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By Susan Dunivant
Three Kerry Blue Terriers joined the usual collection of Parson Russell, Border
Terrier Caim, Dachshund and other go to ground types in an earth dog training
clinic in North Carolina, October 2003. The trainers and their dogs ran the
gamut from raw recruit beginners all the way through Master Earth Dog training.
Although there were some odd looks along with comments like, "They don't go
to ground, do they?" or "That dog will never fit in the tunnel!" Kerry Blues
Ceili, Misty and Daphne surprised them all. Like the proverbial bumble bee who
isn't built to fly but doesn't know that so flies anyway, the Kerry girls squeezed
through the regulation 9 inch by 9 inch square tunnels bringing appreciative
smiles to all doubters. As the girls became more comfortable with the tunnels,
realizing they couldn't take an "over-land" short cut to the rat, their speed
at entering and traversing the tunnels increased.
Misty seeks the reward at the end of the tunnel! The American Kennel
Club offers titles to many of the short legged terriers, and to Dachshunds,
but Kerry Blue Terriers and some of the other long legged terriers, who are
capable of gaining such working/hunting titles but are not eligible for AKC
competition, must wait until such time as they will be. In the meantime, the
American Working Terrier Association established in 1971 has recognized the
working ability of the "non-traditional" go to ground dogs with a test in which
such dogs may earn a Working Certificate(WC) and/or Hunting Certificate(HC).
Dogs earning these certificates are still ineligible to compete in AWTA trials,
but there is a process whereby a breed may be recognized for competition in
trials. An ability to do the work, a history of participating in the work along
with an expressed interest by the breed parent club to pursue recognition in
order to compete in trials is presented to the AWTA for consideration. If the
AWTA determines the requisite requirements are fullfilled, the breed is on its
way to recognition for competition in trials.
Ceili successfully navigates the intro tunnel.
Those who participated with their Kerries observed a few things. First, being
that most dogs generally believe there is a more "efficient" way to get at the
rat, take a short cut overground to where they know the rat is. But after all
three bitches understood that they had to "tunnel" to reach the object of their
obsession, they quickly made the trip taking the proper route.
Trap door Up . . . Ceili says, "There it is!"
One of the more challenging tasks was to persuade the Kerries to drop down,
so they could be "fed" into the tunnel, or so they could peek into the tunnel,
in order to see the prize on the other side. All dogs go into a straight tunnel
above ground first, followed by a straight with a blind opening, where they
can not see the rat. The object is to teach the dog to follow its nose and forget
sight seeing.
In competition, tunnels are treated with scent; however the above ground practice
tunnels used at this clinic were not. There are several training methods to
encourage a dog to readily work in the tunnel and to persevere instead of turning
around or backing out of the tunnel. Most of the instructors advised taking
time to introduce a dog to new challenges, succeeding completely at each stage
rather than rushing a dog. As in most training, failure at the next level is
remedied by dropping back to the prior level.
A particular challenge peculiar to our breed, the Kerry Blue Terrier, is that
typically they are silent workers. Indeed this was valued and bred for by the
earlier fanciers as the quality was prized in a good poacher's dog. So it came
as no surprise that our Kerry girls' method of working involved aggressive pawing
and biting at the caged rat, without a lot of useless noise. However, we were
told that some judges would consider the lack of vocalizing as a minus, and
that it would be wise to teach the dog to bark or vocalize in some audible manner
when reaching the rat. Others told us that before allowing the dog to enter
the earth, inform the judge that your dog is a silent worker as this is a breed
characteristic. The instructor shown above with Misty put WC/HCs on her Dobermans
and taught her dogs to vocalize. She suggested this would be wise in the event
that the breed become eligible to compete in trials.
Shot out of a cannon! Misty exits as instructor removes cage.
So with a bit of encouragement and praise while allowing each of the girls to
confront the caged rat for a bit, all began to vocalize from barks to a sort
of growling banshee wail. Although Daphne needed little cause to be any noisier
than she usually is! The breed is so intelligent; the finer points of the game
shouldn't be too difficult to teach. All three moved on to Intro (below ground)
level.
As time was short and terriers waiting in line were many, only Ceili actually
trained in the Intro tunnel, which is longer than the above ground with one
turn. When she determined this was a continuation of the above ground fun, she
was up to the challenge. After being introduced to the opening and an initial
struggle to get her to peek in, followed by moving forward, Ceili decided the
only way she was going to get to that rat was through that tunnel; so off she
went. At the end of the tunnel, she confronted the rat with a steely stare,
as if she was waiting for one false move. The rat is double caged. Plus, there
are bars in the earth opening, which only allowed her to push her nose through,
while pawing with one foot. When the trap door was opened to remove her, she
was glued in. Except when she tried to go over the top a few times, as seen
in one of the photos. Frustrated at not getting to actually seize her prize,
she began growling and wailing while scratching at the opening, which we praised
before bodily removing her from the earth.
Just to prove that the fun isn't confined to any particular type of terrier,
witness wild man Mini Bull Terrier Beau, owned by G. and L. Hains blasting after
that rat! So get out there and have fun!
(Misty is owned by Carl and Jamie Ashby. Ceili and Daphne are owned by Edie
Brown and Susan Dunivant.
Last Updated: 12/30/2003, 2:50 pm
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