I smell a rat! For group or private lessons/practice you have a several choices of times/days/instructors:
Group Lessons: Barb Krause teaches group lessons at SchaSam Farm year around in rat scent sports. Barb can take your team from introduction to rat sports to master/Champion level, work with you on the team event strategy, or address any hunting issues you find during practice or competitions. Cost per group lesson is $35 and payment is due at time of training. To sign up for a specific time for Barb’s sessionsplease go to the Events & Classes page and scroll down to Rat Games Group Lessons.
For private lessons or practices, Mandy Schlereth is ready to provide you with Intro to Barn Hunt lessons and practices at all levels in any of the three permanent barn hunt rings at the Farm. Cost per 30 minute private session is $30 payable at time of the session. To sign up for a specific time for Mandy’s sessions, please go to the Events & Classes page and scroll down to Barn Hunt Private Lessons.
For year round private lessons or practices for both NASDA and Barn Hunt as well as general scent work, please use the contact page to link up schedules for a session with Sam. She has been participating in Barn Hunt since 2015 with multiple dogs at Master/RATCH level - terriers and border collies. She has high level dogs in a multitude of NASDA scent games as well. From introduction to master she can help you work through issues or learn more about the different scent sports. The cost for private lessons is $35 for a 30 minute private lesson in Barn Hunt or NASDA, or three practice runs or one “intro” session. Payable via cash, check (SchaSam Farm) or paypal (SchaSamFarm@yahoo.com) - if using PayPal the cost is $37 to pay the paypal business fee. Payment due at time of training.
RATS!!!!! BARN HUNT is all about letting your dog use it’s natural instinct to find rats hidden among numerous straw bales. Dogs over 6 months old and registered with Barn Hunt Association may play in competitions (trials) or sanctioned Barn Hunt Fun Tests but any dog can learn. At the beginning levels of Instinct and Novice they need to find one rat and to distinguish the live rat (in a PVC tube) from a tube with stinky rat litter in it and a blank tube. In Instinct the three tubes are out in the open and in Novice they are hidden with straw. In the next level (OPEN), the dog is searching for two rat tubes on a course that has litter tubes and a blank tube. In SENIOR level there are four rats. In the MASTER level, the judge uses a random number generator to hide anywhere from one to five rats for the dog and ensures there are always 7 tubes on course - could be one rat and six litter tubes or maybe five rats and two litter tubes or any combination in between. At all levels in order to be successful the dog must find the rat(s) on course, climb on a straw bale and go through a tunnel made of the bales. The length and complexity of the tunnel varies by skill level. We also play a game called CRAZY 8 where there are eight rat tubes hidden, along with four litter and the dog has two minutes to find as many rats as they can, go through the tunnel and climb on bales. The team is allowed one “fault” - indicating a rat when in fact the tube only has litter in it. All work is done by the dog while naked - no leash or collar. SchaSam Farm hosts Barn Hunt Association (BHA) sanctioned barn hunt events. Click on the link above to be directed to the Barn Hunt Association to view their calendars, rule books and other Association information.
NASDA Our NASDA classes are all about establishing a good working connection and learning how to read your dog’s body language while they are searching. These skills will benefit you in whatever activities you pursue . You will be coached on how to read your dog’s body language and how to allow them to use their incredible nose to find the different sources of odor used in NASDA. The basic skills required to be successful include:
1. Walking/working on loose leash 2. Being able to work through distractions (smell, noise and sight) 3. Coming when called (if you decide to work off leash on the field events)
NASDA competition classes consist of field and “urban” work. As your dog gains experience and moves up in the class levels, the size of the search area get larger and the complexity of the hides will increase.
For the field work, your dog will be following a rat trail of odor to the quarry box with a live rat in it or looking for a scented antler. This work will take place in a field, woods, wetlands – some place not inundated with human scent. Work can take place off leash or on a long line (up to 30 feet). Shed hunt is done as a single dog. Rat trailing can be done by one dog or in a team (brace). We do field training up at “SchaSam Feld" off Starbird exit in Mt Vernon. The Feld has 15 acres of creek, meadow and woods where antlers and rat quarry box hides can be simple or complex.
For the urban work, your dog will be air scenting for a quarry box with live rat in it or air scenting for a human scented “lost” articles (such as a wallet, keys, ink pen, keys, coin, hair barrett, etc). These games take place where there has been a concentration of human scent, not necessarily in an “urban” setting. In all urban games, the dog must be on leash and leash handling is a huge part of success. In the urban classes of Urban Locating and Lost Item Recovery, the judge will call the find. In the Urban Challenge Games the handler may be asked to make the call. We will review all of the games and the rules of each during training.