Frequently Asked Questions ABOUT BARN HUNT

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Barn Hunt is a fun, competitive and safe sport that is based on the traditional roles of dogs in ridding farms and homes of destructive vermin. 

Barn Hunt is a sport where dogs and handlers are timed on how fast they can find a safely contained rat hidden in a  course of straw bales and fluff, all while climbing tunneling and avoiding dummy tubes meant to mislead! 

Barn Hunt is also open to any dog of any breed or mix who wishes to play the game and can fit through an 18" wide by bale-height tall tunnel and safely negotiate a straw bale course. 

Trained, conditioned and domesticated pet rats are safely confined in a 4" PVC tube that allows for dogs to find them. This is a great sport for older dogs that may not be able to run and jump like the past...

For much much more general information about the sport (including rules, events and clubs) see barnhunt.com 

The first thing to do is to read up on the sport and watch videos if you can (lots of places online for videos) to research if you and your dog(s) will enjoy the sport!

Central Bark does teach and offer lessons but availability is often limited due to the increasing popularity and interest in the sport.  Current students maintain priority in lessons and classes etc. 

FIRST STEP: Sign up for a private lesson with a trainer 1 on 1 to see if the dog has interest and can fit into group formats.  Email Eva at info@central-bark.biz for scheduling that lesson or to be put on the waitlist for a lesson. The Contact us screen also sends us a message. 

PRIVATE LESSONS are $30 per half hour (typically good for one dog)

SECOND STEP:  Dogs that are keen in an intro private lesson can then move on to group classes! group classes are for  people and dogs that want to compete or play in the sport more frequently. 

Group classes start at $140 for 6 week classes

THIRD STEP:  As the team advances and develops, further opportunities open up  for run throughs, clinics and "punchcards".

Pricing is dependent on the activity. 

Other clubs and trainers are in the NYS area as well! Clubs can be found at barnhunt.com

 Earthdog tests gauge how good a hunter your terrier or dachshund  really is! Dogs must fit through a 9" wide covered wooden "den" to find a caged rat safely hidden behind a barrier.   Dogs must seek out and follow a scent trail until they find and indicate a rat in its "den"

Check out AWTA (American Working Terrier Association) and/or AKC Earthdog

https://www.awta.org/den-trials/

https://www.akc.org/sports/earthdog/

Central Bark does teach and offer lessons but availability is often limited due to the increasing popularity and interest in the sport.  Lessons will start in late June of 2022. 

Email Eva at info@central-bark.biz 

Herding is the historical job and pastoral act of using a dog to bring individual farm animals together into a group, maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. 

This is an incredibly challenging (and rewarding!) sport which requires dedication, training, timing and canine herding skill. 

Central Bark hosts trials and clinics and carries on VERY LIMITED lessons due to the requirement of time and necessity of students practice frequency (weekly often for months or years).

There are a number of excellent trainers in the North East. Some specialize in eye dogs (Border Collies and Kelpies) and some specialize in upright dogs (Belgian Tervuren, Collies, Cattle Dogs, Aussies etc) and some trainers do both. Herding has numerous venues and facets including large field trials and smaller technical arena trials. Many different kinds of stock can be used including cattle, sheep and ducks. If you are interested in herding you must identify which category of herding dog you have, what you want to study and train in, and what livestock type you want to work (for instance access to cattle is often very limited). 

The more you can learn about herding including going to events/trials etc the better you can focus on who and what you want to work with. 

We are NOT CURRENTLY taking any herding students at this time, but trainers can be found here:

http://www.northeastherding.com/Trainers.html

http://www.ahba-herding.org/MainPage.php?AreaName=FacilityDirectory