This Saturday we started Earthdog class for Spot at Gemini Dog training. It's only a 4 week class, but it is good to get an opportunity to practice, since I'm too lazy to go to Home Depot and get some lumber to build my own tunnels.
Spot was the only dog there who had ever done any Earthdog before, so he was kind of the example of what people might expect.
Spot's problem that has held him back from getting his Junior Earthdog title is that he wastes too much time exploring above ground. They only have 30 seconds to get through the tunnel and start working the rats. In the non-title Intro class, they have 2 minutes. He's passed that test twice, but failed Junior twice. So we practiced rewarding him only when he entered the tunnel as soon as I released him. He was zooming into the tunnel after few minutes of that!
Then the dogs got to actually see the rats.
There are 2 rats in a small cage, and the dogs were allowed to sniff and were encouraged to bark as the instructor moved the cage around.
Since Spot already is well aware that rats are prey, he showed everyone how the dog actually works the rats inside the tunnel. I couldn't tell if people were excited or horrified! Spot gets really worked up. Not all dogs do, but I think some of the other people were wondering "What have I gotten myself into?"
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