# How to train a dog for earthdog trials?



## nkmccoy2007 (Nov 18, 2012)

Does anyone have a few good tips on how to train ur dog for the earth dog trials? There isnt a group that i am aware of in my area and i figured some of you guys had some good tips


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

What kind of dog do you have? Typically it has to be a dog that was bred to go to ground after prey (dachshunds, various breeds of terrier... Etc) have you tried googling "earth dog trial clubs [insert town/state here]"?


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## zeronightfarm (Jun 15, 2011)

Yeah, you don't really train it, they having it in them already. You just have to take them to the trials, and let them do it a few times till they get the hang of it.


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## nkmccoy2007 (Nov 18, 2012)

We have a wire fox terrier


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

nkmccoy2007 said:


> Does anyone have a few good tips on how to train ur dog for the earth dog trials? There isnt a group that i am aware of in my area and i figured some of you guys had some good tips


Jo Ann Frier-Murza wrote the book on Earthdog training (literally). It's called *Earthdog Ins & Outs* and you can pick up a copy from her website and from other places. It will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about Earthdog training and trials. If you are at all serious, I really encourage you to get the book.

The first test is called "Introduction to Quarry" and it's assumed that the dogs in that test will have no previous experience or training. So if you find one of those tests close by, you can just take your dog there and see how he does. However, there ARE earthdog training classes around for beginner dogs - although maybe not in your area. But if you could get to one of those classes, that would be even better. The training starts with a VERY short open-top "tunnel" , then a closed top, then progresses to longer ones and finally outdoor tunnels. 

Although many terriers do have an innate ability to go-to ground and/or enter dark tunnels to look for prey, you can't just show a dog a tunnel - or a natural pipe - and expect him to know what to do with it. It isn't the same kind of training as for obedience or agility, because you are introducing the dog to a problem and letting him solve it his way(terriers are natural problem solvers). But it IS training nonetheless. That's why they have those beginner tests and clases.

For self-training, needs are various length tunnels - called liners - and a caged rat. You can build the liners yourself, but you will probably have to buy the cage and the rat :wink: Try Google for pages and videos.

WFTs usually make good earthdogs once they are trained.


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## zeronightfarm (Jun 15, 2011)

Poly said:


> Jo Ann Frier-Murza wrote the book on Earthdog training (literally). It's called *Earthdog Ins & Outs* and you can pick up a copy from her website and from other places. It will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about Earthdog training and trials. If you are at all serious, I really encourage you to get the book.
> 
> The first test is called "Introduction to Quarry" and it's assumed that the dogs in that test will have no previous experience or training. So if you find one of those tests close by, you can just take your dog there and see how he does. However, there ARE earthdog training classes around for beginner dogs - although maybe not in your area. But if you could get to one of those classes, that would be even better. The training starts with a VERY short open-top "tunnel" , then a closed top, then progresses to longer ones and finally outdoor tunnels.
> 
> ...


I never knew about the books or the training classes! My dogs and I are self taught, I just thought thats how it's done ;P

My 2 Jacks have always had a natural need to go to ground (pipe, wood piles, turtle holes, any thing they can get into.)

OP, look into flirt polls as well. That is a great training tool!


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## TorachiKatashi (Sep 29, 2010)

PLEASE do not use a rat to "train" your dog. Rats are very sensitive and it's beyond cruel to stick them in a tiny cage and let a dog scare them quite possibly to death.

If people were putting dogs in cages and letting tigers and bears attack the cages for sport, everyone would be losing their minds over it. But no one ever seems to think about the poor rats who are basically tortured and then dumped after these trials.

AKC rules state that you can use a fake rat, and in my opinion, it's the ONLY thing they should be allowed to use.


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## zeronightfarm (Jun 15, 2011)

TorachiKatashi said:


> PLEASE do not use a rat to "train" your dog. Rats are very sensitive and it's beyond cruel to stick them in a tiny cage and let a dog scare them quite possibly to death.
> 
> If people were putting dogs in cages and letting tigers and bears attack the cages for sport, everyone would be losing their minds over it. But no one ever seems to think about the poor rats who are basically tortured and then dumped after these trials.
> 
> AKC rules state that you can use a fake rat, and in my opinion, it's the ONLY thing they should be allowed to use.


We always use live rats, and the rats really enjoy it. They love to tease the dogs.


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

TorachiKatashi said:


> PLEASE do not use a rat to "train" your dog. Rats are very sensitive and it's beyond cruel to stick them in a tiny cage and let a dog scare them quite possibly to death.
> 
> .


Whatever. 

Have you ever been to an Earthdog test/trial? Doesn't sound like it. The cages are not "tiny" - but in any event , the rats are not really kept in them for very long. They don't live in them - they have their own quarters. The cages themselves are NEVER attacked. The cages are always placed in a special holding location in the liner that is itself securely positioned behind bars so that it is physically impossible for the dogs to actually reach the cages. 

I'm no expert on rat behavior, but just on observation, the rats don't seem to be particularly stressed. In fact, they seem bored by the whole thing. If anything is "stressed", it is the dogs. - it's pretty obvious that they would like nothing better than to actually get at the rats. In no test or trial that I have been at - and I've been at more than a few - have I ever seen a rat scared to death.

Earthdog regulations do allow the use of a fake quarry. I don't actually know why, but I suspect it's because the same regulations require that the live rats be properly housed, watered, and fed, and keeping live rats properly does run into an expense which has to be met somehow. Much cheaper to use a fur lure and some scent. 

Personally, I don't see any problem teaching a working or hunting dog of any kind on real animals. After all, that's what they are going to work with if they ever do it 'for real'. 

As far as other field trials go, most of them do use real animals, not fake ones. Bird dog and retriever trials use real birds, herding dog trials use real herd animals, etc.


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

zeronightfarm said:


> I never knew about the books or the training classes! My dogs and I are self taught, I just thought thats how it's done ;P
> 
> My 2 Jacks have always had a natural need to go to ground (pipe, wood piles, turtle holes, any thing they can get into.)
> 
> OP, look into flirt polls as well. That is a great training tool!


Some terriers and dachshunds get the idea right away and some take longer. I would not want to say it is a breed thing. 

Because there is a breed split in the US, there actually isn't an AKC breed of JRT and so you won't see any listed for AKC Earthdog tests. The 'closest' AKC breed is the Russell Terrier. This is considered an FSS breed by the AKC but it is eligible for AKC Earthdog.

The JRTCA does hold its own 'Go-To-Ground' trials for JRTs. These are similar to AKC Earthdog tests, but not exactly the same.


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## zeronightfarm (Jun 15, 2011)

Poly said:


> Some terriers and dachshunds get the idea right away and some take longer. I would not want to say it is a breed thing.
> 
> Because there is a breed split in the US, there actually isn't an AKC breed of JRT and so you won't see any listed for AKC Earthdog tests. The 'closest' AKC breed is the Russell Terrier. This is considered an FSS breed by the AKC but it is eligible for AKC Earthdog.
> 
> The JRTCA does hold its own 'Go-To-Ground' trials for JRTs. These are similar to AKC Earthdog tests, but not exactly the same.


I just go to the local groups, I have shorties, so I can't compete at sanctioned events. I just doing it because it's fun lol! My dogs love lure coursing, I'm even looking into my own equipment! 

I'm obsesed ;D


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

TorachiKatashi said:


> PLEASE do not use a rat to "train" your dog. Rats are very sensitive and it's beyond cruel to stick them in a tiny cage and let a dog scare them quite possibly to death.
> 
> If people were putting dogs in cages and letting tigers and bears attack the cages for sport, everyone would be losing their minds over it. But no one ever seems to think about the poor rats who are basically tortured and then dumped after these trials.
> 
> AKC rules state that you can use a fake rat, and in my opinion, it's the ONLY thing they should be allowed to use.


Uh have you ever been to an earth dog trial? At the end of the tunnel there is a live rat in a cage at many trials, he is not harmed, he even has a piece of fruit to nibble on while he is doin his "job" & often times they never bar an eye.

The rat is a smart animal ... It doesn't take them long to realize they can't be reached. Besides I never used a pet rat, I used mice that I caught using live traps in my feed room lol.


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

Poly said:


> Some terriers and dachshunds get the idea right away and some take longer. I would not want to say it is a breed thing.
> 
> Because there is a breed split in the US, there actually isn't an AKC breed of JRT and so you won't see any listed for AKC Earthdog tests. The 'closest' AKC breed is the Russell Terrier. This is considered an FSS breed by the AKC but it is eligible for AKC Earthdog.
> 
> The JRTCA does hold its own 'Go-To-Ground' trials for JRTs. These are similar to AKC Earthdog tests, but not exactly the same.


Those are FUN I did those for years starting when I was a junior handler all the way up into my 20's til work didn't allow time for it anymore.


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