Stout's Terrier Trial Tribulations

 

He looks kind of sad there, doesn't he? With his one lonely Terrier ribbon...

 

Don't be fooled - Stout had a great time at the trial!  While he didn't compete in near the events that Porter did (I'm pretty sure he's not fitting in those go-to-ground tunnels!), he did do his fair share.

 

He did lure coursing, where he placed 5th:

 

 

 

I tried to film & run him at the same time... Sorry if it makes anyone sick!

We also did the barn hunt, but I'm not sure Stout ever alerted to which tube the rats were in. He was mostly interested in sniffing the hay where everyone else had peed...

And Stout did not have the fast reaction time of Porter when it came to the weenie bob  :)  I think he was at 4 seconds or something.

Stout tried to shove his ribbon down Porter's throat. A little sibling rivalry maybe?

 

Wordless Wednesday: Porter! Please. Stop. Barking.



Tidbits from the Terrier Trial

Gotta love the Terrier Trial  :)

 

Once again, it was a muddy, dreary, loud, muddy, bark-filled, long, muddy event. But I still go back every year :)

 

Did I mention the barking?

Porter barks from 9am until the events end at about 6pm.

Constant barking. Just like the terriers.

 

 

Porter started the day with the Go-To-Ground competition. This is where the terriers crawl through the "tunnels" to find the rats.

 

Trying to eat the rat through the cage

 

3 or 4 years ago at our first Terrier Trial, I entered Porter in this on a whim. I really didn't think he'd fit through the tunnels, but I knew he loved to dig rodents up in the park. Well, not only did he fit through the tunnels, but he worked his way up from a beginner to the championship level in 1 day. He even placed over many of the terriers! The next year they made a separate division for "miscellaneous breeds."  :)  I don't think they took too kindly to him beating them!



The judge is a daschund owner. Until recently.

Now he has a cardigan. I like to think Porter had something to do with that!

This year Porter placed 2nd in the Miscellaneous division. He was beaten by a Miniature Pinscher  :(

 

 

Here is a video of the Go-To-Ground:

Is that a look of sheer joy on his face or what?

I just love when he pops out of the box!

 

Up next we had the Barn Hunt.

 

The Barn Hunt actually relies on your skills as well as the dog's. Not only does your dog have to find the tube with rats, but you have to know that he has found it  :)  I usually don't know that. But this year I got it right! Or maybe Porter decided to make it really obvious for me by shoving the rat tube with his nose...

 

Porter placed 4th out of 13 Miscellaneous breeds.



I have to turn my back while they mix the tubes around. Porter watched  :)

 

 

And here is the video:

 

 



 

Porter also placed 2nd in his Lure Coursing division - unfortunately I do not have video  :( 

 

And the biggest shock of all - he was not the Weenie Bob Champion this year  :( 

 

He placed 3rd.  It was a conspiracy, I tell you!  He held on to the first place spot throughout the entire competition... until the very end. A schipperke named Luci Fur (love that!) beat him by a tenth of a second. I was ok with that.

 

But then, a terrier beat him on it's 2nd try. Yes, that dog got 2 tries! Apparently the stopwatch malfunctioned the first time... I was heartbroken. Porter didn't know the difference, he just enjoyed the remainder of the hot dogs  :)

 



 

Up next: Stout's Terrier Trial tribulations  :)

Terrier Trial Time Again!

Today we are headed off to Porter's favorite event of the year: the Terrier Trial!

This is where Porter was crowned Weenie Bob Champion last year  :) There is also lure coursing, barn hunt, go-to-ground, terrier, chihuahua, & daschund racing, agility...

Stout was just a rodent virgin back then, but I think he'll enjoy it more now, since he killed his 3rd baby groundhog last night...

For even more videos of Porter's previous terrier glory, click here or here.

No "Muskrat Love" Here...

It all started as a normal day at the park...

Porter was busy herding fishes in the creek.

As our attention turned to Stout, Porter wandered to the other side of the creek & went into "hunting mode."

Suddenly we heard a splash and looked over just in time to see Porter grab a muskrat from it's den in the bank. He chomped it twice and laid it down... dead.

Of course, just like most of his kills, he couldn't just leave it there.

So he carried it up the stream, with Stout following right behind.

When we told him he would not be bringing it home for supper, he decided to bury it in the bushes next to the stream. I assured him it would probably still be there next time we came. Ugh.

Weenie Bob Champion!

Say hello to the 2012 Weenie Bob Champion!

Yes, Porter beat all the terriers at the Bluegrass Working Terrier Association's Spring Fling to bring home the Weenie Bob title!

Just what is the Weenie Bob? Check out our friend Lili competing below:

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Lili did it in just over 2 seconds. Porter did it in just over 1 second  :)  Porter got that weiner in the blink of an eye! So fast actually that Jodi didn't even get it on video  :)

But long before his weenie bobbing exploits, Porter & Stout enjoyed participating in more terrier-like fun & games. First they watched the races: jack russell, daschund, and even chihuahua.

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As you can see above, Porter gets a little excited when they start running that lure.

We started the morning with a little go-to-ground. Above is a photo of Lili coming out of the tunnel for the first time.

Porter placed 2nd in the "miscellaneous breed" go to ground  :)

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Porter also got 4th in the "miscellaneous breed" barn hunt.

The barn hunt was a little different this year. They had rat tubes hidden in hay bales spread throughout a small section of the barn. But only one of the tubes actually had rats in it. Your job is to identify which one of the tubes has the rats by how your dog signals. I actually guessed it right this year: the tube Porter nudged hard with his nose was the one with the rats!

Stout watching Lili look for mice

And finally Porter's absolute favorite: Lure Coursing!

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Here is an awesome photograph of Porter from Foxglade Photography: http://www.foxgladephoto.com/p140632096/e274a2c4f 

Stout watching the lure coursing

Even Stout got in on the action: I signed him up for lure coursing!

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I had been a little unsure if he would figure it out or even like it, but I need not have worried! He watched that lure zip by once and he was hooked! He was pulling & barking just like Porter! And just 3 seconds slower!

Here is an awesome photograph of Stout from Foxglade Photography: http://www.foxgladephoto.com/p140632096/e34195bf

He even got 4th place in his division!



To view all the photos from the lure coursing, click here. There are quite a few more good ones of Porter & Stout.

So all in all, it was a very good day at the Terrier Trial! The Brews Brothers were so exhausted they fell asleep on the concrete during the awards ceremony...

Terrier Time!

Tomorrow is Porter's favorite event of the year: the Bluegrass Working Terrier Association's Spring Fling!

Porter indulges his inner-terrier on most of our walks, but this is the event that lets everyone know what a rodent-hound he really is! He gets to lure course, do some go-to-ground, barn hunt, brush hunt, and even bob for hot dogs.

He has made such a showing in this event in previous years, that they have now created separate classes for him. I guess they were tired of him beating all the Jack Russells  :)  And the guy that runs the go-to-ground portion now has a Cardigan of his very own. Coincidence? I think not...  :)

Anyway, here are some videos of Porter from last year "getting his terrier on!"

The Brush Hunt: Video   This was the first year they had this event. Porter was a little confused in the beginning.

Go To Ground: Video 1  & Video 2    Didn't think he'd fit in that little tunnel, did you? It's amazing what this dog will do for a little cage of rats at the end!

Lure Course:  Video  Porter loves chasing plastic bags!

We'll see what Stout thinks of the terrier stuff. I'm pretty sure he'll do anything that he sees Porter do. I only entered him in the Lure Coursing though. He's not had the pleasure of catching his own rodents yet, so his drive isn't refined enough. But he has caught many paper & plastic products!