The Hutchinson Barn Hunt Trials were awesome and devastating. The weekend did not go as planned for any of us, but we still managed to have a good time! I love to hunt rats, and Mom is very happy she has me because I do a great job! She loves to call me her rat master, and can’t wait to call me her rat champion one day.
Olivia did do some rat hunting in her Senior level, but did not earn any Q’s. She found two rats in one search, and three in another, the other two searches didn’t go well at all. One of the biggest issues she had was the door was open. There are three rings in a row, all running different searches at the same time, but the middle one, as you can see in the photo is open to the outside on the back. Olivia was overwhelmed by the distraction of the great outdoors and could not keep her focus. It is something a more mature dog can handle better, as I was not bothered by it much at all, but for Olivia it wasted a lot of time! They had a lot of doors open to create air flow due to COVID.
Mom tried something for the first time on Sunday, she brought all three of us to compete. Bailie went from loving the sport to hating it overnight two years ago, and she thought maybe if we all went Bails would be more motivated. She only needs one leg for her title. As you can see, Olivia can’t be trusted yet in a soft crate when left alone for too long, so she has the wire one. Unfortunately, Bailie was thrilled to be at the event, see the people, loved everything, but got in the ring and did nothing. Well, she did tunnel and climb in both her trials, but she refused to find a rat. Mom is at her wits end with that, so it may have really been Bailie’s last day of barn hunt.
What about me, Madison? The Hutchinson Barn Hunt Trials seem to be gold for me! I got my RATM there in December last year, getting Q’s in three of my four searches. This weekend, I had four searches and Q’d in my first three. In my fourth search, Mom was calling clear as I found one more rat, so no Q, but Mom is thrilled I did so well. We expected one or two Q’s, but got three! I need ten Q’s for my RATCH, Rat Champion Title, and I now have six under five different judges. This sport is so much fun for me and I love hunting for those rats and racing around in the bales of straw so much. I’m one super happy pup. We hope I can finish my RATCH this year, but we will see. For now I’m happy with my three new Q’s, including one fourth place.
My GBGV Life is happy, so we’re joining Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday!
Not all sports are for all dogs. I would hate rat hunting.
We don’t know why Bailie went from having fun to not liking it in a span of a couple hours two years ago. Weird.
OM GBGV’s that is a most gorgeous line up of you lovely ladies. I bet everyone wanted to stop and say Hi!
Hugs Cecilia
People are always in awww with one of us, but two is crazy, and three was almost too much, LOL!
Congratulations Madison!! Olivia, you’ll do better next time! Bailie you can just be the social butterfly! At least you all had fun!
Olivia will catch on. Nose work is her love, so that is much more important. At least Mom has me and I’m into rat hunting.
There are good days and there are not so good days. Sports are like that. You three are most adorable and I know the mom is proud of you.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. My best to your mom. ♥
She loves us all, and she always says that having more than one dog is good because someone is always bound to be on the right track!
Oh, my little friend, Madison, you are so amazing with your rats! I have an easily distracted sister who is so much like you. Olivia, but you will do better. Finally, Bailie, you are just a loveable girlie like me, and there’s no place like home! XOXO, Sparkle
Mom is going to explode if one more person tells her Bailie should be a therapy dog! Mom has no interest in that, but she would be good at it. Olivia loves her nose work so much, and she will get back to rat hunting but there are a lot of distractions and she needs to learn to work through those.
WHEW! I am so glad I did not even think of that “T” word!
It’s trending with so many dog owners, but Mom has no interest 🙂
Yes, Bailie can be your mascot and you two can do the work! Congrats Madison, ya sure did great!
Bailie is the lazy one in the family, so she doesn’t mind not doing the sports at all!
Benjamin has always been totally unimpressed with rodents. On the other hand, Zachary and Mia are rodent hunters. Both have brought me presents…..Zachary has a soft mouth and brought the live one in; Mia – a Toy Poodle – has brought in otherwise,
Lots of hunting dogs don’t like barn hunt because the rats are safe in their tubes and they find it way too weird finding rats that way. I just adore finding them and showing my mom. She lets me play with the tube for a few seconds too before they take it away and I go looking for more.
oh congrats to you!!! we hope you can complete your titels this year… at least we are happy that we get some dog events back… it was a sh-time without ;O)
We were super depressed about all the cancellations in the spring, so now we are out every weekend making up for lost time and loving it.
Your MOM deserves a best in show ribbon for bringing all three of you girls.!
It was a bit stressful for her, but it was her idea. We probably won’t do it again, at least for a while, but it was fun to be all together as a family.
Life’s a mixed bag, and it sounds like this weekend was, too. Congratulations on 3 Qs!
You never know what a day will bring. Even today, Mom opened a computer to find it ran an update and everything was a mess. It’s life.
I guess ratting isn’t for everyone, Bailie. I wonder how I would do at it? Congratulations, Madison!
We know a couple of dogs like you and they are real good at it. Bails was awesome and then from one trial to the next she stopped hunting. We don’t know why.
Great job, Madison! It’s good your Mom has 3 dogs, so usually at least one of you can make the weekend for her! 🙂
She always says it is a good reason to have multiple dogs, one is always ready for whatever needs to be done.
You are rockin’ the rat world, Madison! Maybe Bailie would rather just be your and Olivia’s cheerleader and PR pup.
Mom thinks she knows why Bailie is “broken” and she is working on repairing things in nose work and once that happens, she can transfer that to barn hunt. It will be a long process, though.