Couldn’t see a recent Barn Hunt thread, hence the new one.
Took the little terrorist for a try at Barn Hunt; we’ll be going back he had a blast!
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He’s cute. I bet he’s hell on mice.
You mean Jack Russell Terrorist? lol
I have a friend who breeds and shows them and she always said that was their true name.
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Thanks. He’s a rescue, some kind of terrier mix, we suspect Westie
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I have Patterdale Terriers. They are stone cold rat killers in the barn. You would think barn hunt would be right in their wheelhouse - not so. Took my best bitch to barn hunt, she co-operated to please me, until she wouldn’t any longer. She catalogued the rats and then sat in the corner, giving me the f–k you look. That was the end of barn hunt. If you have a real working terrier they require the reward of the kill and that is not provided in barn hunt. So - to her, it is an exercise in REALLY frustrating futility.
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Interesting. The trainer said that some terriers need the movement of the prey to get really excited. My pup didn’t get too excited, even stopped to give kisses to the trainer after one climb, and didn’t stay long at the finds so I need to be quicker to recognize when he’s found one.
I was too slow to notice my JRT/Rat Terrier’s finds too.
But then he peed on the course, so we were eliminated. Oops. 
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For the uneducated, what is a barn hunt?
I have a guess based on what I read on this thread, but I would love an outline of the activity.
Thanks!
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I’ve only done it once, and it has been awhile, but here goes:
It is a competition where dogs search for rats hidden within a course of hay bales stacked to make tunnels, ramps and steps. The rat is protected in a ventilated tube, and the rats are switched out frequently. As you move up the levels, the courses get tougher, there are more rats to find, and there are “decoys”-empty tubes but with rat scent. The dogs have to find the correct number of live rats, and they do it loose - handler cannot touch the dog while it’s hunting. The handler calls out when a rat is found, so they have to know how to read their dog’s signal when they find one. The course is timed.
Association website:
https://www.barnhunt.com/index.html
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I took my Greater Swiss to a Jack Russel show last month (she was 4 months at the time) and did a Barn Hunt with her. She loved it but I was no good at reading her lol! She found the rat quite quickly, but I did not notice her signs and picked the wrong rat tube. All of the tubes that were used did have a live rat in them though. I had no idea!
We did another rat hunt where I knew where the rat was but I couldn’t speak or move. She had to do the sniffing in the area by herself and touch the rat tube with her nose. Now she found that rat in 34 seconds and beat most of the Jacks at that one! We did a lure course as well, but she’s no speed demon ha ha!! But she chased the lure and had a fun time 
It was so much fun though and she seemed to enjoy it. I loved watching the Jack’s though, now they really loved that job!! Especially the ones that went through the tunnel to get the rat on the other end. Those Jack’s just flew!!!
Looks like you guys had a great time as well!
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Which is why I don’t enjoy playing laser with my cat. They don’t get the satisfaction of the catch.
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I LOVE barn hunt and am so glad there’s a thread on it!
My standard poodle is not a typical breed used for this but has been used for live rodent control and is very, very good at that job. For the last three weeks or so we’ve had some rats in the barn that she has not been able to access and she’s been throwing herself at the haybale stacks, at the hole in the wall they come out of, etc and slowly building frustration.
I took her to an event this weekend where there happened to be barn hunt. It was outdoors. She hasn’t run in awhile. She was also very tired.
Well, she totally developed a single track mind once she realized there was barn hunt.
Our first trial is in July, Hopefully our hopes aren’t too high, because they’re pretty high!
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I enjoyed reading about your Poodle and the barn hunt. That she loves hunting and is good at it doesn’t surprise me, considering that Poodles were originally bred to retrieve game. Sounds like your girl has inherited some great genes!
