Rits
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We were so tickled to find out there was a place just 45 min away from us doing barn hunt! We first picked up the sport at UKC Premiere a few years ago while we were there for dock diving and lure coursing. She absolutely loved it and she got her RATN title quickly. We knew this would be a great sport for her to "retire" on in the next few years when she couldn't do the high performance stuff anymore. Well, a few trials later in the next division, she decided to strongly alert to a fake rat tube in every one of her runs. Back then, all the places were quite a decent drive away and with the cost of the trials, the dud alerts, and no way to practice other than PAYING to trial, my husband got cold feet.
Well, today they were on fire and broke their streak! 2 Qualifying runs in RATO! They got the fastest time both trials, too! Java knew right away what to do and didn't alert on any fakes! Yipee!
If you don't know about barn hunt there are many divisions but in each one, your dog must find a rat hidden among the course, perform a climb, and a tunnel, all within a certain time frame. As you go up in divisions there are more rats to find and more fake tubes filled with smelly rat bedding to fake them out. The tunnels get more turns in higher divisions, too.
In Open, Java has to find 2 rats out of 5 tubes total. 2 are filled with bedding and one is empty. She also has to perform a climb and go through a tunnel with one 90 deg turn, which was new for her but nooo problem lol. The judge complimented them both and called Java a "fun dog"
The helpers loved her enthusiasm coming out of the blind up to the ring, "Gimmie those rats!!" 
Hubby and her have 2 more trials tomorrow! If she passes the first trial, she'll have another title and they get to move up for the 2nd trial into Rat Senior and find 4 rats! Wish us luck!
This is Java's 2nd Q of the day. I accidentally stopped recording as Java came out for her first run, then hit record as she ended so there are only 3 seconds of that LOL.
Well, today they were on fire and broke their streak! 2 Qualifying runs in RATO! They got the fastest time both trials, too! Java knew right away what to do and didn't alert on any fakes! Yipee!
If you don't know about barn hunt there are many divisions but in each one, your dog must find a rat hidden among the course, perform a climb, and a tunnel, all within a certain time frame. As you go up in divisions there are more rats to find and more fake tubes filled with smelly rat bedding to fake them out. The tunnels get more turns in higher divisions, too.
In Open, Java has to find 2 rats out of 5 tubes total. 2 are filled with bedding and one is empty. She also has to perform a climb and go through a tunnel with one 90 deg turn, which was new for her but nooo problem lol. The judge complimented them both and called Java a "fun dog"
The helpers loved her enthusiasm coming out of the blind up to the ring, "Gimmie those rats!!" Hubby and her have 2 more trials tomorrow! If she passes the first trial, she'll have another title and they get to move up for the 2nd trial into Rat Senior and find 4 rats! Wish us luck!
This is Java's 2nd Q of the day. I accidentally stopped recording as Java came out for her first run, then hit record as she ended so there are only 3 seconds of that LOL.
especially with that little tail of hers haha. Here's a 
What a great way to work your dog! 
on what she achieved already and 
