Hello Doberman Owners

I have some questions about barn hunt and trailing & locating.

We have our first ever trial next weekend and signed up for the instinct test since its our first time. Should she pass that part do we move up to the next level and pay each fee for each run? Should I bring some extra cash?

Also....The club is hosting NASDA Trailing and Locating. Maybe its something fairly new because there doesn't seem to be much infos about it other than their website of course. Has anyone tried this sport?

As far as "moving up" goes, it would depend on whether there is availability for you to enter the Novice level or not. If the trial is full, you won't be able to enter more runs at the novice level. If the trial is not full, you can typically enter novice runs as "day of show" entries. Whether you'd need cash or can pay with check depends entirely on the club that is running the trial. I'd recommend you contract the trial secretary with your questions - they are usually pretty helpful with that kind of stuff.

Sometimes it's helpful to do a couple of Instinct runs even if you do pass the first time, just to help your dog really understand what it is that they are doing, if you haven't taken any classes. The novice level will have the rat tube concealed, and will require a successful climb and tunnel, so it's significantly different than Instinct.

The first thing to do, if you haven't already, is to download and read the rules. https://barnhunt.com/rules/barnhuntrules_2016_final.pdf This is the current rulebook. The updated rulebook will be out soon, but until then, these are in effect. Also, don't forget to register your dog with BHA, since they need to have registration number to compete in a trial. That's done online, and you get your number right then.

Instinct is a single pass/fail run. A dog can compete in Instinct until the have their Novice title. Novice requires three passing runs. If the club allows move-ups, and Novice A isn't at its limit, then you can probably move up, but sending the Trial Secretary an email making sure about that is a good idea. If they allow move-ups, and you want to give Novice a try, then yes, bring money.

According to the NASDA website, they were just formed in 2016, so yeah, they are pretty new. Looks like they are mainly in the western part of the country right now. Their Trailing and Locating looks kind of like RATS! Canada's Brush Hunt, from the little bit I read of the rules.