by Sadie Gregoire
March 7, 2025

In a separate room, a course is set up. Boxes, blankets, suitcases, and clean garbage bags are set up around the room. Rats are put into a cage to protect them from the dogs. The judge then hides the rat among the debris in the room. Each owner brings in their dog and the competition begins.

Ischua Paws n’ Play Club held a Happy Ratters event on the GCC campus on February 8, 2025. “It’s the only place you can go and talk about dogs all day, and no one looks at you weird,” said Donna Dombeck, owner of the Ischua Paws n’ Play Club.

A “happy ratters” competition is an event where participants, often from farming or rural communities, engage in a competition centered around catching or hunting rats. The term “ratters” refers to individuals or teams that train dogs, typically terriers, to hunt and catch rats. The goal is to demonstrate the dogs’ hunting skills in a controlled environment, usually by seeing which dog can catch the most rats within a set time limit. The competition is sometimes tied to community events or agricultural shows, and it displays the dogs’ speed, agility, and instinctual abilities. While it has a historical context in pest control, today it’s often seen as a form of entertainment or sport.

Dombeck’s club members brought their dogs of all different breeds to GCC to compete in rat hunting challenges. With rat hunting, live rats are preferred because it’s hard to mimic the smell of rat. However, the rats are kept in cages to keep them safe.

Dombeck competes with her dog Ellie, who is a beagle mix. Ellie is a senior dog who is very experienced in competing and is at the highest level of “extreme ratter.” Dombeck first heard about a barn hunt and decided to try it out and compete. The dog and owner loved the sport so much that Donna decided to make the club Paws n’ Play.

Carrie Klaiber brought her mastiff dog Waylen to compete in hunting. There is a struggle with using big dogs for hunting. Klaiber finds it hard for Waylen to participate in the different categories, such as the barn hunt, which involves smaller tunnels and fast cats.

Sometimes it can be hard to decide who likes the sport more, the dogs or the owners. “The dogs love it,” Dombeck said. “They will do it because their owner wants to do it.”

This sport helps strengthen the bond between owners and dogs and helps build persistence and confidence. The most important thing, Dombeck said, is “keeping the fun in the game.” Winning prizes is just a plus.

There are various categories of events; the main one was the silent round. Typically owners can help the dogs by giving them commands to locate the rat, but not in these events. Silent rounds have the owners let the dog do all the work. If the owner makes any indication of where the rat could be, points might be deducted.

Dombeck said, “I would like to see more people in the sport.”
For more information, go to happyratters.com or the Ischua Paws ‘n Play Facebook page.