Fun Events & Competition
There are so many different activities and competitions you can do with your Rhodesian Ridgeback. They do not have to be "show-quality"...all ridgebacks can participate in the following sports except for lure coursing where the only ones who cannot run are ridgeless ridgebacks. Both the AKC and the UKC support the following events.
Agility course
|
AgilityAgility is a fun activity for the energetic dog. The course is set up with different stations including jumps, weaves, a-frame, dog walk and tunnels. The handler and dog must follow the stations in a specific order and perform it cleanly and quickly. The judge watches for any misses and keeps a score. At the end a passing qualifier would be a score of 85 (out of 100) or higher. Then the qualifying dogs are awarded 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place according to score and speed. |
Lure CoursingLure coursing is a type of race where three dogs run against each other chasing a lure that usually consist of a plastic bag tied to a string and pulley system. This combination is a simulation of actual rabbit hunting. The course is laid out in an open field and is run by a lure operator. The dogs are judged on their enthusiasm, speed, agility and endurance; points are awarded towards field championships. Most ridgebacks love to lure course. Margo and Dyna did not. Margo would much rather chase after a live rabbit and to her a plastic bag is not her cup of tea. Dyna earned her Junior Courser (JC) title but would not run with other dogs. She would let them have the lure instead. Randi and Newby would want me to run with them! There are two types of ridgebacks - chasers and catchers. The best lure-coursing ridgebacks are the chasers. Brody is a catcher. He waits at the start line for the lure to come back instead of running after it and grabs it there. He is very smart and loves lure coursing but you can't win if you don't run! |
Dyna runs after the lure.
|
Newby finds the scent hidden in the wall socket.
|
Nose Work
Nose work is a great way to use your dogs natural ability to smell out orders. In training for competitions, the dog has to learn how to detect the odors of anise, birch and clove. Once they can correctly identify these odors, the dog can enter competitions after registering with the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW). The competitions include 4 elements: containers, exteriors, interiors and vehicle searches. The dogs must find the hidden odor in all four elements to gain a passing score. Dyna and Newby both have their Nose Work 2 (NW2) titles and Newby is currently training for his Nose Work 3 (NW3). Brody has his NW3 title and also completed Element titles. Randi has earned Element titles and her NW1 title. 
|
Barn HuntBarn Hunt is a relatively new sport, started in 2013, where any dog, pure-bred or mixed breed, can participate. The object is to find the rat hidden in bales of straw within a certain amount of time. There are three PVC tubes. One is empty, one has rat litter in it and the third has a live rat inside. These tubes are hidden in an enclosed course which consists of bales of straw. There is a tunnel made up of the bales of straw which the dog is required to go through. They also must climb up on a bale with all four paws and, of course, find the correct tube with the live rat inside. The dogs that excel at this sport are the terriers as you can imagine....it is a natural instinct of that type of dog to find a rat. But all dogs enjoy it including our Randi (right) who has achieved her RATM title along with Newby and Brody. Most people think they can just enter a trial thinking their dog likes to chase squirrels so this will be easy for them. But that is not the case. It takes a lot of training for your dog to give you the right cues and alert you to when he found the rat. I have seen many people fail because they did not take the proper training. Kennel clubs and training facilities in many town are providing classes for this upcoming popular sport.
|
Randi wins her RATN title.
|