Other

Barn Hunt, Conformation, Treibball and NASDA

Barn Hunt

Classes are in a drop-in format. $25 per lesson. Monday nights.

Barn Hunt is a sport that utilizes a dog’s natural ability to smell odors in order to detect the presence of a rat in a barn-like setting. There are dozens of bales of straw strewn around a room to simulate a scenario on a farm in a barn. In the bales of straw, there will be hidden one or more rats. The rats are safely encased in tubes made of PVC so the dogs cannot actually interact with them. The rats are hidden in such a way that the dogs can only detect them by smell. In addition, there will be empty tubes and tubes filled with used bedding but no rat. The job of the human is to understand when their dog has detected a rat.

In order to successfully complete a barn hunt search, the dog must find the correct number of rats, climb on the straw and go through a man-made tunnel, made of more straw bales.

Treibball

Tuesday evenings.

Treibball is a low-impact sport based on herding. In this game, the dogs are required to bring a series of balls to the handler. The handler will stand in a marked area. From this area, the handler will send the dog out to retrieve the balls. The dog must retrieve the balls in the correct order as indicated by the handler.

At the most basic level, pre-novice, the dog must travel 20 feet to the ball and retrieve three balls. At the highest levels, the dog will travel 50 feet and retrieve eight balls. In addition to this, the event is timed and each dog has a limited amount of time to retrieve the balls.

Conformation

Contact Sheila for classes
sheez-beez@comcast.net

Classes are a drop-in format on most Thursday evenings.

Conformation classes will teach you and your dog how to move in the show ring. You will learn how to present your dog so it looks it’s best. The classes are a “run-through” format so you can prepare for an upcoming show.

NASDA

Contact Sam for information on classes

Wednesdays from 2-4pm

The North American Sport Dog Association (NASDA) was formed in 2016 to demonstrate the breadth of a dog’s olfactory abilities. NASDA trials are designed to resemble both historic working and competitive field work as close as possible. NASDA Working Dog Trials offer an opportunity for all dogs to engage in scent games previously open to only a select few breed and working dogs. Competing teams can get titles and championships that showcase their merits and abilities within hunt and search situations. Class levels range from Puppy Aptitude (4-9 months) to Master Champion.

NASDA aims to:

Encourage all dogs to play in the NASDA working dog events; purebred, mixed, companion or titled champions.

Provide a venue for all breeds to earn working-style titles in North America

Qualify and certify judges so that working dog events may be held to consistent standards

Maintain a registry of trial results and titles awarded

Welcome physically challenged dogs or handlers

Promote good sportsmanship both in and out of the ring

Be a venue where dogs and handlers work together as a team in an atmosphere of fun and enjoyment while honing their skills and earning awards for their efforts.

NASDA Classes:

Trailing & Locating— track, trail and locate a quarry above ground. Trials are held in natural hunting terrain. A successful working dog should work independently & at a distance from the handler. Dogs are tracking live rats in a quarry box that has been dragged from the start line to the hide location. Distance and complexity of the trail is dependent upon the class level.

Urban Locating – locate a quarry above ground in a human environment such as parks, a street, a developed garden space, a warehouse, working barn, or shed. There is no trail to the the hide – the quarry box is placed within the hunt zone.

Antler Shed – This class simulates the search for shed deer antlers in the wild. The fundamental feature of Shed Dog events are to show the ability of all breeds of dogs to locate (and at higher levels, retrieve) shed deer antlers. Trials mimic as much as possible a natural hunting terrain.

Lost Article Find – This class is to determine the abilities of all breeds of dogs to locate lost items scented with human odor. The form of scent tracking involves identifying an object, having the judge hide it and having the dog air scent and locate. Whereas tracking dogs may follow a particular scent trail, air-scent dogs pick up a scent and seek out it’s origin – the highest concentration of odor. Articles searched for include wallet, keys, clothing and electronics.

Barn Hunt, Conformation, Treibball and NASDA Events

Barn Hunt: Sundays with Crystal, Monday evenings with Mike

Conformation: Thursdays with Sheila

Treibball: Tuesday evenings with Mike

NASDA: Wednesday afternoons with Sam

Our Instructors

Mike Vorkapich

Mike Vorkapich has been training and competing with his dogs for 20 years and teaching for 10, primarily through 4-H. Several years ago he encountered the sport of Treibball and become obsessed with it. Now he brings that sport to you.

Mike has been teaching Barn Hunt at French Creek since they first started offering the classes.

To find out about classes, contact mike at barnhunt@frenchcreekpetresort.com

Crystal Fagerness

Crystal has been teaching Barn Hunt classes for many years. Her dogs have achieved some of the highest awards possible in Barn Hunt and she has attended Regional and National competitions.

To find out about classes, contact Crystal at skyriverk9@gmail.com

Sheila Allen

Sheila is a highly respected conformation instructor. She has been teaching people and their canine partners for many years. She has brought her skill and expertise to French Creek Pet Resort.

Contact Sheila at sheez-beez@comcast.net

Sam Lietz

I teach North American Sport Dog Association (NASDA) sports because my dogs LOVE playing the games of Trailing & Locating, Antler Shed Find, Lost Article Recovery and Urban Locating. I compete with all four of my dogs, from 9 year old Rat Terrier Squeek, 6 year old Border Collie Bling, 3 year old Rat Terrier Dance and 5 month old Border Collie Mertz. Squeek & Dance were both Best of Breed in NASDA in 2020 for Rat Trailing Level 1 and Antler Shed Level 1 respectively. SchaSam NASDA Sports Club was approved by NASDA in January 2021 and we recently held a very successful NASDA competition at French Creek Pet Resort in August 2021 – the first NASDA trials in the state of Washington. I have been training others in NASDA sports since 2020 with numerous of my students having qualifying runs in their first ever NASDA trial.

Contact Sam at schasamfarm@yahoo.com