Welcome to Barn Hunt Casa Grande
When I first started Barn Hunt I did it to give my retired Schutzhund dog Vesna a fun sport to keep her busy and happy. Vesna loved it, I loved it, got hooked and jumped in with both feet. Then there was only one Barn Hunt facility in Arizona. So, I drove 200 miles round trip multiple times to take lessons from Nita Gandara (first BH judge in AZ) to become more familiar with Barn Hunting.
I enjoyed Barn Hunt so much that I decided I wanted to create a place to share it with other people. I built ring panels, bought bales of straw and several rats. Our first rat was Henri (girl) who is featured in our logo. We have grown quickly. We now have close to 3000 square feet of roof over multiple rings, 100 plus bales of straw and a lot more rats. Barn Hunt Casa Grande hosts training/practices two times a week, seminars and trials year-round.
I love Barn Hunt and all of the dogs—their unique personalities and how they hunt differently. And I very much enjoy helping people reach their goals with their best friends. With a 30 year background in dog training, I’ve been able to apply those skills to improve our Barn Hunting techniques. To better help people I worked toward and became the second Barn Hunt “A” judge in Arizona and am a designated mentor able to help other clubs.
We invite you to join us at Barn Hunt Casa Grande and enjoy this unique sport with your furry best friend. Join us on Facebook at Barn Hunt Casa Grande to keep up with all of our news and brags from our wonderful competitors.
See you soon!!
THE ORIGIN OF BARN HUNT
The purpose of Barn Hunt is to demonstrate a dog’s vermin hunting ability in finding and marking rats in a “barn-like” setting, using straw/hay bales to introduce climbing and tunneling obstacles in the dog’s path. Barn Hunt is based on the skills historically used by itinerant “ratcatchers” in traveling the countryside, ridding farms of vermin, thus helping conserve and preserve food grains and cutting down on disease.
Barn Hunt is also for any breed or mix of dog who loves to hunt and who can fit through an 18” wide gap between two hay bales. It will test speed, agility, and surefootedness. While not specifically targeted at larger dogs or dogs without a vermin hunting history, Barn Hunt is all inclusive and fun for any dog and human who wishes to play the game.
Barn Hunt is a sporting event, and as such there will be levels of difficulty, titles, and championships to be attained. While it can be used as an instinct test, there is also a handler component in that the handler must signal when the dog has reached the desired target PVC rat tube; thus, the handler must know and have a partnership with their dog. Teamwork will win the game.
Barn Hunt is a family sport and can be held indoors or outdoors, in a barn-like setting or on any piece of level ground that can be enclosed securely by gating/fencing. At all times, the safety of the dogs, handlers, and rats is to be of paramount importance. Rats will be humanely handled and safely confined in aerated PVC tubes; Barn Hunt is not intended to harm or kill rats. The RAT is the star of the show!
