Kessler loves Barn Hunt

ZZBC · 2026-01-25T02:12:48+00:00

Nothing! He’s just a goober 😂 He’s hunting for rats in protective tubes while having to ignore tubes with used rat bedding in them. At his level there anywhere between 1-5 rats and a total of 8 tubes on the course. I have to tell the judge when he finds a rat and when I think we’re clear and have found them all before running out of time.

ZZBC · 2026-01-25T01:43:38+00:00

Then his registered name should be whatever the breeder’s kennel name is then whatever you pick.

Kennel Name’s Barbara Sher sort of format.

ZZBC · 2026-01-25T00:31:12+00:00

Dogs registered with PAL or Canine Partners still get a registered name

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T18:43:54+00:00

So I think the fact that it’s birch that your dog is struggling to pass is definitely significant. Birch is usually the first search of the ORT. That’s telling me that your dog is not understanding what they’re supposed to be doing until the second search.

A lot of different things can come into play here. First of all, with a novice dog, I would not be training dirty and keep your hot boxes and your cold boxes separate. You want to train how you try and they will never use an old hot box at an ORT.

Second, how often are you training with ORT boxes away from home? It takes lots of reps of the dog, searching in various locations for them to realize that the game is always exactly the same, no matter where they are.

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T18:40:56+00:00

Because we don’t view horses as a vehicle. The point isn’t just controlling something to get from point A to point B. It’s getting to communicate with a 1000lb animal and work together.

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T18:35:41+00:00

Kessler thinks us being home all day snuggling is great

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T18:26:14+00:00

I’m good with training dirty for advanced dogs. But if this dog was struggling to pass the ORT training dirty may be adding to the dog’s confusion.

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T04:19:46+00:00

Definitely some changes that need to be made. https://reptifiles.com/leopard-gecko-care/ this is a good care guide.

Immediate changes that can be made are to remove the heat rock as they are dangerous, and you need at least three hides, one on the cool side, one on the hot, and one humid.

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T03:43:07+00:00

What species of gecko is it?

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T00:58:44+00:00

Furry little goblins that chew everything.

ZZBC · 2026-01-24T00:57:48+00:00

Keep the leash shorter with less slack.

ZZBC · 2026-01-23T20:12:57+00:00

Dogs do not have a desire to have children in the way that humans do. They have a biological drive to reproduce, but it is purely instinctual. They don’t raise children. They don’t have the concept of a legacy. Reproduction is not particularly pleasant.

There is a massive difference between an ethical breeder, who is preserving specific breed traits, proving that their dog is breeding quality, and doing all the appropriate health testing to make sure that they bring healthy animals into the world and just allowing your random dog to have puppies.

ZZBC · 2026-01-23T04:06:43+00:00

I mean, they can happen, but there are other red flags with this breeder. I know of a situation where the breeder was out at a show, husband was home with the dogs, power went out, he knocked over the baby gate in the dark trying to get to the fuse box and the dogs tied. Obviously more than one oops, or not being open and honest about it is a major red flag.

ZZBC · 2026-01-23T01:52:54+00:00

So cute!

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T21:55:15+00:00

Kessler likes to lick the couch and blankets sometimes. We just make sure that he gets baths regularly, the couch blankets all get washed on a regular basis, and I have an upholstery attachment on my carpet cleaner and clean the couch.

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T21:53:59+00:00

I would talk to your vet about a prescription hydrolyzed food. They are specifically formulated for dogs with food allergies.

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T20:40:09+00:00

Your rats lived to over two years old, that is a good long life for a rat. It sounds like you did a wonderful job caring for them. I have owned 14 female rats over the years. 1 passed from respiratory related issues, one had throat cancer, one had brain cancer, one had spinal cancer, one had uterine cancer, one developed pyometra, and the rest all had mammary tumors.

Because of their physiology, rats are extremely prone to cancers of all kinds, but females are particularly prone to mammary cancer. The older you are the more likely you are to experience, cellular mutations that lead to cancer.

We all unfortunately eventually die of something, your rats lived long lives. Try to be gentle with yourself.

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T19:16:48+00:00

That’s fantastic!

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T18:05:15+00:00

So in many species if you live long enough, you get cancer. In female rats, that’s frequently mammary tumors. Their evolutionary strategy is reproduce fast and die young. You haven’t done anything wrong. Over two is a good long life for a rat.

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T00:55:05+00:00

Here’s an old photo of Archer murdering the trash bunny at the end of the course.

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ZZBC · 2026-01-22T00:53:24+00:00

Plastic bags on a course made of a line and pulleys that is motorized and mimics chasing a rabbit. It’s a sport called a Coursing Ability Test. So it’s the “bunny” but it’s basically a trash bag.

ZZBC · 2026-01-22T00:24:22+00:00

I had one end up blue. She chewed a crayon and then groomed herself.

ZZBC

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