26 May 2008

one of Ruby's favourite pastimes is hunting moles. She can smell a recent dug molehill from several hundred yard away. you can see in the video she has actually put her stick down to see if she can catch one. She has never managed to catch one yet but you never know.
I think I have rather confused Ruby about moles and rabbits. When she started digging mole hills when she was a baby I kept asking her if she was hunting for bunny rabbits and now "Bunny Rabbits" has become the cue to dig a mole hill. It makes a good emergency recall cue too. All I have to do is shout bunny rabbits and point at the ground and Ruby dashes up from where ever she is to see. However if I point down a rabbit hole and say bunny rabbits she sniffs it and looks at me as if to say "thats not a bunny rabbit". She likes chasing rabbits but only digs molehills.

I use digging mole hills as a reinforcer too. If Ruby wants to dig in one I call her to me and we do some heelwork or a recall and then release her to dig. It works very well. I would get lovely heelwork at shows if there was a pile of earth in the ring!