The rat hunt is on! All you ratties hiding around in the bales of straw better look out because Olivia and I are coming to find you! Good thing you are kept safe in your tubes!
On Monday I told you that Olivia and I had a blast searching for rats at the barn hunt trial. Well, the photographer photos are out, and we bought a few to show you all how we look searching, and how much fun we were having. Unfortunately, some of the best moments are not captured, but we still have some good photos. Being Olivia’s first ever trial, we had to get one or two of her in action.
The novice course is much smaller than the masters course I search in. It is only two bales high, with a small tunnel, but it is perfect for pups new to the sport. In barn hunt, the handler can only touch the dog when she finds a rat, and then only for a short time. To make sure Mom doesn’t accidentally touch us, she always keeps her hands locked behind her back. Those are the only two decent photos of Olivia searching last weekend.
Now, this is me on top of a big stack of bales. At this point, Mom told me to get busy and do the tunnel. My response was to stand on the bale and pose for a photo before completely ignoring Mom’s instructions. I am looking at it, but I would rather keep looking for rats than go into a tunnel. The tunnel thing is a point of contention between me and Mom.
Hey look! I found a rat! Mom always removes the rat tube when I find it otherwise I will keep going back to it. When she picks it up, she lets me sniff it, and sometimes it makes me really crazy. Notice how I am standing on my back paws only. If you have ever met me in the furs, you know I love to stand up on my back feet. I can even walk on just my back feet. For a short girl, it is a good skill to have.
Now you can see that I don’t want to let that rat go. Notice also that Mom always holds the tube with two hands, tightly. Rats are treated like kings in this sport. They can only work so much at one time. Dogs are not allowed to really eat on a tube. Humans must not drop a rat tube, or hold it vertically. Because I want that tube, Mom has a good grip to make sure I don’t knock it out of her hands. Treating a rat poorly results in disqualification.
The rat tube is given to the nearest rat wrangler either inside or outside of the ring. Mom is focused on me, and evidently didn’t see the wrangler right behind her. I’m walking with Mom on just my back paws, begging her to give me the rat I found. How can she refuse my efforts, I’ll never know.
As she makes her way to drop off “my” rat, I stay with her, hoping for a change to grab it. Rats, her grip is loosening, and she is about to hand off “my” rat! Still, the rat hunt is so fun, I’ll just go and find myself another one. In masters, there are one to five hidden in every search. Mom has to figure out when I have found them all.
Hope you enjoyed a few rat hunt photos. We are thankful we get to do fun sports like this, so we’re joining the Brian’s Home Blog Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
That sure looks like some serious hunting fun and you both did a darn good job! Thanks for joining the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!
We had a lot of fun!
oh we love that kind of sports… why we don’t have such fabulous events?
I think because you live in Europe and they have funny rules about stuff like this.
Loved that you wrote this. It helps non rat hunters understand the hunt better. Great pictures b
Thank you. It is a simple sport, but there are rules that have to be followed.
Oh what fun!!!!!
It sure was. We love to hunt.
Hunting rats is a good thing and if you don’t like the tunnel then you don’t like the tunnel. Great shots too.
Have a fabulous day. My best to your mom. ♥
I actually love tunnels but I don’t want to give up hunting the rats to go in the tunnel.
OMC, you are so lucky…I have to ask Granny to treat…eh…teach me that 😀 Pawkisses for a Happy Thursday🐾😽💞
Cats would love barn hunt, I think!
Good work, and what wonderful skills!
It’s mostly the nose skills, but it is also climbing and stuff.
You girls look like you are having a great time at the rat hunt!
We always have a lot of fun. Hunting is our favorite pastime!
Wow Madison, we don’t know how your Mama could refuse your adorable rat wanting antics either!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
She calls it my dancing bear impression, LOL!
You sure look like you are having some serious fun! We can see why they have strict rules for keeping those rats safe – they wouldn’t stand a chance otherwise!
Well, they are really to prevent animal cruelty which would shut down the sport I think. Some dogs really go wild on the tubes. I go gently wild.
Wow, kitty kudos to you! There are five felines in our house and the one time little field mice got in the house we did nothing. The Female Human had to pay a “get the mouse out of your house” human to come and take care of the problem.
Purrs & Head Bonks,
Olliver
Our kitty sis Sophie doesn’t catch mice either, but cat bro Bert is a mouser. He has caught so many it is crazy. We had a problem with them getting into our basement, and he took care of them until we got the problem fixed.
That sure looks like a lot of fun. You did such a great job doing your hunting search. We love the happiness when you found them. Thanks for sharing the great photos. Have a fantastic rest of your day.
Thank you. We all love to hunt, and finding such a gem in all the straw is super exciting!
What fun for everyone, except, perhaps, the rats. They might find it a bit scary.,
They are raised to do the job, so they are used to it.
You walking on your hind legs next to your mom is the cutest thing I’ve seen all day! Rat on, baby!
I love to walk on my back legs and my mom loves to see it too.
Very nice photos!!!
Thank you.