about the rat hunt sports

 Historically, dogs were used to control rat populations in both urban and rural settings. Nowadays versions of this activity have developed as fun and fast-growing dog sports. All forms of the sport provide safe and fulfilling enrichment for dogs of all breeds and ages, while enhancing the bond between dog and handler. Join us for a unique opportunity for your dog to fulfill those biological hunting instincts in a way that's fun and safe for all involved (including the rats)!

In Barn Hunt, dogs and their handlers work as a team to locate and mark rats hidden in secure PVC tubes within a maze of straw bales. Teams learn to discriminate between tubes that hold live rats and those that contain used rat bedding ("litter tubes"). Dogs also have to climb on a bale and go through an 18" wide tunnel made of bales. The numbers of rat and litter tubes increase as teams move up in levels, as does the length and number of turns in the tunnel!

Urban Ratting is very similar to Barn Hunt - just performed on a course made up of "stuff you might find in an urban alley" OR in a search area within a human built environment. There is more than one competition venue for this type of rat hunting, and both offer a variety of games in addition to the standard levels. Click the button below to read (and watch) more!