something at the end of the track. Drop another piece of hot dog on top of the item. Command Your Dog to Find the Treats Go back to your dog and release him from his stay, encouraging him to smell the ground where the hot dogs were. Tell your dog “Find it!” and let him sniff. If he begins to follow the track, praise him quietly by saying, “Good dog!” and let him lead the way. Don’t be too enthusiastic or you may distract the dog from his sniffing. Also, don’t try to lead him; let your dog figure it out. At this point, your dog is following several scents: the trail of hot dogs, which helps motivate him, the crushed grass where you mashed the hot dogs and the crushed grass where you later stepped. Your dog is also following your individual scent, which he knows well because he smells your scent every day. But now your dog is learning to combine the scents, to follow them and to find the item at the end of the track. Start Increasing the Length of the Track When your dog successfully completes this trick, make another one by taking 10 steps to the side. If your dog is excited and having fun, you can do three or four short tracks per training session. As your dog improves over several sessions, make the track longer, add curves and corners, and drop several items along the way, but put the hot dog only on the one you want him to find. When making tracks longer or adding curves, use small pegs, stakes or flags to mark the track so you can tell if your dog is off track. Air scenting requires your dog to find someone by sniffing the scents wafting through the air instead of following a track. Most search-and-rescue dogs have both skills; they can follow a track, but if people walking over the track spoil it, they can also use their air-scenting skills. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thank you for writing in.
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