barn rat hunting | Gordon Setter Expert

Carol Raschella reached out to me and asked if I would reach out to you, to learn how many would be interested in putting together a group for Setter people who are working at (performance) training, such as obedience or agility – this would especially apply to those who want to compete to attain titles on their dogs? She’d like to help us create a question and answer place, a student and mentor relationship group, where all are welcome and training questions get answered with techniques that work for our Setters.

There are so many opportunities to compete for titles out there today, starting with obedience of course, but we’ve added all of the various agility levels, and things like rally, flyball, barn hunting, and so the list goes.

Carol mentioned that 14 years ago she formed a Setter obedience chat group on Yahoo, and while the group activity has since dropped, she wonders if perhaps it should be revived, or, if you all have some other ideas, she’s willing to work to start something new or different. The name of the old Yahoo group, if you’d like to check it out is Setter Obedience: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SetterObedience/info.

We’ve included the original group’s description below to give a sample of the overall concept that could be adapted to align with all of the new sports available now.

Group Description: This group is for the discussion of competition obedience training in any of the Setter breeds – Irish, Gordon, English, Red and White. Share your training tips, techniques, experiences, observations as they pertain to the unique temperament and abilities of our beloved Setters, including the differences and similarities among the four breeds. And brags of course, are welcome too! No flames please, we don’t want to embarrass our dogs.

Let’s get a poll going here so Carol and I can work with you, if there is interest, enough interest, to get something up and running for you.

If you would be interested in joining this type of group, as either a student, or acting as a mentor to help others, please complete the following survey!

Your Name(required)

Your Email address(required)

Check all of the boxes below that describe your interest level in a Setter training group:(required)

I am new to training and would join a group like this for help. I would join a Facebook training group I would join a chat group on Yahoo or some other format I have experience training Setters and would join a group and answer questions for others I have extensive experience and would join the group to answer questions a offer training advice.

Use the field below to tell us your ideas about the formation of a group. What would you like to see? How would you like the group organized? Share your valuable thoughts!(required)

Use this field to tell us about your training experience, the types of titles you've completed and the types of training experience you can share with others.

Sally Gift, Mesa Az

Today’s Guest Blogger – Ellen Smith from Columbus OH may sometimes have difficulty convincing folks that her red Gordon Setter is in fact a Gordon and not an Irish, but she and Jura had absolutely no trouble convincing judges to award him the three Qualifying scores he needed to become the first Gordon Setter to earn a Barn Hunt title! Thank you so very much for sharing your story with us Ellen!

Ellen Smith – Columbus OH

Last year I took my Gordon Setter and my mixed breed rescue dog to try out the new sport of Barn Hunt. The sport was created by founder Robin Nuttall who is quoted as saying “we have made Barn Hunt fun, challenging, a great breed instinct test for working terriers, and a just plain fun time for anybody else who wants to try it. I hope you join us on our journey.”

Much more information about the sport will be found on the website Barn Hunt Association LLC . In order to compete to earn titles you must first register on the website to obtain a Barn Hunt registration number before entering any trials.

The dogs and I did some practice sessions at our dog club to familiarize them with the straw course, tunnels and rats. Most trials are not actually done in a barn. There are five levels of competition and with each level the course and the `requirements become progressively harder.

The Instinct level gives the dog a chance to check out the ring and find a rat. You can enter Instinct and Novice at the same trial so it’s a good warm up. The dog must run naked (no collar) in the Instinct class and the ring is enclosed so dogs can’t escape and only one dog is in there at a time. The rats are in heavy-duty PVC tubes so the dogs can’t injure them but can still smell them. There will be a judge and rat wrangler in the ring.

In Novice the dog has two minutes to find a rat tube, run through a tunnel and climb onto a straw bale. There are also empty tubes and rat bedding/dropping tubes hidden to fool the dogs. The tubes maybe hidden up high or low and after every five dogs the tubes are hidden in new spots. You and your dog are held in a staging area out of site of the ring with four other handlers and their dogs so the handlers can’t see where the tubes are placed.

Exhibitors are called from the staging area one at time to go to the ring for your turn to compete. When you enter the ring there is a marked area called a start box where you stand with your dog. When the Judge says GO you remove the collar and leash and send your dog on his hunt. Each dog has their own way of indicating when they have found a rat, so doing practice sessions before you compete will help you know how your dog indicates a find. For example I have one dog that points and one that claws at the straw when they’ve found a rat. When you see that your dog is indicating a find you must say RAT in order for the judge to give the final nod as to whether the find is a yes or no. If it’s an empty tube or bedding then it’s “No” and “Thank you for your entry fee, you didn’t qualify but we sure had fun”.

After your dog completes the three qualifying hunts in Novice he earns his RATN title and can move on to the next level which is Open where they must find two rats in 2 min. 30 seconds to earn RATO. In Senior there are four rats hidden and the dog has 3 min. 30 seconds to find them (RATS), and finally in Master the dog has 4 min. 30 seconds but you won’t know how many rats are hidden (RATM). There may be up to five of them but the judge decides how many and it’s up to the handler to know when his dog has found them all.

The Barn Hunt website (you can click this link to go directly there) where it lists all the trial dates, rules, statistics, registration forms and when you complete a title you can print your Title Certificate right from their site. Currently there are five Gordon Setters who’ve earned Instinct titles, four with Novice titles and one with an Open title.

It is so much fun for my dogs and an easier sport for me since I don’t have to run with them like in agility or hunting. Dogs of any breed, mix or size can compete. I hope all our Gordon friends get to try it out.

Ellen Smith, Columbus OH

We are dedicated to building a knowledge base and a sharing site for those who are involved in all of the various aspects of competition with Gordon Setters, competitions that showcase the Gordon Setter’s Beauty, Brains and Bird-Sense.