tube containing a rat as an activity at Kaybee’s K9 Barn Hunt in Bay City. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020.
(Maddie Fordos/Photographer)
By Jordan Green
BAY CITY— As winter settles in, Kaybee’s K9 Training and Spa offers the community a cozy, indoor way to spend time with their dogs.
Walking your dog is a great way to bond and exercise, but participating in a fun sport will allow them to tap into their natural instincts and try something new. Kaybee’s K9 at 1405 N Johnson St in Bay City is now hosting a club where owners and pets can play games together.
The games challenge dogs to locate rats in enclosed containers, which activates their instinctual predator behaviors and encourages physical activity — both of which are crucial to their well-being.
Happy Ratters, a beginner level game, takes place in a constructed urban alleyway littered with newspapers and old boxes. Barn Hunt, a more developed sport, simulates a barn with bales of hay. A rat is placed inside a small crate and hidden among the trash or hay — the dog is then set loose in the pen, with its owners encouraging the dog to find its prey.
correct target tube at Kaybee’s K9 Barn Hunt in Bay City. Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020.
(Maddie Fordos/Photographer)
Christina Natzel, a visitor at Kaybee’s K9 and owner of Newton, a four-year-old purebred Shih Tzu, says it’s not just all fun and games.
“I think it’s very beneficial to him because he has to learn and he has to work,” says Natzel. “He can’t just rely on his nose for the most part; he has to rely on all senses.”
Jillian Gerhardt, instructor and employee at Kaybee’s K9, says that when you deprive a dog of the job it was created to do, it can lead to behavioral problems such as chewing, digging holes or trying to escape a fence.
“Those kinds of things are generally indicative of a dog who is not having their emotional and physical needs met,” says Gerhardt.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, more than 85 million Americans own a pet. However, the average work day is more than eight hours long — leaving insufficient time for owners and their dogs to interact.
“A lot of people get home at the end of the day and want to cuddle their dog. Meanwhile — in most cases — your dog has been cooped up all day and really needs their needs met. So, when you come home and you really want to relax and your dog really wants to play, that is the biggest place where there is a disconnection between owner and pet,” says Gerhardt.
If you can’t make it out on Thursdays, Gerhardt suggests playing hide-and-seek at home with your dog. She recommends using toys or bones and hiding them throughout a room, while your dog waits in a separate room. Then, tell your dog to go find the object and look for it with them.
“It’s a completely different bonding experience when you’re trying to solve the puzzle together,” says Gerhardt.
The main goal of the K9 club is inclusion. Happy Ratters is a beginner-friendly sport, meant to serve every dog and owner — including those with disabilities. And don’t worry about being bitten by the other competitors; Gerhardt assures that this is a very friendly and welcoming sport.
“Unfortunately, many other dog sports get stuck on the competition and proving that ‘my dog is better than your dog.’ You won’t see that in this sport. Everybody cheers when someone succeeds and everyone is sad when one of them fails. The thing I like most is the attitude,” says Gerhardt.
The games alternate each Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and all breeds are welcome to participate.