Barn hunt Bullmastiff!

[JamieHalverson]

Ok, so I'm a little all over the place with what I want to do with this puppy...

Agility won't be until at least January, Obed starts in October and we'll start Nosework in November.

But guess what we get to start this weekend!?!? Barn Hunt!

I cannot wait! No age requirement for practicing, no previous obedience or anything, just a dog with a nose! The closest facility is an hour+ away, and they will only hold sessions until it's too cold in the barn, but I think it will be SO.MUCH.FUN for a Lillie puppy! Then, by the time they close up the barn for winter, we will be starting Nosework inside, perfect!

 

[Hector]

I'm so jealous of you!!

 

[Iymala]

This sounds so fun. I can't wait for updates and ....maybe even pictures if we are lucky.

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[Boxergirl]

This sounds great! Where are you located that you have such things? I look forward to all of your adventures with Lillie.

 

[JamieHalverson]

This sounds great! Where are you located that you have such things? I look forward to all of your adventures with Lillie.

I live in Minnesota, in a suburb of the Twin Cities, so there is everthing here! Yogi and I have taken your regular obedience and Rally classes, we've taken nosework, which is getting to be a lot more common, but we've also taken a trieball class and an antler shed hunting class, which I didn't even know about until I stumbled across the classes. We also an acting class that put us in touch with an animal talent agent who chose Yogi at an audition for Target's dog halloween costume add... He was a mummy and a bumble bee! I haven't seen the pictures in print, so I don't think Target selected them, but the shoot was alot of fun!

 

[Boxergirl]

That's awesome! Minnesota is where we plan to retire someday - but further north. We don't like people much, just dogs and other animals. Lol. So probably we'll be where there aren't a lot of things like that offered. I really like hearing about all you do with your guys. Keep sharing please.

 

[scorning]

Barn hunt is awesome! My Doberman (high prey drive) loves it and my Dane (low prey drive) is starting to be more excited about it. The only hard part is that the courses are all one size, meaning that the tunnels are pretty small for large dogs, and going through a tunnel is required for competing.

For those in Washington State, the Canine Comfort Corner in Bothell has classes. That is where we go, and there are monthly trials in Bellingham (at least in the non-Winter months).

 

[Yamizuma]

Have tons of fun!


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[DDSK]

Sounds like fun!

 

[JamieHalverson]

Barn hunt is awesome! My Doberman (high prey drive) loves it and my Dane (low prey drive) is starting to be more excited about it. The only hard part is that the courses are all one size, meaning that the tunnels are pretty small for large dogs, and going through a tunnel is required for competing.

For those in Washington State, the Canine Comfort Corner in Bothell has classes. That is where we go, and there are monthly trials in Bellingham (at least in the non-Winter months).

They do have to be able to fit in 18 inch tunnels; I think there are 4 or 5 Bullmastiffs titled in barn hunt, lol.

Lillie doesn't have a super high prey drive, so we'll see how she does, it'll be really interesting!

I bet your Dobe LOVES it! We had a neighborhood Dobe when I was a kid, named Nicholas (and by neighborhood, I mean his owner let him wander the neighborhood, he spent lots of time at my house) He would lay down in front of my gerbil cage and his head would go like he has watching a tennis match, it was hilarious, nothing could call him away from that cage.

 

[Hector]

Barn hunt is awesome! My Doberman (high prey drive) loves it and my Dane (low prey drive) is starting to be more excited about it. The only hard part is that the courses are all one size, meaning that the tunnels are pretty small for large dogs, and going through a tunnel is required for competing.

For those in Washington State, the Canine Comfort Corner in Bothell has classes. That is where we go, and there are monthly trials in Bellingham (at least in the non-Winter months).

That's over 2 hrs for me. I hate where I live. There is nothing for dogs here. Not even a dog park, rarely any dog events. No training center, just grooming places.

 

[JamieHalverson]

That's over 2 hrs for me. I hate where I live. There is nothing for dogs here. Not even a dog park, rarely any dog events. No training center, just grooming places.

Bummer... over 2 hours is a long ways to go for practice. I really hesitated at driving an hour each way, but thought we'd at list give it a go and see what it was about. I don't know that it's something we will be able to do regularly, but maybe just for the fall.

 

[JamieHalverson]

Barn hunt was fun! Lillie was a little nervous about the tube with the rat in it at first, but then when it was hidden in the hay you can see the moment she catches the scent and goes to work to find it!

[video=youtube_share;dQu6-lRD5Pc]http://youtu.be/dQu6-lRD5Pc[/video]

 

[Hector]

Video is private.

 

[JamieHalverson]

Video is private.

I changed the setting

 

[EverythingEnglishMastiff]

What a good girl. That does sound like a lot of fun.

 

[Hector]

Lmao she just walks off after the work is done!

 

[JamieHalverson]

Lmao she just walks off after the work is done!

I KNOW! She was much less interested in the rat than I expected. The trainer first did an intinct test where there are 3 visible tubes, one empty, one with rat bedding and one with a rat to see how interested the dog is right off the bat in the rat. Lillie was very interested in the tube with the bedding, when she got to the tube with the rat she was like "WTF is THAT?! and backed away a little nervous. She came back to it, though. Then you saw what happened when it was hidden in the straw. She loved going though the hay tunnel and climbed up on the bails with no problem!

The trainer said pretty much the only dogs who immediately go nuts over the rat are the ones who were bred for it, like rat terriers and such; most other breeds have to be taught the game. And she also said that Lillie immediately uses her nose more than most dogs.

She's hitting a bit of a fear stage, so I think that definitely affected her a little bit, but we'll try it through the fall and see how she does.

 

[DMikeM]

I really wish we had barn hunt activities in my area. Odi is a rodent hunter. He spends hours out in the yard listening to gophers under the ground and will go to a spot several feet away and start digging and pull out a gopher. He can hear them from 20 to 30 feet away. He also pushes boards around in the wood pile looking for mice and chipmunks.

 

[Hector]

I KNOW! She was much less interested in the rat than I expected. The trainer first did an intinct test where there are 3 visible tubes, one empty, one with rat bedding and one with a rat to see how interested the dog is right off the bat in the rat. Lillie was very interested in the tube with the bedding, when she got to the tube with the rat she was like "WTF is THAT?! and backed away a little nervous. She came back to it, though. Then you saw what happened when it was hidden in the straw. She loved going though the hay tunnel and climbed up on the bails with no problem!

The trainer said pretty much the only dogs who immediately go nuts over the rat are the ones who were bred for it, like rat terriers and such; most other breeds have to be taught the game. And she also said that Lillie immediately uses her nose more than most dogs.

She's hitting a bit of a fear stage, so I think that definitely affected her a little bit, but we'll try it through the fall and see how she does.

I don't know why, but I feel like my low drive dog will act differently against a rat in a tube vs seeing a rat in real life like the yard or something. Maybe she will do better once she's older or in agility. I feel like my dog was more interested in learning once he got older vs when he was younger. I wonder how she'll do in lure coursing!