Today was Responsible Dog Ownership Day. Our kennel club put on a pretty good one with lots of demos of different activities you can do with your dog. I took Ziggy with me, as Baxter accompanied me on a morning news spot to publicize the event: http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/19149/4569889

One of the demos was barnhunting. I have heard of this event, which is now recognized by AKC for titles, and always wanted to try it. I let Ziggy smell the rat cage. I gave him a treat to show him that interest in the rat was good. He spit the treat out! He was so focused he didn't even want it! We got to go into a small barnhunt demo where they take the rat cage and cover it with hay. Then you release your dog to find it. The fastest dog wins. Ziggy went in quite a few times and many times found the rat right away! I couldn't believe how much fun he had. Every time we'd pass the demo area, he'd try to pull me over there.

Meeting and finding rats!

We also tried nose work, which was also very fun. Although after barnhut, it seemed a little less exciting to me. Ziggy still seemed to enjoy it though. Then we did a bit of agility too.

Ziggy had a great time! Baxter had his Canine Good Citizen title before he turned 1 year old. Ziggy, almost 2 and a half, has never taken the test or trained for it. I knew there would be testing at RDO, so I thought we'd give it a go. He as the last dog tested and he passed with flying colors! Even after all the rats, he was still able to concentrate! Such a good boy!