My Little Earthdog

This weekend was big for our little Lizzie. She was entered both Saturday and Sunday in an Earthdog Trial just north of town. Now for my fellow dog-competition people, you probably know all about this obscure event, but for my non-dog competition people, here's a little bit about Earthdog.It's basically for daschunds, and terriers that were bred for ratting. They dig tunnels (and line them with wood) in the ground, and put a cage of live rats at the end of the tunnel. As the dogs get more proficient, the tunnels get more intricate. But the idea is that they get to rats, then they have to "work the quarry" which means digging, barking, or biting at the bars in order to get at the rats. It's supposed to simulate a burrow where there would be actual animals. Don't worry, the rats are caged AND there are bars separating the dogs from the cage. I saw them, they are not at all distressed about the dogs.

I've always thought that Lizzie would be a natural at this because she's always been quite a little hunter - squirrels, mice, possums don't stand a chance in our yard. Which is why I often find myself crying at a makeshift funeral for some baby animal that I couldn't save from the dogs. Dewayne thinks I'm crazy, but continues to help me try and rescue the animals marooned in our yard, and digs the graves for the not so lucky ones. So right about now you're probably wondering why, then, would I encourage this behavior.

And here's the deal - I know that it's her nature to be a hunter and that's part of who she is. BUT, it's also not fair to trap the prey into a yard where they can't escape. Therefore, survival of the fittest is skewed in favor of the dogs. If we're out in the open and they were to actually catch something, that's fair game. But I don't feel like the animals have a fair shot. You can probably guess how I feel about deer hunting. But I digress...

So the rats, yes, are trapped. But as I said earlier, they are safe from the dogs, and the exercise is made to simulate one in the wild, except no animals get killed. It's my kind of hunting!

Since there's really no way to practice this without building tunnels in your backyard and buying rats, you pretty much enroll in the Intro class to see if your dog will do it. Which is just what I did. I wanted to see if she had the natural instict.

Saturday morning we drove out to Prosper, TX - about 45 minutes north of town to see if Lizzie had the drive. She went into the tunnel, but figured out where the rats were above ground and basically said, "forget the tunnel, the rats are right here." But, we came back on Sunday and all of a sudden, she got it! The judge on Sunday was SO wonderful and helpful. Since it's sort of a training lesson and a competition, she would let the dogs work a little even if they didn't qualify.

When we got into the ring on Sunday, Lizzie sort of ran around like crazy, going barely in the tunnel and heading for above ground, but then, all of a sudden, the judge said, "She's here!" with a look of glee. Sure enough, there she was at the rats. At first she just stared, mesmerized (there's a lid at the end of the tunnel where you lift the rats and the dogs out and can therefore check on the dog to see what they're doing). The judge was so kind and we just waited. Then, there it was, rising out of the rat filled tunnel, was the sound that I was waiting to hear. Her hunting bark. She worked that quarry like it was her job. Oh wait, it is.
She barked, and dug, and bit to get to the rats (remember, they're completely safe - no rats are harmed in the making of an Earthdog).
Our judge was so amazing. Because she was a little slow to get started, we didn't actually qualify, but she let us try the run a few times to get practice. She showed me how to work with her to encourage her to work the quarry, and was so excited in our success that you would have thought Lizzie was her dog. Dewayne was watching with such pride, and our new Earthdog friends were cheering and clapping. It was awesome.

Lizzie's new goal - Master Earthdog!
Here are a few of the best pictures from the day's excitement:

Pre-Tunneling - a gaggle of Westies

Lizzie and I patiently waiting our turn in the ring.

Getting ready for the hunt

We're just watching and waiting to see what she does. Notice that the tunnel is fenced in for the intro dogs. When you move up, the dogs do this off lead, no collar, no fence. So, we'll be fine-tuning that recall. Where the judge is sitting is where the rats are. The tunnel is 10 ft with a 90 degree turn in the middle so it's relatively short.

Here she had finally made it to the rats! We were watching and waiting to see what she would do. Once she started to work the quarry, we let her go at it.

Don't you just love the judge's excitement. Really, she couldn't have been more wonderful

Lizzie is working away. You can't see it, but she is going after those rats (remember, fruitlessly, they're caged, but it's still fun for her)

I am so impressed with her progress. She really is a natural.
Yes, I realize this angle of me is not attractive, but it's a good way to see how it works. The rats are in that flap on the left, and you lift the dog out of the hatch on the right. If you're really interested (I know you all are) you can click the picture to see it bigger. But I'll warn you, that means that angle of me will be bigger. Unfortunate.

A look of pure pride. My little Earthdog.