EVENTS

Barn Hunt® is based on the hunting and teamwork skills historically used by Rat catchers and their dogs who traveled the countryside ridding farms of vermin. 

The purpose of Barn Hunt is to demonstrate a dog’s vermin hunting ability in finding and marking rats in a “barn-like” setting, using straw/hay bales to introduce climbing and tunneling obstacles in the dog’s path. The sport tests speed, agility, hunt drive, scenting ability, sure footedness, and control and responsiveness to handler direction. 

While Barn Hunt has roots and origins as a way to test working drives in dogs bred to hunt vermin, Barn Hunt is for any domestic dog and handler who wish to play the game, including large dogs, pet dogs, altered dogs, and dogs of breeds or mixes of breeds with or without a vermin-hunting history. Barn Hunt is a sporting event, and as such there are levels of difficulty, placements, titles, and championships. The sport tests the dog’s ability to hunt and the handler’s ability to read the dog’s communication as they work as a team.

This fun workshop will introduce you and your dog to this fun sport. Paula Cingota will go over the basic rules and etiquette of the sport, and then you and your dog will get to try it out! 

Future workshops to be scheduled based on interest.  

This event is a pass/fail test. It is not a competition and there is no pre-qualifying.

ELIGIBILITY TO ENTER
Dogs who are at least 1 year of age are eligible to take the ATT and must either be AKC or FSS registered or listed with Canine Partners or have a Purebred Alternative Listing number. Dogs that are spayed or neutered may participate. Dogs must be able to perform whole categories of the test (such as hearing auditory stimuli and seeing visual stimuli), in order to be eligible to earn an ATT title. Dogs with disabilities such as those that are blind, deaf, or have three legs are eligible to enter provided in the opinion of the evaluator they display no signs of physical discomfort and can safely complete the test. However, if a dog has multiple disabilities such that, it is unable to complete whole categories of the test (i.e. - hearing auditory stimuli and seeing visual stimuli), the dog would not earn the ATT title. Bitches in season are eligible to participate but will be placed as the last dog(s) to be tested.

PURPOSE OF THIS TEST

The AKC Temperament Test (ATT) is a general temperament test for all breeds and mixed breed dogs that will assess the dog’s reaction to a variety of stimuli. These stimuli will be in the following six categories: Social, Auditory, Visual, Tactile (touch), Proprioceptive (motion) and Unexpected Stimuli. The purpose of the ATT is to test for fear, shyness, inability to recover, and lack of cooperation. Desired traits are that the dog will be emotionally stable, inquisitive, appropriately social for its breed, biddable, and demonstrates the ability to recover from a startling situation in a reasonable amount of time. Dogs who show signs of aggression will not pass the test.

One purpose of the ATT is to educate dog owners about the temperament of their breeds. At each test, in addition to a title application form and their contact information on the evaluator’s checklist, handlers complete the form labeled, “Your Breed’s Temperament.” The form includes a space for the handlers of mixed breed dogs to write about the temperament of their individual dogs. Clubs are required to print the Breed Temperament Guide (www.akc.org/akctemptest) and have copies on the registration table and/or a poster.

TEST INFO
The ATT is a noncompetitive pass-fail test. In a test, a dog must pass 3 test items in each of the six categories (total of 18 test items). These are selected from a list of 24 possible test items. All dogs who pass the ATT twice under two different approved ATT Evaluators may earn the AKC Temperament Test (ATT) Title.

COLLARS, LEASHES
Dogs may wear slip collars that are on the dead ring, buckle collars, martingales and body harnesses in the ATT. They may not wear prong collars, head collars, e-collars, or harnesses that restrict the movement of the dog. Leashes should be 4ft. to 6ft. long and should be made of fabric or leather.

DOGS THAT PASS – CAN APPLY FOR A TITLE
Owners or handlers of dogs that pass the test both days may complete the AKC Temperament Test (ATT) Title Application. Titles will be recorded and sent to the owner of record.

For complete AKC Temperament Test (ATT) info visit: www.akc.org/akctemptest

Our last ATT test was held on February 21, 2022. Notification of future tests will provided in our newsletter or sent out by email.