We had thought we were going just to watch but when we arrived we were told we could enter as FEO (For Exhibition Only). How cool. We were very excited for little Boogie.
There were so many Border Terriers there. And a number of them were related to Boogie. I can't keep track of all the exact relationships as everyone else seems to do. They'd say this is so and so - he's Boogie's great half uncle. Huh? I can almost comprehend when they say "this is Boogie's half brother" but beyond that I'm pretty clueless.
But most importantly everyone seemed to think that Boogie is extremely cute and a very sweet little boy. Boogie enjoyed hanging around an area with other little dogs. He wanted to play with a couple of them but overall was very respectful of all the other dogs and just ignored them.
Before the event can start they have to build all the tunnels. To do that they dig trenches in the ground in the shape of the tunnel - this depends on the level. They have to build four courses: Intro to Quarry, Junior, Senior, and Masters. You can earn titles in every level except for Intro. As you might imagine, we started out in Intro to Quarry.
After digging the trench they place the wooden tunnel liners in the trench.
Intro boxes are 10' long with one 90 degree turn.
Once the liners are in the trenches they cover the boxes with a large piece of cloth.
Then they cover the cloth with dirt.
They make sure everything is completely covered except for the end where there is a lid that opens so you can lift the dog out and the spot where the rat box is inserted - which is where you see the hinges.
This makes for a completely dark tunnel inside. And from outside it just looks like the rest of the ground. The only thing you can see is the tunnel entrance.
Ten feet from the tunnel entrance are two start flags. You must place your dog behind this line to start. You'll notice orange fencing around the Intro ring. This is to keep the dogs from possibly running away. None of the other courses have the orange fencing - this is just for the newbies.
After everything was all set up it was time for the event to start. Masters went first - it is completely different. Then it was time for Intro. In this level, the dogs have two minutes to enter and get through the tunnel to the rats. They then have to "work" the rats for 30 seconds. That can include digging, barking, biting, etc. Boogie was the last dog in this category to get a turn since he was running FEO.
First thing I did was take his leash and collar off. Then you are to carry your dog into the ring and walk up to the start line. You then set your dog down at the line (as you see here) and wait until it looks as though your dog has the scent. Boogie seemed to get the scent the second I set him down. I waited a couple seconds and then let him go.
Oops, wait a minute, Boogie just arrived at the computer and says that he'd like to tell this story. So for the first time, Boogie will take over the keyboard.
Mom took me to this really good smelling place and set me down. I knew exactly what I was looking for....I could easily smell rats you know. So as soon as mom let me go I started running really fast. Suddenly I put on the brakes just as fast. The scent led me to a hole in the ground.
I wasn't sure I wanted to go in there - while not pitch black, it's pretty dark under there. But that smell was so strong I just couldn't resist. So slowly I crept in - a little ways.
Hmmm, I don't think so, it's just too scary. So I backed out. But when I got out mom told me to go back in. So I tried again and went a little farther in this time and even though I really wanted to go it was just too scary and I backed out again. Then I had a bright idea. I'll bet I could just run on top of the ground over to where the rats are - who needs to go in that hole anyway. I thought I was so clever until that judge guy held his clipboard between me and the rat smell. That was scary so I turned around.
Mom called me back and the judge told my mom to walk up to the entrance to help encourage me. As soon as she did that we technically failed the test. But that didn't matter to me or mom - we were just happy to be playing.
So mom walked up to the entrance and pointed into the ground. I really wanted the rat and took one more look above ground to see if maybe the judge wasn't looking. No such luck.
By now I really wanted to get to the rat and knew there was only one way to get there. So I was really brave and ran into the hole - I was really determined now.
Away I went.
Wow, cool. That was fun! I made it to the other end super fast. But WAIT! At the other end of the tunnel were these two HUGE rats. I thought I was going after the same things we played with at practice last week. But these things are huge! And, to top it off, there are two of them and only one of me. Well, I'm no dummy so I screeched to a halt about four inches from the rats and laid really still and just stared at them. After about ten seconds the judge started tapping on the rat cage and jiggling it around - that's scary too so there was no way I was going to budge...except maybe backwards.
So finally the judge opened the lid - ooh that's bright. But I still wasn't going to move as those two huge rats were still there staring at me - and now mom and the judge were staring at me too.
The judge kept wiggling the cage and mom kept encouraging me to bark. What's that about?! In the RV she is always trying to get me to be quiet! Oh these silly humans. Anyway, after a while the judge finally took away those scary rats and mom encouraged me to come out. So I peeked out but kept my eyes locked on those rats - you can't be too careful you know.
The judge held the box down where I could see it. Hmmm, maybe if he's going to hold them it isn't so scary after all so I decided to peek out and take a sniff.
Mom lifted me out and set me down between her and the rats. Well with both mom and the judge there to protect me I could be really brave. So I started barking and punching at the rats. Mom kept praising me and telling me what a good dog I was. Cool. I'll show those rats who's boss.
Let me tell you, that was exciting! Then mom said my turn was over and carried me away. Even though I was having a great time, it was okay that my turn was over as I was panting so hard. All that thinking makes a little puppy really tired.
(Note from mom: After all the dogs in one level are done everyone gathers to hear the scores - it's either pass or fail. The judge was very high on Boogie and really complimented him a lot. I guess it is highly unusual for a puppy to even go through the tunnel. He encouraged us to keep playing as he thinks Boogie is going to be great. Nice Judge.)
We were just watching the Juniors have their turns when Billie told us we should hurry and go get Boogie. Juniors was the last event before the Barn Hunt started so we thought we were getting Boogie for the Barn Hunt. But while Mike was gone they told me it was Boogie's turn to try Juniors. Wow, cool.
The Junior course is much different than Intro. The Junior course is 30' long with three 90 degree turns. There is also a false entrance. The dogs only have 30 seconds to find the correct entrance and make their way through the tunnel to the rats. They then have to work the rats for 60 seconds. Okay, handing the keyboard back to Boogie.
Mom carried me out to the field so I had a feeling something fun was about to happen. I was really excited and started squirming. Can you believe mom almost dropped me! She finally set me down at the start line and held me for a few seconds to make sure I had the scent. Did I ever!
Mom let me go and off I went. I ran directly to the correct entrance and started to go in until I quickly realized that it was pitch black in there. So I backed out quickly. I figured there must be a better way and ran around on the ground and noticed another entrance - but this one didn't have any rat scent at all so I immediately knew this wasn't right. I started to look around and mom called me back and told me to go get the rat. Off I went again. I once again entered the correct tunnel and this time I was going to get that rat no matter what. I ran in the tunnel as fast as my little legs would take me.
Suddenly, BANG - I ran right into a wall. Ouch that hurt - and it made me mad. So I started barking and barking. I think mom was really excited as she thought I was on my way to the rat with lots of gusto. But once again I backed out. I was determined though and ran back in as fast as I could. Darn, that wall. I hit my head again really hard. I was even more furious and barked even louder this time. It was so dark down there under the ground that I couldn't see that the tunnel turned. How's a puppy supposed to learn all this!
After about five minutes of trying we gave up - I just couldn't figure out the turn. But the judge was really nice to my mom and was very helpful the whole time. She was really encouraging to us and told us not to give up. She said for a puppy I had a lot of determination - even if I didn't quite understand the whole game. I hope mom and dad don't give up on me as I'm having a blast.
I was tuckered from all that thinking and thought we were done. But to my surprise mom took me over to what they call the Barn Hunt. It is just a fun thing they do at the end of the day and I guess they award some fun prizes.
Aunt Billie was super nice and signed me up for three turns! Mom tried to pay but Aunt Billie insisted on paying. Do I have a nice Aunt or what! In fact, I really love Aunt Billie. Every time I hear her voice I get all excited and drag my mom over to her. She's always so nice to me - and she's the one who got mom and dad interested in Earthdog!
Okay, so for the Barn Hunt they set up a large area with hay bales and lots of different garbage. It was stuff like empty dog food bags, soda cans and cartons, empty water bottles, plastic sacks, empty potato chip bags, different sticks from around the area, etc. All the kinds of stuff I love to get into!
There were two piles (for the lack of a better word). One was to the left.
And about 20' away was another one on the right.
The entire area was fenced off. In addition to all the stuff around, there were four canisters. Three were filled with rat bedding (like hay and rat poop) and the fourth had two rats in it. Here is what the canisters looked like. They all looked exactly the same - and of course had air holes in them so the rats could breath.
Before each dog ran they would move the canisters all around - and whoever was next couldn't watch. That way the handler couldn't point the dog to the correct canister. All the canisters looked exactly the same so I don't know how the people would have known anyway but that was the rule.
Then when the timer says okay the handler sets their dog down inside the fencing. The dog then has to run around and find the canister that has the rats in it. When the handler thinks their dog is indicating that they found the cansiter with the rats then they say "mark." The clock is then stopped. Whoever can do it the fastest is the winner. There is a three minute time limit. And if the person says "mark" and the dog is at the wrong canister then you are eliminated.
Of course, not ever having done this before, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do when mom set me down. But I immediately smelled the scent of rat. I ran right over to the area where I smelled the scent. I hesitated for a second near the pop cartons (if you look carefully you'll see a canister in the Sprite carton). Not having done this before, mom couldn't believe I had found the right thing so she didn't say mark. I then checked out the garbage can.
I quickly knew this was wrong and then went back to the canister and laid down in front of it and just stared. The second I did that mom knew I had found the rats - as this is the exact behavior I had shown in the tunnel earlier today. Mom said "mark" and what do you know - I was right!! I got a score of 30 seconds. Mom and dad couldn't believe it - they were sure I'd take the full three minutes every time.
That was a fun game. And I was really excited about 20 minutes later when I found out I that I got another turn. This time I looked everywhere I could think of. I could smell it and I continued looking every place I could think of. Maybe it's in the flower pot.
I know that's not exactly right but I also know I'm really close. Where could it be?
You can't fool me, I know that canister just over my head has bedding in it. But darn I know the correct one is around here somewhere.
Finally the time was up. The lady apologized for making it too hard for a young puppy like me. It was hidden up in the hay bale just above where I had been searching. It never occured to me to climb up into the hay bales. They said that is too advanced for a puppy and they were sorry. But it's okay as I had a really good time and I knew I could smell the rat. Since it was so hard, they got the canister down and showed it to me. I then told those rats. I barked and barked and punched at the canister. Mom was really praising me big time. I was so proud of myself.
But then mom took me out of the pen. I wanted to go again as now I totally understood this game. Mom stayed in the car with me as we waited for our final turn. I cried the whole time and punched at the door. I could tell other dogs were having fun playing and I wanted to play again....NOW!
Finally it was my turn. Mom was trying to carry me over there (all the dogs had to be carried as there were stickers in the surrounding grass) and I was wiggling like crazy. Let me at 'em!
Mom set me down and I took off fast as I could. I ran directly to the empty laundry soap carton. Nothing. Darn, it really smelled like rat - I was sure I had this one. But when I saw it was empty I immediately tried something else. But my nose kept taking me back to the soap carton - darn it's not there. I turned and suddenly caught a stronger scent and dashed immediately into the branches. Mom could tell by the way I was so determined to dash in there that she knew I had it. She said "mark" and wouldn't you know we were right! I did this in just over 30 seconds.
The timer went over and apologized to my mom. She said she initially hid the rat canister in the soap carton. But then she decided she didn't want the dogs inhaling all the soap fumes (if there were any) so at the last second she took the rat canister out of the soap carton and hid it in the branches. She said that's why Boogie kept going to the soap carton. She said if she'd left it there then Boogie would have found it in about three seconds.
But I didn't care (nor did mom). I had a great time playing this game. I couldn't actually see the rats so I wasn't afraid of them. Since I'm a puppy and am just learning they let me play with the canister a little. I barked and punched at the canister and mom again praised me big time. What a great boy I am!
I was really hoping for another turn but instead of just waiting in the car, dad drove it away. Oh well, that's okay, I had the best day of my life!
Boogie and Debbie
10/20/07
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