Happy Honey

Last night Honey and I went to EarthDog training.

Earthdog (which is what "terrier" actually means) is a skill that terriers of all sorts can develop and compete in. What we did last night, as beginners, was to introduce Honey to rats (in a cage) to see if he has hunting instinct. A+ in that department! Then he had to crawl through a small wooden tunnel about 4 feet long. No problem there, either. Then he had to follow a scented trail through the grass to find the rat cage - he was very quick in this, too. Finally we took him to the earthdog course - this is an underground maze of tunnels that open up in certain sections so you can start your dog close to the end (which is where the cage of rats is) or midway or at the beginning. The entire maze is probably about 20-25 feet in length, including one 'dead end'. The terriers have to go through the entire length, following the scent to the right end and then bark for 20 seconds at the cage of rats. Honey was able to tunnel from the last section to the end (which included one turn) and find the rats and bark for that time.

This may sound like an odd exercize for many of you, but it's a joy to see your dog do what it was bred to do. Cute little West Highland White Terriers were bred to control vermin (rats, mice, rabbits, etc.) on farm properties in Scotland. My Westie has this same blood in him and would love to help control the gray squirrel population here in Minneapolis (thousands upon thousands!), he is fascinated with them! He used to be fascinated with cats, but they are not at all interesting to him compared with the squirrels.

Well, it was great fun and the organizers said that Honey will most likely have no problem earning the title of Junior or even Senior Earthdog this year! The trials are in September, so we'll be practicing every other week until then.

The picture above is a very tired Honey after being Mr. Earthdog last evening.

Blessings,

Belinda (aka "Earthdog Mom")