persephone Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 LINK It's not what you might think - no bloodletting involved. While some may worry about the welfare of the rats, Guindon says she breeds and trains them so they’re comfortable in the tube, which they enter on their own, and they spend no more than an hour in there before they are swapped out. “They’re pets and treated as such,” she said of her rats, who all have names and live in her home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Frankly, I'd just as soon have the rats killed. A dog's jaws is nowhere near as cruel as rat poison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 11, 2023 Author Share Posted May 11, 2023 @sandgrubber- Oh, don't worry , there are teams of terriers who are employed for just that purpose- this however is just an exercise - like scent discrimination etc . Link to rat extermination with terriers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Kisses Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 3 hours ago, sandgrubber said: Frankly, I'd just as soon have the rats killed. A dog's jaws is nowhere near as cruel as rat poison. In Barn Hunt the rat is alive and enclosed in a tube while the dog hunts for them. They are supposedly trained to be ok with this… I’m not convinced? Predation Substitute Training appeals more to me from the little I know about it. I think meeting needs is important and that it need not be at the expense of another animal’s welfare. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 17 minutes ago, Papillon Kisses said: In Barn Hunt the rat is alive and enclosed in a tube while the dog hunts for them. They are supposedly trained to be ok with this… I’m not convinced? Predation Substitute Training appeals more to me from the little I know about it. I think meeting needs is important and that it need not be at the expense of another animal’s welfare. It could be just as effective if they stuffed the tube with stuff rats have been living in - old bedding/substrate, etc... T. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mairead Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 (edited) Joseph Carter the mink man uses a mink, a terrier and a sighthound to clear chook farms etc. Hunting sighthounds I have known, not many admittedly, use a single bite to the back of the neck. A whippet I knew used to decorate her hayshed with whole dead mice. A job, not a sport. Edited May 11, 2023 by Mairead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boronia Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Ages back I took Henry and Zara to an Earth Dog fun-day at Durack, they didn't have rats (unfortunately as Henry would have cleaned them up quick-smart) they had a fox-tail on a stick, Henry went through the caged tunnel ok but only because he thought the fox-tail was something to eat, he couldn't figure out why it required so much effort for such a low-grade treat. Zara was just soooo uninterested in the whole hunting thing and wouldn't go in the tunnel at all! so much for rat-killer Dandies she was happy sitting on a hay bale just waiting for a treat 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Barn hunt is a fab event. I saw the Barn hunt national titles in the US . An event all dog owners can compete in & all dogs . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 11, 2023 Author Share Posted May 11, 2023 3 hours ago, tdierikx said: It could be just as effective if they stuffed the tube with stuff rats have been living in - old bedding/substrate, etc... It probably would be - I hadn't thought of that ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 11, 2023 Author Share Posted May 11, 2023 58 minutes ago, Boronia said: Earth Dog fun-day Sounds definitely fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 11, 2023 Author Share Posted May 11, 2023 8 minutes ago, Dogsfevr said: Barn hunt is a fab event. I bet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneye Posted June 25, 2023 Share Posted June 25, 2023 I think of rats near my dog , i just think fleas and worms , , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 I think it is very possible that a trained pet rat might be comfortable with this. Rats are incredibly trainable, and rats raised in a house with a dog won't have the same fear of dogs that a wild rat would. Rats are also extremely - as in astoundingly - good at predicting and learning to avoid situations they percieve as dangerous - the fact that they happily go into the tube speaks volumes. Rats also NEED novelty and training for wellbeing. Done well, this could also fill the rats' needs as well as the dogs'. I do nose work with my dog, and there is a lot of parallel with this work. Using substrate would be teaching the dog the wrong thing. A dog can smell the difference between substrate and a live rat. You wouldn't want the dog to tell you where substrate is, you want the dog to tell you where the rat is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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