Dogs climb and crawl through a course of bales in search of one or more rats (safely enclosed in sturdy, aerated tubes) hidden among the straw. It’s one of dogdom’s newest sports, but Barn Hunt tests something timeless: a canine’s innate ability to sniff out vermin. She was pleased with her dog’s efforts nonetheless, and Jones wasn’t done for the day-she’d be back with Livie, the sleeper, for another round of Barn Hunt.
She didn’t try and find anything,” Jones said as they exited the barn at Silver Rose Ranch, in Chino Hills, California. Jones collected her dog and was directed to a corner of the ring where, tucked beneath a loose layer of straw, a rat was cozy in a thick PVC tube, safe from the jaws and paws of the dogs who hunted him. The sinewy hound was historically bred to fend off lions today, she was eluded by a common rat. But seconds were slipping by and Beatrice was no closer to narrowing in on her target. Jones sidestepped the hay bales as she watched intently for her dog’s “tell”: a swift, heavy swat of her white-tipped toes.
Straw and dust swirled in the air as Beatrice, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, canvassed the barn with handler Ikuko Jones following briskly behind. The mahogany huntress leapt from one bale to the next in pursuit of her prey.
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