Barn Hunt Trial Schedule
- February 28-March 2, 2025 with judge Virginia Huxley
- April 4-6, 2025 with judge Shannon Floyd
- May 2-4, 2025 with judge Pam Leisle
- October 2-5, 2025 with judge Lynsey Fuegner
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- November 21-23, 2025 with judge Wendy Hodges
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What is Barn Hunt?
What is Barn Hunt? Barn Hunt is the fun and exciting sport sweeping the country where dogs hunt for rats (safely enclosed in heavy-duty aerated tubes) in a barn-like setting.
Barn Hunt accepts all dogs whether purebred or mixed. The dog must navigate an 18″ wide by bale-height tall tunnel. This is an especially good sport for older dogs and handlers who may not be able to do fast running sports any more but still want to play a fun game.
Barn Hunt is an independent sport, titles are recognized by the American Kennel Club, the Canadian Kennel Club, and the United Kennel Club. Your dog does not have to be registered with any of those organizations to participate in the sport; you will need to register with the Barn Hunt Association.
How does it work?
Barn Hunt has titles, levels of increasing difficulty, championships, and games. At the Lowest level, Instinct, 3 identical heavy-duty aerated tubes are in open sight on the ground, with one having a rat housed comfortably on bedding, one having used rat litter, and one being empty. The dog has to find the one with the rat. The handler needs to understand the dog’s signal and indicate the correct tube to the judge. Some dogs are very strong signalers; digging or barking at the tube. Some are very subtle. It doesn’t matter how the dog signals, as long as the handler understands what the dog is trying to say! In Novice, the three tubes are now hidden, and the dog must find and indicate the rat, climb on a bale, and complete a tunnel. As the dog progresses through the levels, the challenges become more difficult with more rats on the course and more turns in the tunnels. Barn Hunt also offers games classes like Crazy 8s (8 rats in two minutes) and Line Drive (4 rats in one minute).
Rules, trials and to register your dog go to
Barn Hunt Association
