The masters barn hunt tunnel is a problem for me. It was not really my thing, but new rules have made it really not my thing. Mom says I hunt so well, but it will take me forever to get my Masters Title if I don’t tunnel. Why should I tunnel, there are no rats in there? I guess because it is part of the rules: find the rats, climb on a bale with all four paws, and tunnel. This means practice!
Lucky for us, The Dog Tank where we practice finally set up a masters tunnel. We haven’t done barn hunt in about a month, so Mom decided to take us in for some practice. Our goal was for me to work on tunneling, and Olivia to work on finding rats. Just so you know what I’m faced with in this tunnel thing, here are the new tunnel rules:
The tunnel must have a minimum of two 90° turns and may have a maximum of four 90° turns and is 15′ to 25′ in length as designed. The tunnel may have multiple portal openings, as long as a dog entering any opening will have completed the minimum number of turns and at least the minimum length of 15′ prior to exiting any other opening. The Master tunnel must appear dark.
Mom tried like the dickens to get me into the tunnel, but I said no way. She even got down on the floor and crawled in with me. Now she knows it is long, dark, and creepy. Did Mom tunnel, NO! Since Mom was at a loss, we let Olivia have a turn to search for some rats. Guess what? Without being asked, she did the entire tunnel! Crazy girl!
How would I learn it is okay to go into that spooky thing? The old “follow me” thing might work, right? Yep, Mom sent Olivia into the tunnel, I followed and we did it together. By the end of our session, I did the tunnel five times. Olivia did it more, and she only needs to do a short “L” tunnel at her level.
Sorry we don’t have any tunnel photos because we would just sneak in and then we were gone as this tunnel has four ninety degree turns and is super long! Instead, Olivia has a photo of one of the clear rat tubes for training new dogs. See the guy in the tube? He is a big fat rat! Many of you ask if there are real rats and what are the tubes like, so this photo should help.
We both love climbing around on the bales sniffing and finding the rats. Neither of us even stop to sniff litter or empty tubes. Our teachers have taught us well on the right thing to look for.
Since we only booked a short session, we only got two rats to hide instead of the usual four, but it is still fun to find any rats in the straw. They are always thankful when we find them.
Mom forgot to bring her camera, so we only had the phone for photos. We tried to get a video, but it is too hard to video and work at the same time. Our session was well worth it as we both did some good work, and I have a start on the masters barn hunt tunnel. We hope to be in a trial again the end of the year, so we need to keep up our practicing.
Once we got back home, we were worn out, and someone really crashed! Olivia didn’t even get her one ear into her bed! Where is Bailie? She is still taking a leave from barn hunt due to lack of interest. We plan to get her back out to give it another try soon.
We are happy, so we’re joining Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday!
WOW, you went in the tunnel? Bravo, you both did great and you made the Mom very proud!
I am not a fan of tunnels when I’m hunting, but Olivia did it, so I had to do it too.
I would NOT GO INTO THE TUNNEL EITHER. SMART DOG,
But I have to in order to get my title one day.
We are all proud of you. Excellent work. It’s good to work hard and then rest after your work is done. So adorable.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. My best to your wonderful mom. ♥
We do a lot of snoozing and going to bed early around here. Mom keeps us pretty busy.
We are with Olivia – learning and practicing new skills leaves us exhausted
Yep, it is a real mental workout!
even such a super event can make us tired, you are right. oh how we wish we had barn hunts here too… that is much better than to stumble over muddy fields!
Do you ever find rabbits in those muddy fields. We would enjoy that.
Yay! You went in the tunnel Rats, you both did a great job! XOXO, Sparkle
Mom was really happy when I did it since I normally refuse.
wow! great shots
That tunnel sounds long and a bit scary, so great job doing it, Madison! Your Mom was smart to realize that if Olivia did it, you might want to as well. Glad you girls had some fun!
Mom learned when Bailie was a puppy that learning from other dogs is the most efficient way to train difficult things.
Great work, both of you!
Thank you. It was fun and we accomplished a lot.
Wow! Barn hunting is some serious business!! I’m glad you have found all the hidden ratties!
For me finding the rats is the easy part, but those tunnels at the masters level are hard for me.
I am not fond of tunnels either Madison…I think you were very brave to follow Olivia through!
xoxo,
Rosy
I love tunnels like the agility type of tunnels, but these ones are dark and creepy.
This rat hunting stuffs does sound like lots of fun to me! You do look exhausted, Olivia.
Olivia gets worn out mentally a lot because she is so young, her brain has a lot of learning to do.
Go inside that small, dark and “scratchy” place: No, Not, Never! You all are very, very BRAVE! This is just not something we would
be doing …
My Gramma doesn’t like us doing this sport, but Mom knows we enjoy it, so we do it. Just the masters tunnels are really scary.
Whoop whoop great job gals. Fun training say.
Tandem training is always extra fun.