After multiple weekends dedicated to the puppies, I decided to take Matt out for some fun. We entered the North Texas Barnhunters’ September trial in Open and crazy 8! Matt really likes his ratty rats and hasn’t trialed since February. He definitely needed the outing.
Barnhunt is a fun new sport that builds on a dog’s natural prey drive. Live rats are hidden in specially designed PVC tubes in a course made of straw bales. The dogs need to find a certain amount of rats, climb on a bale and complete a tunnel (with increasing length and turns) within the allotted time to qualify. Before someone asks: the safety of the rats is of utmost importance. We have a very strict set of rules pertaining their welfare and safety.
Saturday started with our first ever Crazy 8 run. Crazy 8 consists of a course with 8 rats. Each rat found adds 10 points. Doing a climb and a tunnel also add 10 points each, for a maximum of 100 points total. You lose 20 points if you fail to do the climb or tunnel, or if you call a tube that does not contain a rat. Matt found 4 rats and completed both tunnel and climb!! However, I called a litter tube so we ended up with 40 points. Very respectable for a first time!
Since Matt had completed the tunnel in Crazy 8, I had little worry he would fail in Open. He didn’t let me down! Bub found both his rats very efficiently and completed his tunnel for his last two Qs, finishing his RATO title! What a good bub!! He also placed second in the morning trial and third in the afternoon. I’m so proud of my rattersnooter.
The next day started with crazy 8 again, where Matt found 5 rats and did his climb, again totalling 40 points! The first crazy 8 title starts at 500 points but this is a really great start.
I bumped up Matt to senior level after he titled, so we’re now in the big boy class. There is a huge skill gap between Open and Senior so I didn’t expect anything. I just wanted Matt to have fun. In the morning trial I was a very bad human and convinced Matt to indicate on a litter tube. Bad human! He has the nose and really told me multiple times it was not a rat. Matt says he’s taking handler applications 🤣
The afternoon trial went much better. Although we did not Q, Matt hunted very well and did the longer Senior tunnel. We still have so much to learn as a team!
One thing I’m also very happy about is that Matt seems less reactive now that he is neutered. We got to ran team practice with a lovely young border collie/whippet mix named Surf! They both hunted very well alongside each other and found 3 rats each. Good boys!
Down in Belton TX, Lea and the pups showed at the CenTex Kennel Club dog show! The puppies did a clean sweep this weekend: Tini was Winners Bitch both days, earning her first four points! Lea says she shows like a champ, when she’s not hyped up. That doesn’t surprise me of my little jalapeño girl 🌶️
Her cousin Toby, a son of GCHG Scalloway’s Lion Hunter, got the crossover for four more points.
In roughs, Sassy got the win on Saturday, earning her one more point. Sass is just becoming a superstar at showing. She just naturally has that “thing”. I also finally got to buying her win picture from Elk City!
The feel good moment of this weekend definitely came Sunday. The third rough of the Diana litter, Eris, is owned by super dad/daughter duo Brian and Astoria. Their first dog show was last month in Belton and Stori has done a tremendous job training her little wild child. On Sunday, Eris and Stori were awarded their first win and points. I so so wish I could have been there! Eris is shaping up to be a very pretty and smart girl. Look out for those two in the juniors ring pretty soon!!
Last, but not least, big boy Cajun was Best of Winners over his sisters and grabbed two extra points. Lucky boy! Their uncle Samson (GCHG Scalloway’s Lion Hunter) also earned a group 1 on Sunday, further cementing his place as the #1 US rough collie!! (all breed, Canine Chronicle)
This was a long, exhausting weekend but full of fun, cheers, titles and ribbons for our snooted pups.
Sérac Collies 