Klubsiegerausstellung, losing streak, and duck retrieving

Hello all, I know I have been absent lately. Between normal, everyday work, trying to finish up my degree, working with the dogs, and making a 3 tiered wedding cake for my very good friend's special day, blogging took a back seat.

Photo of said wedding cake. It was delicious, if I do say so myself!

So to briefly catch you all up...
We have been chasing a final CAC/J in Germany and we are on a "losing" streak. 3 judges, 3 shows, 3 SGs. All the judges (more or less) have agreed that Bax is a beautiful dog, but his movement isn't there yet. Some judges even commented that the movement may never come and thought that we should take him to a vet to have him examined or recommended muscle powder, etc... One actually said the he was "too low, too heavy, and too loose in the back to ever be a show dog" and that we should save our money or get him a working certificate as working dogs can be more faulty. Whaaa? That really blew me away...
I thought that youth class would be forgiving of these traits since many dogs are not finished at 1 year or 15 months or even 2 years, especially males. So, sadly, we are giving up on the last CAC/J since the shows between now and the end of October in our area are non-existent and the though of driving to Leipzig, Rostock, Bremen, or Dortmund (all at least 5 hours), plus the money and time to likely be told the same things that we have been told in the past seems like a waste.

We did, however, enter Bax for the first time in Zwischenklasse (15-24 months) at the Klubsiegerausstellung in Kaunitz, Germany. We chose this class because we knew that the youth class would be large and full of young up and coming dogs from large, well known breeders. Opting out of youth class was a good choice since there were 12 males entered! It was a VERY full ring! In ZwK there were only 4 males and Baxter was the youngest. I think that he stands out in the ring, not only because I'm partial and think that he is a pretty boy, but because there seems to be a trend lately in taller dachshunds with narrower fronts. Baxter is lower to the ground compared to many dogs and he has a wider front, but it is a straight front and if he stands properly (and not like an A-frame tent, which is his favorite to do in the ring...) he looks beautiful and well built. We came in 3rd of 4 dogs, so not great, but also not a disappointing start. We know his faults and we will get his evaluation tonight to see what the judge commented on. For the time being he is signed up for 1 more show weekend this season: the Swiss club show and the Euro dog show in Geneva. After that set we are planning lots of blood tracking, swimming, running rabbits (if we can find them) and maybe some boar work to get the little one fit and working his nose. For the time being, we will be stationed in Switzerland, but a move will be in our future. Now just to find the jobs!

The Klubsieger was a cool show to be at since a lot of prominent breeders were present and there were of course 350 dachshunds of all sizes and hair types running around. I spoke a bit with Barbara Palladini about her dog Lollipop, who is a beautiful dark, male and went WUT-WS, KS, BIS this weekend. She in turn gave me a nice evaluation of Baxter and suggested that we take about 6 months off from showing and let him have fun being a dog. She said that most of their dogs aren't ready before the age of 2 and that he just needs time. She also told us how much she liked him and then laughed, saying that "Well, he is 1/2 mine!" :) She said that a lot of his qualities reminded her of Apollo (Baxter's dad) and you can tell that she loves that dog. We also were fortunate to briefly meet Brigitte Preuss, who is one of the very well known breeders of wirehair dachshunds and helped to shape how these dackels look today. Our Züchtwartin Tanja owns dogs from Frau Preuss and they have been friends for years and she is the one that introduced us. Frau Preuss loved Baxter's head and coat and asked if she could steal him. So, even though the small one didn't win any prizes, he received a lot of love from the bystanders.

Last but not least we have been practicing our duck retrieving! I think Baxter will retrieve no problem, but Freddie is a bit of a wild card. I think that with a little pressure and the real duck, he just might pass. We'll see in a week! We are planning on taking the boys out swimming and retrieving at least 2 more times in the next week, hoping to solidify their skills. I think that this fall we will again try our dogs blood tracking and spurlaut. Hopefully we can get Baxter his working certificate before we start up with shows again. Time will tell.