Kamloops resident and owner of K9 Fun and Games Arleigh Bell uses her pet rats for her urban ratting classes.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Arleigh Bell

The latest sport in the Tournament Capital involves dogs and rats and appears to be picking up in popularity.

Arleigh Bell, owner at K9 Fun and Games in Kamloops, organizes "urban ratting" competitions where dogs hunt the rodents and are timed on how fast they find them.

“I offer this sport in particular because it lets the dog be in charge, they’re not just following commands,” Bell said. “The dog builds on its natural prey ability with just one dog working at a time.”

She had so much fun playing scent detection games with her own dogs she became certified by a U.S. organization and opened her business, and urban ratting games followed.

“It gives people with nervous dogs an opportunity to play a sport where they’ll be safe,” she said. “People see positive changes in their dog’s behaviour, it’s very cool.”

In barn hunts, bales of hay or straw are set up and rats are secured in PVC pipe with holes it for air that are then hidden in the hay. The dogs work off leash and have to indicate to their handlers where they found it. Some of the tubes are empty or just have litter inside, and the dog needs to indicate only the tubes with live rats in them.

“It’s cool to compete at trials. Your dog goes through a tunnel of hay and wood and their times are calculated,” Bell said. “You have to get the dog to climb onto hay where all four feet are off the ground.”

In urban ratting, the dogs are hunting for contained rats hidden among clean garbage, boxes and recycled material indoors. There's a wooden bridge they have to cross to get all four feet off the ground and they have to go through a short agility tunnel.

Both games have site maps and rules and regulations that have to be followed.

Dogs sniff for rats hidden in containers as part of urban ratting with K9 Fun and Games in Kamloops.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Arleigh Bell

Bell also does scent work where the dogs search indoors or outdoors for food, toys or odours depending on the level. They learn how to follow different scent puzzles.

“Scent detection is a great sport for dogs that are super nervous because they’re finding favourite toys or foods so it’s a positive reinforcement, it’s all about encouraging your dog.”

In the more advanced levels, odours and oils are added to things like Q-Tips and the dogs search inside of containers, buildings, rooms and warehouses.

Rats don't get injured in the sport and Bell uses her own pet rodents in the games. She has seven male rats that “are spoiled” and bred for the sport. She does enrichment games with the rats, cleans and changes the layouts of their cages regularly, and in hot months, lets them bob for frozen blueberries.

“The tubes are normal for them, they’re not bothered going in and out of them,” she said. “If a dog is too aggressive on the tubes they’ll be excused and have to leave the ring. My own dogs know not to touch them.”

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When asked whether the hunts increase a dog’s urge and ability to kill rats she said most dogs don’t take to killing because the rats are in a container so the dogs don’t typically tap that far into their natural instincts.

“I don’t like things being killed and I love my rats, this is only about the sport, encouraging dogs and watching them having a great time playing games.”

Watching nervous dogs lose their fear while doing the sport inspires Bell.

“Some take a whole class to walk into the main room where all the handler does is walk them around and give them treats, but once fears subside they jump into the games and it doesn’t take long before they are showing up super excited to play,” she said.

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Bell recently finished hosting her indoor rat hunts and is now offering the barn hunts in Vernon. So far registration has been at maximum capacity with 15 dogs competing at a time, she said. Interest in the sport is on the rise.

Barn Hunt is sport where dogs sniff for rats hidden in containers in barns with straw or hay bales in them.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Arleigh Bell

She’s the only one hosting the sport in the Kamloops area, though she’s aware of a club in the Okanagan, one on Vancouver Island and one in the Lower Mainland.

Barn Hunt is becoming an increasingly popular sport in the country, according the Canadian Kennel Club. It’s based on traditional roles many breeds carried out ridding properties of vermin.

For more information or to register your dog with Arleigh Bell at K9 Fun and Games, go here.

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