#MortimerFarmsBarnHunt

This past Saturday we spent the day at Mortimer Farms at a Barn Hunt trial. It was Bruiser’s fourth trial, and Pebbles’ first! Mortimer Farms is up in the mountains, so the temps were a lot cooler than the city of Phoenix temps…which meant that the whole pack could go and enjoy the beautiful weather.

This past Saturday we spent the day at Mortimer Farms at a Barn Hunt trial. It was Bruiser’s fourth trial, and Pebbles’ first! Mortimer Farms is up in the mountains, so the temps were a lot cooler than the city of Phoenix temps…which meant that the whole pack could go and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Our new clubhouse worked perfectly…and we were the envy of everyone who saw us!

It’s important that we don’t distract the dogs who are hunting, so this is as close as we could get. But, we could hear them exclaim RAT as they found them over and over!

We found a pond on the farm, and considered hunting ducks, but that would require jumping in the water. While Bruiser considered it, the rest of us were definite NOs! Bruiser eventually decided that the water would probably be way too cold!

First up, Bruiser ran Crazy 8s. The goal with Crazy 8s is to get points! There are 8 rats hidden on the course, you get points for every one you find, and you get points for tunneling and climbing. It really helps Bruiser wake up and get into hunting mode! Oh, and you only have two minutes!!

Are you reading me loud and clear, Dad? That’s a rat! Get it!

Next up was Novice. In Novice, you have to find one rat. There are three tubes on the course, one is a rat, one is rat litter and one is empty. You also have to tunnel and climb, all in two minutes! If you do that, then you earn a Qualifying Run. You need 3 Qualifiers to earn your Novice Title and then you can advance.

Bruiser rocked it! Warming up with Crazy 8s really helped. He went in there, found his rat, did his tunnel and completed his climb all within 46 seconds…earning him a first place ribbon! Bruiser now has 2 Qualifying Runs!

Pebbles was up next. We weren’t sure what to expect, given she’s only been doing Barn Hunt for three weeks and this is the first time she’s been anywhere except her practice barn.

It took Pebs a little while to figure out what was going on, but she definitely started hunting…unfortunately, she ran out of time. She didn’t care…she had fun anyway!

There was a break between the morning runs and the afternoon runs, so we did some extra exploring. Pebbles was practicing her model skills. What do you think, future John Deere model?

Bruiser found some really cool trees to climb!

And, Joey & Benji…they’re way better at appreciating nature, versus conquering it!

For the afternoon trial, it was back to Novice. Unfortunately, Bruiser needed that Crazy 8 run to get all amped up and excited. He was a little slow on his Novice run and found the rat about 5 seconds after the timer went off.

He still explored the entire barn, and in the end found the rat! He has no idea he missed the time limit.

Pebbles, on the other hand, she was ready to go!! After the morning’s run, she had figured out what was going on and she was up for the task. She tracked down that rat, showing Daddy right where it was!

Then she flew through the tunnel and got her climb in, earning her a Qualifying Run and a Second Place ribbon!

With Pebbles’ enthusiasm on high, we decided to let her try her hand at Crazy 8s. She was a hunting fool!!

She was so busy tracking the rats, that she forgot to do the tunnel, which did cost her some points. But, she could not have cared less, she was in Rat Heaven! So many rats, so little time!! (Daddy is not allowed to touch Pebbles or the rat until he has called rat and the judge has confirmed that he is right. So, he’s waiting for Pebbles to give him the sign that this tube has a rat in it.)

All in all, it was a very successful day!! They both came away with Crazy 8 points, and a Novice Qualifying Leg!! Not too shabby for some fluffy newbies! And now, we shall all sleep for days!