Barn Hunt with your Dog’s Inner Hunter!

What is it: Both Barn Hunt and a portion of NASDA (North American Sport Dog Association) sports play to your dog’s prey drive and hunting instincts. Both of these games involve you and your dog working together to locate where there are hidden rats on a set course. In Barn Hunt, the arena includes a maze and tunnel built of straw bales, loose straw, and wooden boards. Your dog is required to find a specified number of rats in tubes hidden on the course, climb on a bale, and go through the tunnel within the set time criteria. Within the Urban Locating and Trailing & Locating portions of NASDA, you and your dog are searching for a hidden box with a rat hidden inside, in a man- made environment or field environment, within the allotted time period.

Venues and Rules

 Each of these sports currently only has one organization for competing. Both AKC and UKC do recognize and record titles (for a fee) from BHA:

Tools and Training

We recommend getting started with a training facility before diving into rat ownership to ensure that you learn how to safely and humanely keep, handle and train with rats within the tenants of these sports. NO rats are ever harmed in these games, and the ones we work with the most have been handled by great ratteries since the day they were born, live with other species of animals, and enjoy teasing the dogs. As far as dog gear goes, you really only need a leash/collar set (we prefer a set that is specific for this sport for our dogs), a long line if you are training for NASDA, and of course, TREATS!

Benefits for you and your dog: These sports provide many benefits for you and your dog, especially when it comes to teamwork. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Engages Natural Instinct - the Alaskan Klee Kai is known to have a good amount of prey drive. This sport allows them to hone in on this as they use their natural abilities to search for, and scent out, the hidden rodents.

  • Mental Stimulation - searching for the hidden rats engages your dog’s cognitive abilities as they concentrate and focus on the scent and/or sound of their “prey.”

  • Physical Exercise - Your dog will be able to bounce through a course of straw bales and loose straw, or source a scent trail through fields or urban settings to locate their “friends.”

  • Confidence and Bonding - With each successful attempt, you and your dog will build your confidence together as a team. Your dog will also gain confidence, and learn to search independently, working in new environments if you trial, as these can be held in a variety of locations.

  • Sense of Pride - cherish those accomplishments and display those hard-earned ribbons. Have fun competing at events, make friends, and earn titles as you go!

Thurisia Dog’s Do It All!

Thurisia’s Involvement: Thurisia dogs entered this sport in the last few years (circa 2019). However they have taken the sport by storm and hold many breed “firsts”, such as the first Barn Hunt Champion, Barn Hunt Master, and Barn Hunt Senior titles in BHA; and all of the first titles in NASDA, including their Supreme Versatility Bronze, Shed Dog III, and many others. The below dogs have been active participants:

  • Lyra - The first Klee Kai to earn a BHA Barn Hunt Senior, Master, and Champion titles - BHA and NASDA

  • Potion - BHA and NASDA

  • Maera - BHA and NASDA

  • Arwen - BHA and NASDA

  • Kooper - BHA and NASDA

  • Everdeen - BHA and NASDA

  • Halo - BHA and NASDA

  • Bennet - BHA and NASDA

  • Ender - BHA and NASDA

  • Maya - BHA

  • Toshi - BHA 

  • Isla - BHA