Barn Hunt allows dogs to exercise their natural working drive in a safe, controlled environment where a rat may be found but never harmed. Tame, well-cared-for rats are safely ensconced in durable tubes and hidden around a course of hay bales. Dogs must search out and identify rats, ignoring decoy tubes containing rat bedding while running through a tunnel made of hay bales and climbing amongst the course. Handlers and dogs await their turn in a “blind”, a sequestered area where they can’t see the ring. Once in the ring, dogs run “naked” to avoid the risk of any collar or tags getting hung up on the hay bales, and use their keen sense of smell to search out hidden rats in their secure tubes. Dogs must find the rat(s), run through the tunnel, and climb onto a bale to complete the course.

Yes. All dogs must be registered with Barn Hunt to be able to compete in Barn Hunt trials. You do not, however, have to register your dog to compete in a Fun Test or training clinic. Barn Hunt Registration is a one-time lifetime fee of $30. You do not have to pay any kind of yearly membership fee.

Instinct New dogs to the sport can test their abilities in the “instinct” class. At this optional level, dogs must simply indicate which of the three visible tubes contains a rat. Climbing a hay bale and completing the tunnel is not required to achieve an Instinct title. Course Time: 1 minute.

Novice The dog must locate one rat (ignoring both an empty tube and a tube filled with rat bedding), climb a hay bale, and complete the hay bale tunnel. Course Time: 2 minutes.

Open The dog will search for two rats, again needing to complete a climb and a more challenging tunnel with a 90 degree turn. The tunnel must look dark. Course Time: 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Senior The dog is now hunting to find four rats, complete a tunnel and a climb, and ignore the empty tube and the three tubes containing rat bedding. The tunnel must have at least one but no more than two 90 degree turns. The tunnel must appear dark. Course Time: 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Master The dog will be searching for at least one and up to five rats; the total number is unknown by the handler! This is a great test of dog-to-handler communication and learning to trust your dog’s nose. The tunnel must have at least two but no more than three 90 degree turns. Course Time: 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Crazy 8’s This is a non regular class and the dog is not required to have any barn hunt titles to compete. There are eight rats on the course. The dog will have two minutes to find as many rats as possible, climb, and tunnel. The dog scores 10 points for each rat found, 10 points for climbing, and 10 points for tunnel for a total of 200 points. Dogs who find all the rats, tunnel and climb in less than two minutes may be awarded bonus points. Failure to climb, failure to tunnel, and or incorrectly calling rat is -20 points for each failure. Course Time: 2 minutes.

Line Drive Class This is a non-regular class and the dog is not required to have any barn hunt titles to compete. Dogs may wear collars in this class and be on or off-leash, but must be on leash if the class is in any area that is not securely fenced. Blind dogs must be on a collar/leash. There are 9 Tubes. Four will contain rats, 5 will contain litter. Arranged in a single fixed set of bales, design is prescribed in the Barn Hunt Competitors Rule Book. Course Time: 1 minute.

Barn Hunt Elite Master Champion REMX
1. Eligibility criteria: All dogs entered in Master B are eligible for Elite scores.
2. REMX: 10 qualifying scores from the Master B class with a course time of 2:30 or under. Dogs completing a Master course in 2:30.00 or under will receive both a regular RATCH leg and a REMX leg. 20 qualifying scores of 2:30 and under get REMX2, etc.

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