We started by introducing the dogs to a rat in a cage. The rat was ensconced in a protective cage of wooden dowels. The dogs could see the rat and try to bite it without hurting their teeth or the rat. Elliott and Carly found the rat in the trap extremely interesting and they tried their best to find a way into the cage. Winston sniffed the rat and then found a nearby pinecone that was more interesting than the rat. Oh well.The next step in the training was to put the caged rat at the end of an 8 ft wooden tunnel. The dogs were shown the other end of the tunnel and encouraged to run the tunnel to the rat. The tunnel is only 9 inches square and looks really small. Carly tried it first and after a little coaxing entered the tunnel and engaged the rat at the end. She was very proud of herself and we were proud of her too. Elliott went next. I really doubted he would go into the tunnel but with just a little encouragement he ran through the tunnel and tried to bite the rat. Good job! Meanwhile, Winston found two cute little girls to play with, no doubt thinking he is going to get by in this world simply on his good looks and puppy charm.
The next step was the juniors’ tunnel. This tunnel was 30 feet long with 3 turns. Norma prepared this tunnel by laying a rat scent line on the ground and then covering the trail with the tunnel maze. I told Kelli we should probably quit while we were ahead. 30 feet in a little dark tunnel was no doubt too much for starters. A short straight tunnel is one thing, but a 30 foot tunnel with turns is quite another. However, Norma had other ideas for our dogs."Get your first dog up here, Mark", she commanded in her lightly British accent. I tried Elliott first since he showed the most zest in the first trial. Elliott ran the entire 30 feet, found the rat and engaged him. Wow! I was really surprised. Norma was very pleased.
Next we ran Carly. She made it to the first turn, got confused, turned around and came out. She wasn’t interested in going in the hole again, preferring to find the rat going over the top of the tunnel. Why go in a tunnel when there might be a better way? Well, rats (no pun intended)! Later, after Carly had a chance to rest, we tried her again and this time she went in the hole, navigated all three turns in the dark and found that wascally rat. I was very happy and Norma was pleased. Norma is a wonderful teacher for both the dogs and us.
Now it was time to watch the pros work. Norma changed the tunnel configuration to include an additional exit and an abandoned nest. She started her Border Terrier 20 feet from the hole on a rat scent trail. It took her Border about 3 seconds to reach the hole and 7 seconds to navigate the 30 feet of tunnel including the abandoned nest and backdoor exit . Once to the rat, her Border pawed and barked aggressively at the rat for 90 seconds. After 90 seconds, the rat was removed and Norma recalled her dog. In less than 15 seconds, the dog raced back to Norma and jumped in her arms. Now that was impressive!
Meanwhile, Winston enamored all the dog owners who were there to work their dogs. I would guess there were about 8 handlers and about 15 dogs. Everybody had a good time, especially the dogs. As Norma puts it, "This is Disneyworld for our dogs." We waved goodbye and all three dogs slept all the way home. What a great day! And many thanks to Norma and Moon Mullins for hosting the training.
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