NETC Earthdog Fun Day

Today I took Spot to Glencoe Farm in Plainville, MA for the New England Terrier Club Earthdog fun day. I was excited because they were offering a non-sanctioned test including Masters level. Spot finished his Senior title in August. We had never tried Master and I thought this would be a good opportunity to try him out.

The rules for Master are that the dogs are tested in a brace, which means 2 dogs at a time. The first part of the test is the "walk up." The two owners walk with the judge and the two dogs off leash through the woods on a pre-determined path that has been scented in a few areas and has one false den. Your dog must show that they are hunting by ranging in front, behind and along side the trail, sniffing and investigating. You must also be able to call the dog back to have them check areas you indicate. The dog must investigate the false den.

When you reach the tunnel, the dog needs to find the entrance and mark. The rats are placed behind bars at the entrance of the tunnel. Once both dogs have marked the entrance, the first dog is allowed to enter the tunnel while the second dog is tethered and required to "honor" the working dog. After the first dog finishes, they switch places.

The Master tunnel has a couple extra obstacles. It has a constriction which makes the tunnel narrower for a short section and it has a roller, which the dog has to crawl over. The dog has 90 seconds to reach the rats and then has to work the rats for 90 seconds. Then you have 15 seconds to remove the dog from the tunnel.

Spot did really well at the fun day. He stayed with the group, while investigating the area and hunting with the other dog. He came when I called and investigated the false den when I pointed it out. The only weird thing was that when we exited the woods into the field where the tunnel was Spot stayed really close and I had to tell him to go look for rats. He was second to mark the tunnel so he had to honor first. That was tough for him. He was barking and I had to give him treats, which wouldn't be allowed in a real test. Once he entered the tunnel he had no problem finding the rats in time. He worked the full 90 seconds. The only hitch was removing him from the tunnel. He backed up when the cover was removed and it took me 19 seconds to remove him. Overall not too bad for the first time and he had a lot of fun. Hopefully we will be able to practice a bit in the Spring.