Barn Hunt Chat
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AJ earned two RATCHX legs in the past two events.
December 18th he got his first RATCHX leg. AJ is funny because if we walk by the brag bales, he jumps on them and sits waiting for me to take his picture!
New Years Eve and New Years Day we had trials. We had a party after the New Years Eve trial. Jeri came to the trials and party, so video'd us. On New Year's Eve, the first trial AJ had the Zoomies. He found three of the four rats. There was one element with a cubby I wanted him to check out but he wouldn't slow down and kept jumping over it. After several passes, I assumed the element was clear, but it wasn't.
The second trial, he had a perfect run. But dumdum forgot to take off his collar! The judge by rule should have stopped it, but we were in a party mood and he trains with a collar on, so she let us continue. I'll never joke about another person who forgets to take off the collar!
New Year's Day he did very good. The first trial he cleared the rats, I wanted to think before I said CLEAR, and just as I was about to call CLEAR, the judge called TIME. So that's two Qs we missed due to my handling. The second trial it all came together. He had three rats, found them, I called CLEAR and we Q'd. The tunnel was very difficult (three turns and a jog) and AJ really liked it - he went through it three times! I know it's waste of seconds to go through the tunnel more than once, but I don't want to discourage him in any way about the tunnel, so I let him do it.
I checked AJ's records and the error about the judge was fixed. AJ earned his first RATCH leg under Jessica Edgerly, but she wasn't recorded as the judge. AJ's Q was originally sent in under the backup judge which is the judge for his other nine legs. So there shouldn't be any problems.
December 18th he got his first RATCHX leg. AJ is funny because if we walk by the brag bales, he jumps on them and sits waiting for me to take his picture!
New Years Eve and New Years Day we had trials. We had a party after the New Years Eve trial. Jeri came to the trials and party, so video'd us. On New Year's Eve, the first trial AJ had the Zoomies. He found three of the four rats. There was one element with a cubby I wanted him to check out but he wouldn't slow down and kept jumping over it. After several passes, I assumed the element was clear, but it wasn't.
The second trial, he had a perfect run. But dumdum forgot to take off his collar! The judge by rule should have stopped it, but we were in a party mood and he trains with a collar on, so she let us continue. I'll never joke about another person who forgets to take off the collar!
New Year's Day he did very good. The first trial he cleared the rats, I wanted to think before I said CLEAR, and just as I was about to call CLEAR, the judge called TIME. So that's two Qs we missed due to my handling. The second trial it all came together. He had three rats, found them, I called CLEAR and we Q'd. The tunnel was very difficult (three turns and a jog) and AJ really liked it - he went through it three times! I know it's waste of seconds to go through the tunnel more than once, but I don't want to discourage him in any way about the tunnel, so I let him do it.
I checked AJ's records and the error about the judge was fixed. AJ earned his first RATCH leg under Jessica Edgerly, but she wasn't recorded as the judge. AJ's Q was originally sent in under the backup judge which is the judge for his other nine legs. So there shouldn't be any problems.
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LifeofRubie
Moderator
Well done!!!! I love how he's always ready for his picture to be taken 
obbanner
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I had a really good weekend. I finally got in the ring as a judge. I was a backup judge at my club's trials and was judged several blinds in all four trials in Crazy 8s and Master. So I walked in the ring with the new-judge smell still on my stopwatch. I got to judge an additional blind because the judge fell off the tunnel during course building and wrenched her knee. She told me to judge her blinds until she got her knee wrapped and took some Advil. There was an incident with a handler in the ring and then later outside the ring. The trial secretary and the judge said I did everything right.
AJ got his third RATCHX leg. He didn't find the fifth rat in the other trial and I can't say there's any fault of AJ. He hunted very well that day and went by it, but just didn't smell it.
Anna had her 11th birthday on Sunday. It's always heartbreaking to leave her behind because she knows I'm getting ready to go to a trial and is underfoot the whole time begging me to take her. I stopped trialing her a year ago because she had some issues. She was uncomfortable and refused the tunnel and I had to coax her to climb. She used to be a ping pong ball bouncing around the course.
My thoughts were that AJ already has his RATCH, so it didn't hurt for him to give up a trial day. I showed AJ in two trials on Saturday and entered Anna in two trials on Sunday. I was hoping that in one of the trials, she'd find two rats on the ground and get all four feet on a hay bale so she'd Q with ten points and go back into retirement a winner.
She surprised me by acting like an eight year old - she took the tunnel twice in both trials! The first trial she was getting back in the groove after being away for so long, and when she lingered near a tube, I called RAT and we got a 20 point fault. So she got a ten point Q. The second trial it all came together and she earned fifty points, a career high! So I'm going to do the same thing future trial weekends - one day for AJ in Master and one day for Anna in Crazy8s.
Anna now has 330 Crazy8s points. The video below will make you wonder why I retired her, but she really was in bad shape for a while.
Anna with her two Q ribbons and Best Veteran of the trial rosette.
AJ got his third RATCHX leg. He didn't find the fifth rat in the other trial and I can't say there's any fault of AJ. He hunted very well that day and went by it, but just didn't smell it.
Anna had her 11th birthday on Sunday. It's always heartbreaking to leave her behind because she knows I'm getting ready to go to a trial and is underfoot the whole time begging me to take her. I stopped trialing her a year ago because she had some issues. She was uncomfortable and refused the tunnel and I had to coax her to climb. She used to be a ping pong ball bouncing around the course.
My thoughts were that AJ already has his RATCH, so it didn't hurt for him to give up a trial day. I showed AJ in two trials on Saturday and entered Anna in two trials on Sunday. I was hoping that in one of the trials, she'd find two rats on the ground and get all four feet on a hay bale so she'd Q with ten points and go back into retirement a winner.
She surprised me by acting like an eight year old - she took the tunnel twice in both trials! The first trial she was getting back in the groove after being away for so long, and when she lingered near a tube, I called RAT and we got a 20 point fault. So she got a ten point Q. The second trial it all came together and she earned fifty points, a career high! So I'm going to do the same thing future trial weekends - one day for AJ in Master and one day for Anna in Crazy8s.
Anna now has 330 Crazy8s points. The video below will make you wonder why I retired her, but she really was in bad shape for a while.
Anna with her two Q ribbons and Best Veteran of the trial rosette.
LifeofRubie
Moderator
She looks so good out there! I love when the rat wrangler walks out with the tube and she's like, "HEY! That's MINE! You didn't do squat, Sir!"
You can see how much she loves to work but it's hard when their bodies just don't want to co-operate.
You can see how much she loves to work but it's hard when their bodies just don't want to co-operate.
obbanner
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AJ earned his fourth RATCHX leg Sunday. The whole course was a large tunnel! The main tunnel was a four turn tunnel that wrapped around two walls and one tunnel exit led into a distance challenge that wrapped around the rest of the wall and then along the third wall. The distance challenge was bales standing on end with a cross bale every other bale making mini tunnels. The outside was strengthened by flat bales with a couple leaners.
I always said that judges show no mercy in Master and this was one of the courses that prove it. AJ rose to the occasion and took the tunnel twice! Once on command and the other he passed the tunnel entrance, turned around and went in it - and stayed in it. I was getting a bit worried when he finally nonchalantly strolled out into the distance challenge. He wasn't giving strong indications, but he was working. One rat was in the distance challenge and the other was on top of the tunnel behind a bale on end so I couldn't see if he was pawing from my place in the middle of the ring. After I cleared the rest of the course, I sent him back to it when I stood at a place I could see the tube and he pawed it.
The second run was my bad that we NQ'd. It was several hours later and I was course building and rat wrangling, and was tired. I lost track of time in the ring and called CLEAR with two minutes and one rat left. If I was a bit more on the ball, I'm sure he would have found that last rat.
I was backup judge in Crazy 8s for another judge. I went to this trial because this is where my mentored trial will be in March. I met the regulars and saw the rings for myself. It's a good thing I went because the maps I was sent didn't show the gate used by the rat wranglers and if I built against it, I'd get a few people upset at me! The judges and show committee were very helpful and welcoming. The husband of the trial secretary said that a while ago, it was very difficult getting judges at their trials because there were so few.
I saw one of AJ's breeders young dogs in Novice. She's a red and worked very well. I believe one run was 23 seconds.
I always said that judges show no mercy in Master and this was one of the courses that prove it. AJ rose to the occasion and took the tunnel twice! Once on command and the other he passed the tunnel entrance, turned around and went in it - and stayed in it. I was getting a bit worried when he finally nonchalantly strolled out into the distance challenge. He wasn't giving strong indications, but he was working. One rat was in the distance challenge and the other was on top of the tunnel behind a bale on end so I couldn't see if he was pawing from my place in the middle of the ring. After I cleared the rest of the course, I sent him back to it when I stood at a place I could see the tube and he pawed it.
The second run was my bad that we NQ'd. It was several hours later and I was course building and rat wrangling, and was tired. I lost track of time in the ring and called CLEAR with two minutes and one rat left. If I was a bit more on the ball, I'm sure he would have found that last rat.
I was backup judge in Crazy 8s for another judge. I went to this trial because this is where my mentored trial will be in March. I met the regulars and saw the rings for myself. It's a good thing I went because the maps I was sent didn't show the gate used by the rat wranglers and if I built against it, I'd get a few people upset at me! The judges and show committee were very helpful and welcoming. The husband of the trial secretary said that a while ago, it was very difficult getting judges at their trials because there were so few.
I saw one of AJ's breeders young dogs in Novice. She's a red and worked very well. I believe one run was 23 seconds.
LifeofRubie
Moderator
Excellent job!!!!!
obbanner
Hot Topics Subscriber
Last weekend, March 5-7, were three days of trials on Saturday - Monday. We never had a Monday trial before and I'm not sure if I like it. Having trials on a Friday night seems like a warmup for the weekend. But Monday night we were all tired from the weekend and pretty much deflated by the time Monday evening rolled around.
A cold front moved through during the Monday night trial and for about ten minutes, very strong winds and pounding rain caught a blind waiting to run.
I had an opportunity to backup judge all three days in Crazy 8s and Master for a total of twelve blinds.
AJ ran great and my handling kept him from q'ing. I looked at all my handling errors so far this year and realized he would have had his RATCHX by now if it wasn't for me.
He had four runs. One run he just didn't find the rat and I can't fault him for that. It was behind a bale on the wall near the corner and he missed it. The ring has eight corners and he didn't show any indication of it. He Q'd with two rats his second run. His third run I decided to do a last sweep and ran out of time when we were clear with one rat. In his fourth run he was not strongly indicating on a tube, but checked it out every time we passed it, so I talked him into calling a bedding. It's a good thing the tube was empty because he then knocked it all over the ring and the judge said if it was a rat, she would have NQ'd us anyway for stalling. And we were clear.
I brought Anna for the Monday trials and she earned 10 points in her Crazy 8s firs run. She entered the tunnel on her second run and turned around inside it, then wouldn't go in it again. She didn't find enough rats to Q. Again, that may have been my fault. After my dogs enter the tunnel, I run to the exit and call them. After Anna entered the tunnel, that's what I did but I was encouraging her as I started running and she may have heard me at the entrance, so turned around.
This is a picture of me showing the rat wranglers where to place the tubes.
A video of AJ taking the tunnel on Tuesday. My teacher straightened out the tunnel after the trial so it was about twenty feet long with a jog.
I have my mentored trial this weekend and if all goes well, should be approved for A status after the committee reviews my performance. The judge development chair will be on site judging in another ring, so he will get quick feedback from my mentor. I was told about being mentored in this trial in January and I was praying fervently there wouldn't be a March blizzard to cancel the trial. It's very hard to get a mentored trial and the judge development chair said everything just worked out right that I was able to get it so quickly.
If you're in the NJ area and haven't entered, day of show entries are accepted. I'm judging Instinct and two each of Novice and Open trials on Saturday, and one each of Crazy 8s, Senior and Master on Sunday. Since I'm going down to help in the Friday night trial, I may also backup judge in Master Friday night.
A cold front moved through during the Monday night trial and for about ten minutes, very strong winds and pounding rain caught a blind waiting to run.
I had an opportunity to backup judge all three days in Crazy 8s and Master for a total of twelve blinds.
AJ ran great and my handling kept him from q'ing. I looked at all my handling errors so far this year and realized he would have had his RATCHX by now if it wasn't for me.
He had four runs. One run he just didn't find the rat and I can't fault him for that. It was behind a bale on the wall near the corner and he missed it. The ring has eight corners and he didn't show any indication of it. He Q'd with two rats his second run. His third run I decided to do a last sweep and ran out of time when we were clear with one rat. In his fourth run he was not strongly indicating on a tube, but checked it out every time we passed it, so I talked him into calling a bedding. It's a good thing the tube was empty because he then knocked it all over the ring and the judge said if it was a rat, she would have NQ'd us anyway for stalling. And we were clear.
I brought Anna for the Monday trials and she earned 10 points in her Crazy 8s firs run. She entered the tunnel on her second run and turned around inside it, then wouldn't go in it again. She didn't find enough rats to Q. Again, that may have been my fault. After my dogs enter the tunnel, I run to the exit and call them. After Anna entered the tunnel, that's what I did but I was encouraging her as I started running and she may have heard me at the entrance, so turned around.
This is a picture of me showing the rat wranglers where to place the tubes.
A video of AJ taking the tunnel on Tuesday. My teacher straightened out the tunnel after the trial so it was about twenty feet long with a jog.
I have my mentored trial this weekend and if all goes well, should be approved for A status after the committee reviews my performance. The judge development chair will be on site judging in another ring, so he will get quick feedback from my mentor. I was told about being mentored in this trial in January and I was praying fervently there wouldn't be a March blizzard to cancel the trial. It's very hard to get a mentored trial and the judge development chair said everything just worked out right that I was able to get it so quickly.
If you're in the NJ area and haven't entered, day of show entries are accepted. I'm judging Instinct and two each of Novice and Open trials on Saturday, and one each of Crazy 8s, Senior and Master on Sunday. Since I'm going down to help in the Friday night trial, I may also backup judge in Master Friday night.
obbanner
Hot Topics Subscriber
I had my mentored trials last weekend and my mentor will recommend I be promoted to be an A level judge. I judged one hundred dogs over two days.
It's over. My long, two year ordeal is finally finished! I'm always going to remember my B level winter. It started by going to apprentice judge a trial five hours from home. I was told the building was heated and I'd be comfortable. It was on December 4 when a cold spell moved in and the temperatures were in the teens. Yes, the building had heat and no, the heat was not turned on. After that trial was over, I sat in my car warming up and it took fifteen minutes before the shivering stopped enough to drive.
I was offered a mentored trial in March and I jumped on it because they're so rare. Many things have to align in order for there to be a mentored trial. Primary among them are a two day event with enough dogs to judge and a mentor being available. Since I became a B judge in January and was offered the mentored trial almost immediately, many noses were bent out of shape because they thought I jumped the line in front of all the B judges waiting for their mentored trial. But I got the trial for a simple reason. Colin went down the list offering the trial and I was the one who promptly replied. Colin wasn't going to risk losing the opportunity for mentored trial because he was waiting for people, so he gave it to me.
So I got a March trial. March is a funny month because you can have either beautiful spring weather or blizzards. The week leading up to the trial, the weather was in the 50s and 60s. But the two days of the trial, the weather was heavy rain on Saturday that turned into sleet, then snow. Sunday was clear but in the 20s. That was the appropriate bookend for my provisional judging period!
The rain was so noisy Saturday, I raised my arm every time I made a call because the scribe couldn't hear me. One Crazy 8s run I reviewed the scribe sheet before I signed it and saw the CLIMB wasn't checked. I said I called climb, but the scribe thought I was calling RAT because she couldn't see the dog and couldn't hear me.
A friend drove down for the trial and I had to NQ her for double touching her dog. She would have qualified and was beaming after the run, then I had to break the bad news. She said she never heard of that. (Read the rules, people!) The rule of thumb is that if a dog does something to NQ, the run is halted immediately. If the handler does something to NQ, the dog isn't punished for that and the run continues.
I had a great time. I asked for a recommendation for a local motel and was offered a bedroom at the home of the trial secretary. I went Friday and had a warmup for my trials as a backup judging Master Friday night. Saturday morning I did Instinct 1, Novice 1, Open 1, Open 2 and Novice 2. Sunday I did Crazy 8s 1, Senior 1 and Master 2.
I live 75 miles directly north of the trial and my wife texted she had five inches of snow on Saturday while the trial site had rain.
Now my mentor sends her paperwork to the judge development chair who was at the trial and agrees with the mentor, the judge development chair adds his recommendations and sends it to the advisory committee, the advisory committee if they approve sends it to Robin. Then I find out if I'm an A judge. Colin said it takes about three weeks normally. However, the advisory committee is working hard on the 2022 rule book soon to be released and it may take longer.
I have to give a lot of credit to my teacher who is also a judge. She did a lot to prepare me. My mentor said my course maps show a level of experience she doesn't normally see in B judges. I said how my teacher let me design her courses for trials, then she'd fix them and explain my mistakes. Things that a new judge normally don't think of such as the judge's view of the course were things that were taught as well as safety and legality.
It's over. My long, two year ordeal is finally finished! I'm always going to remember my B level winter. It started by going to apprentice judge a trial five hours from home. I was told the building was heated and I'd be comfortable. It was on December 4 when a cold spell moved in and the temperatures were in the teens. Yes, the building had heat and no, the heat was not turned on. After that trial was over, I sat in my car warming up and it took fifteen minutes before the shivering stopped enough to drive.
I was offered a mentored trial in March and I jumped on it because they're so rare. Many things have to align in order for there to be a mentored trial. Primary among them are a two day event with enough dogs to judge and a mentor being available. Since I became a B judge in January and was offered the mentored trial almost immediately, many noses were bent out of shape because they thought I jumped the line in front of all the B judges waiting for their mentored trial. But I got the trial for a simple reason. Colin went down the list offering the trial and I was the one who promptly replied. Colin wasn't going to risk losing the opportunity for mentored trial because he was waiting for people, so he gave it to me.
So I got a March trial. March is a funny month because you can have either beautiful spring weather or blizzards. The week leading up to the trial, the weather was in the 50s and 60s. But the two days of the trial, the weather was heavy rain on Saturday that turned into sleet, then snow. Sunday was clear but in the 20s. That was the appropriate bookend for my provisional judging period!
The rain was so noisy Saturday, I raised my arm every time I made a call because the scribe couldn't hear me. One Crazy 8s run I reviewed the scribe sheet before I signed it and saw the CLIMB wasn't checked. I said I called climb, but the scribe thought I was calling RAT because she couldn't see the dog and couldn't hear me.
A friend drove down for the trial and I had to NQ her for double touching her dog. She would have qualified and was beaming after the run, then I had to break the bad news. She said she never heard of that. (Read the rules, people!) The rule of thumb is that if a dog does something to NQ, the run is halted immediately. If the handler does something to NQ, the dog isn't punished for that and the run continues.
I had a great time. I asked for a recommendation for a local motel and was offered a bedroom at the home of the trial secretary. I went Friday and had a warmup for my trials as a backup judging Master Friday night. Saturday morning I did Instinct 1, Novice 1, Open 1, Open 2 and Novice 2. Sunday I did Crazy 8s 1, Senior 1 and Master 2.
I live 75 miles directly north of the trial and my wife texted she had five inches of snow on Saturday while the trial site had rain.
Now my mentor sends her paperwork to the judge development chair who was at the trial and agrees with the mentor, the judge development chair adds his recommendations and sends it to the advisory committee, the advisory committee if they approve sends it to Robin. Then I find out if I'm an A judge. Colin said it takes about three weeks normally. However, the advisory committee is working hard on the 2022 rule book soon to be released and it may take longer.
I have to give a lot of credit to my teacher who is also a judge. She did a lot to prepare me. My mentor said my course maps show a level of experience she doesn't normally see in B judges. I said how my teacher let me design her courses for trials, then she'd fix them and explain my mistakes. Things that a new judge normally don't think of such as the judge's view of the course were things that were taught as well as safety and legality.
You deserve a well earned celebration! Enjoy your future in judging the hunts!
LifeofRubie
Moderator
obbanner
Hot Topics Subscriber
I was notified I'm now an A level judge.
The rule book says the judge application process has to be completed within a year. All I needed in 2020 was the judge's seminar, then everything got cancelled because of the flu. Robin said 2020 didn't happen, so all my experience was grandfathered to January 1, 2021. I finally got the seminar in August. Took the written test the first time on Labor Day weekend and failed. Then took it the second time in October. (The judge development chair sat across from me at the judge's dinner and said almost everybody fails the first time, so I don't feel so bad.)
I submitted my application in a rush because I wanted to get priority for my seminar application as a prospective judge. My application was reopened the one allowed time for me to fix my paperwork because many forms were incomplete. I took two eight-hour days going over all my worksheets with a fine tooth comb, making sure my total hours added correctly, making sure I had the required number of dogs and hours, making sure all the boxes were checked, making sure all the judges signatures were present.
One thing I will do as a judge is take my time if a judge applicant asks me to sign paperwork. I'll try to ensure it's properly and completely filled out. My experiences were that the judges wanted to run home and just scribbled their name on the forms without looking at them. More than once, after inspecting my forms after a trial, I ran down the parking lot trying to catch the judge because a signature or checkbox was blank.
I'd say that over ninety percent of the work of a judge is designing the courses. I spent days designing each set of courses - Fun Test, Judges Seminar and Mentored Trial. I had to learn how to design courses before then. My teacher let me design courses for her when we had trials. She'd then point out and correct my mistakes, then make the course "her own". Things I had to learn was safety, making sure there's plenty of hides, designing so the judge can see everything happening without moving too much, legality of a course, making sure it's a good course for both large and small dogs, making life as easy as possible for course builders and making sure all the verbiage is present (event name, host club, date, judge name and number, bales on each level, bales added, total bales, tunnel length, legend for the elements). Then learning the tricks of rat placement - don't put a litter where a rat was for several blinds, how far apart they can be placed as well as the requirements for each class. I learned to print out a map of my completed course and mark all the hides I wanted to use. Then as I did a marked map for each blind, I'd write down L for litter or R for rat so when marking later blinds, I knew the history of that hide.
jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
That must feel just great! 
obbanner
Hot Topics Subscriber
This is for your information.
Judges are judged by how efficiently they run the trial. The minutes per dog is a target, not an absolute. If there's a large variance between actual and target, the judge may get an email requesting an explanation. As I mentioned above, Saturday for me was in a heavy rainstorm and my numbers reflect that because of all the peeing in the ring. Trial 4 Novice was 5.3 minutes per dog and the target is 3 minutes.
When you're hustled into the blind and then the next dog is called as soon possible, it's not only the club trying to be nice to the handlers. It's also because the judge has to keep things moving.
Judges are judged by how efficiently they run the trial. The minutes per dog is a target, not an absolute. If there's a large variance between actual and target, the judge may get an email requesting an explanation. As I mentioned above, Saturday for me was in a heavy rainstorm and my numbers reflect that because of all the peeing in the ring. Trial 4 Novice was 5.3 minutes per dog and the target is 3 minutes.
When you're hustled into the blind and then the next dog is called as soon possible, it's not only the club trying to be nice to the handlers. It's also because the judge has to keep things moving.
obbanner
Hot Topics Subscriber
Thoughts on dog handling.
I want to share some thoughts. Whatever you think of my own handling, I’ve been in the ring for forty years and tried very hard not to have it be one year repeated forty times. I learned from every dog and from every sport.
“Good handlers talk to their dogs, great handlers listen to their dogs.”
I worked the livestock during a herding trial recently and was thinking about some of the handlers there. There’s one couple who I watched enter three dogs over the years and they never get to the trialing stage. (Herding has two entry level titles which are pass/fail before the trial level which are scored.) I was watching the team and thinking how he doesn’t work with his dog. He turns his back on the dog at crucial moments. He doesn’t give the dog timely directions. He doesn’t position himself to help the dog by blocking the sheep or being in the right place after the sheep go through an obstacle. And he doesn’t have a handle on his dog.
How does this apply to Barn Hunt? I was an inside rat wrangler for many years before I became a judge. I notice many handlers not watching their dogs and missing rat indications. I saw many dogs called off rats because the handler had turned their back on the dog to wander elsewhere in the ring. Your dog is supposed to find the rats, not you. Let him! And keep your eyes on him.
Teamwork is essential in herding. The dog and the handler each have responsibilities. That’s also true in Barn Hunt. Work as a team.
I want to share some thoughts. Whatever you think of my own handling, I’ve been in the ring for forty years and tried very hard not to have it be one year repeated forty times. I learned from every dog and from every sport.
“Good handlers talk to their dogs, great handlers listen to their dogs.”
I worked the livestock during a herding trial recently and was thinking about some of the handlers there. There’s one couple who I watched enter three dogs over the years and they never get to the trialing stage. (Herding has two entry level titles which are pass/fail before the trial level which are scored.) I was watching the team and thinking how he doesn’t work with his dog. He turns his back on the dog at crucial moments. He doesn’t give the dog timely directions. He doesn’t position himself to help the dog by blocking the sheep or being in the right place after the sheep go through an obstacle. And he doesn’t have a handle on his dog.
How does this apply to Barn Hunt? I was an inside rat wrangler for many years before I became a judge. I notice many handlers not watching their dogs and missing rat indications. I saw many dogs called off rats because the handler had turned their back on the dog to wander elsewhere in the ring. Your dog is supposed to find the rats, not you. Let him! And keep your eyes on him.
Teamwork is essential in herding. The dog and the handler each have responsibilities. That’s also true in Barn Hunt. Work as a team.
jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
^^^^^ Very true! And not only for competition sports! A Dobe type pup teaches you the peril of having your attention off your dog for even the tiniest second! It becomes a habit.
LifeofRubie
Moderator
If that were an option, I'm sure people would teach 'their rats' to be as loud as possible
