Barn Hunt is a growing sport centered around dogs’ ability to hunt and the handler’s ability to communicate with their animal.

The trials were held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Webster County Fairgrounds. The Fort Dodge Canine Companions hosted the event.

Any breed and size of dog is allowed to compete.

About 70 dogs were registered throughout the weekend, an increase of about 20 from Barn Hunt trials held in March 2016.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Wingnut, a Boston Terrier, buries his snout against a tube during the Barn Hunt trials at the Webster County Fairgrounds Monday morning. His owner, Phillip West, of Carlisle, is directing him.

Handlers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa were present.

Barn Hunt, which began in Missouri in 2014, differs from other dog training sports in that the dog dictates the action, according to Jamie Elvert, an experienced handler in the relatively new sport.

“The dog does the work,” Elvert said. “A lot of other dog training, you tell the dog what to do. In this, the dog has to follow its own instincts.”

The rats are carefully placed in PVC tubes and cleverly hidden beneath the hay covered courses. The rats are not harmed throughout the process.

The handler has to call out where the rats have been identified by the dogs within the 20-foot by 20-foot ring.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Phillip West, of Carlisle, reaches out and snatches one of the tubes with a live rat inside during Barn Hunt trials at the Webster County Fairgrounds Sunday morning. West picked up the tube after his dog, Wingnut, identified it. West and Wingnut were competing in the senior level.

The dogs are given a specified amount of time to locate the rats.

Elvert, of Rochester, Minnesota, said each dog gives different signals when they sniff out the rat.

“My dog will pounce on the rat and grab the tube with his teeth,” she said. “There’s no question that he has found the tube with the rat in it.”

She said other dogs might sniff more heavily in the area of the rat or rub up against the hay next to it.

Elvert said at times it’s better to stand aside and let the dog go to work.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Liz Hawkins, an organizer and judge of the Barn Hunt trials in Fort Dodge, cradles her dog, Jager, after competing in the trials herself Sunday morning.

“You find that the more you help the dog, you are a hindrance because the dog has the nose,” she said. “The dog is the one that’s going to find the rat. As you learn and grow in the sport, you learn to trust your dog’s instincts.”

Five levels of competition exist within the sport: instinct, novice, open, senior and master.

At the novice level, the dog must climb a hay bale, go through a tunnel and find one rat.

At the senior level, dogs are required to find four rats within a larger course.

The master level is where it gets tricky.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Bonnie Gutzwiler, a judge at the Barn Hunt, shows her dog the rat it missed during a trial Sunday morning at the Webster County Fairgrounds. Barn hunt is a sport for dogs where the dogs search for rats in tubes within a course made of hay.

“Master changes the game a little bit,” Elvert said. “There could be between one and five rats in the course, but you don’t know how many.”

The handler has to decide when all of the rats have been discovered and declare the area “clear.”

Elvert and her dog, Kobi, a 30-pound terrier-shepherd mix, own a championship RATCH X title. The RATCH X title is obtained after earning10 additional Master legs after attaining the RATCH Master title.

Not everyone was on Elvert’s level.

Teresa Parker, of Fort Dodge, competed with her golden retriever, Cider, for the first time Sunday.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Jamie Elvert, of Rochester, Minnesota, carries her dog, Kobi, off the course during Barn Hunt trials at the Webster County Fairgrounds Sunday morning.

“This is our first day,” Parker said. “It’s been really fun.”

She said communicating with Cider was part of the challenge.

“Just trying to get a read on my dog,” Parker said.

After she finished her initial run-through, more experienced handlers offered their advice.

Parker said the advice was helpful.

“Everyone here is so kind and willing to share their experience,” she said.

Elvert said the people are what make the sport enjoyable.

“It’s very friendly competition and it’s fun just getting to know people,” Elvert said. “I have been around since the sport started in Minnesota and shortly after it began in Iowa, so I know about everyone in this room.”

She said seeing others’ progress has been a joy.

“I have watched almost everyone’s dog start in the very beginning and move up, so that’s a lot of fun,” Elvert said.

The Barn Hunt trials will return to Fort Dodge in September.