Happy New Year!

After a day of moving all of my things and another couple hours of cleaning (knowing that tomorrow there will be MORE cleaning), I decided to sit on the couch with a beer and my dogs. It is giving me a great opportunity to look back, not only at 2015, but also at the blog and life.

This past month, my little blog turned 3 years old! I really can't believe it. What does 3 years give us?

• A new dog
• A Kennel name
• A new start
• A new website: Moniker
• A loaner dog and a confidence booster
• Show/working trips to 12 countries
• 17 Champion titles
• More than 25 successful working trials in 4 countries
• 125 posts
• More than 20,000 visitors to the site

 

2015 was a year of change. Simon and I parted ways after almost 6 years. Although the break up was difficult, we are on good terms and have continued to work together with the dogs. He of course loves them as much as I do. This collaboration led to 2 bloodtracking champions and an approved Gryteftersökhund (in homologation). I have debated changing the blog banner and information. The name of the blog (WHdackel) wasn't just for Wirehaired, but also represented our last names: W & H. Although our tag says "a couple and their dogs," I still don't feel it is totally wrong. The blog was made out of love for our boys and it will continue to function as a medium for me to report their awesome accomplishments and bitter losses.

2016 will continue to be a year of change. A new house, a new start, and, hopefully, soon a new job. Where will we go next? Who knows. Regardless, we will keep you posted!

Have a great start to 2016 everyone!

Happy Holidays from Moniker!

A very Happy Holiday season from us!

This year it is warm (10C/ about 50F) and rainy, but hopefully the dogs will get to run around in the snow again soon!

We wish you a happy and healthy 2016!

Freddie will return to Switzerland Dec 20th until Jan 10th!

Our very own Fallilou du Sangre Bleu "Freddie" will be spending the holiday season with Simon in central Switzerland. 

Freddie kommt aus der Schweiz für Weihnachten (Dec 20-Jan10)!

Freddie is available at stud to approved females

Freddie has to following merits to his name:

Germany/Deutschland:
Sfk
Sp (TS)
BHP-1 & 2
BhFK/95

Italy/Italien:
SchwhK
SchwhK/40-CACT
Fbja (Fox trial)-100pts RCAC
BhFK95-100 pts

Sweden/Schweden:
1st prize Grytanlagsprov (artificial underground with badger)-->"J"- Jaktmerit, Grytapporterungsprov (underground retrieving),
Gryteftersökhund (Underground tracking and retrieval dog)
Swedish Blood Tracking Champion
Has been practicing drev/hunting/stöber. Loud on hare and deer, will be tested in 2016.

PRA & Katarakt Frei (ECVO: 30.01.2012 & 29.12.2014) 

Gene tested: crd-PRA(NHPH4) free (N/N); OI-frei (N/N)

Formwert & Wesenstest Approved (While in Switzerland)

Parents: CIT, CIB, GS Ch. Kobeddus Effendi x Canaille de la Meute a Cheops (Sp, St)

More info: https://monikerkennel.wordpress.com/fallilou-du-sangrebleu/

Contact Julie (English oder Deutsch): whdackel@gmail.com

First go out at Drev

This was a post I meant to post more than a month ago... but, well, life got in the way.

After a year in Sweden, making connections, and trying hard to find land to practice on, we were kindly invited up to the Northern part of Skåne to try Freddie on Drev.

The only way I can describe Drev is that it is real hunting. The dog is released into the forest to search for animals. The dog then, hopefully, takes up the fresh scent of a deer, fox, or hare and chase it through the land. This was Freddie's first go out, and even though he did great on Spurlaut, it was hard to say how he would do with the "real life" situation.

In our area of Sweden there isn't the vast area lacking major roads that are ideal for Drev. Furthermore, as I am not yet out hunting, it is a really big deal to get an invitation. Well, a contact from our local dachshund club was so kind and she and her husband offered to let us go to them and try Freddie in their forest! 

For Drev, there are always risks, wild boars, wolves, cars, etc... but as Freddie is a smart dog and wolves (the biggest threat in my opinion) are not as common this far south and not in that area, we thought we would try. We were lent a GPS collar so we could see where Freddie was, how fast he was going, and how far away from us he was.

The first thing we did was go out and basically tell him that he could go search. Freddie was very good at going out and circling back to check where we were. While on one of his first searches, he opened a little, but it didn't lead to anything and we didn't see any animals (though their bedding and tracks/poop). After being out about 1.5-2 hrs, we headed back to let Freddie rest a bit and have lunch. We then took out Anna and Joachim's 11 year old shorthair Pixie, who was fantastic. She did indeed find something out in the forest, but by the barking and GPS track, Joachim thought it was a boar and called her back. When we went closer to pick her up/call her back, we definitely smelled boars and I am happy that Joachim had his rifle with "just in case."

We then took Pixie back and decide that as the weather hand turned beautiful for the end of October (15c and sun... see photo above) we would try a different area and see if Freddie found something. We did a little initial searching, then we came upon a glen and in the very back corner, Joachim noticed a couple of Roe deer. Freddie followed him into the glen (above) and Joachim and Simon told him to search. Then a few minutes later there was music! Freddie had taken up the deer scent and was off. I wish I would have thought to get a video! It would have only been barking, but who cares! Freddie worked really well for his first time out- roughly 30 min and about 300 m away from us. Anna said that we couldn't have asked for better work on his first time out. We only called Freddie back because he must have lost the scent and started circling in an area about 100m from us. Simon and Joachim went, called him back (with name and whistle) and you could watch him march slowly back on the GPS. Getting the dog back to you is a huge and important aspect of Drev, so Fred coming back was just as important as him taking up and chasing the deer.

On the way back to the car, Joachim asked if we wanted to swap a labrador for Fred. lol. I think he liked him. We are invited back out, but this autumn was a bit hectic for me as I was in the US for almost 3 weeks and writing papers at work. I recently bought a used GPS collar from another Swedish dackel friend and I am hoping we can get him out again this year for practice if the weather stays mild, otherwise, we are shooting for a few more practices and hopefully testing in 2016. Either way, Freddie definitely didn't disappoint! 

I really hope to also take Baxter out in the future to see what he's got, but we are taking one thing at a time at the moment. :)

A BIG Thank you goes to Anna and Joachim for allowing us to further work with Fred and offering their land!

Baxter's 2015 results & Return to Hungary

It was a show year for my boy! We had limited showing in Sweden (2x), but were rated "Excellent" at both shows and ended our show season with Best Male 2. Additionally, Baxter's biggest accomplishment was finishing his international championships! I am so incredibly proud of my beautiful boy!

Other than myself, Baxter is handled exclusively by my friend Nikos. In fact, I was SO happy with the team, that Baxter will do a little more showing with Nikos next year.

Therefore, Baxter will return to Budapest in March-April, 2016. While there he will be available for shows and mating. If you are interested in using Baxter as a stud, please contact me!

Liina is home!

After 3 months away, my little zwerg (Barbwired Champagne) returned home with me to Sweden. She was a good houseguest during her stay in Finland and came home with very nice results from the 5 shows she attended:

2xBOB

2xWinner

1xBOS

3xCERT

5xExc

4xExc1 CK

1xExc2

With these results, she should earn 4 new titles upon reaching 2 years of age. Not too shabby for the little girl.

Now we have a little bit of time to rest before the next shows start. Good to have you home my sassy little dog!

Liina BOB in Lithuania

Markku & Liina(Barbwired Champagne) took a show trip down to Panevezys, Lithuania on October 24/25 and came back with great results: 2xExc, 2xCAC, 2xWinner, 2x BOB!

 Furthermore, Markku also took Barbwired Austria-Liina's Mom-and Barbwired De Tomaso-Iita's puppy- who both did very well, earning the titles of Lithuanian Champion & Lithuanian Junior Champion, respectively. Great job Markku and the Barbwired Dogs!

On another quick note, 2 more of Iita's puppies were shown (bringing the total to 6/7) and have received Excellent with CK/CAC. What a super promising litter! Congrats to the owners and breeder and my little start Iita. :)

New Multi-Champion!

So as you all know by now, Iita (Barbwired Bella Bambina) is here in Sweden and staying with me for trials and show. Well, big news...

We passed our final tracking trial in 1st prize! Iita is a new Swedish Tracking Champion!!! Holy cow! It is one thing to work and pass with your own dog, but it brings a new confidence booster when you can pass with someone else's dog.

I am very lucky that Iita has the same personality as her brother and not only trusts me, but looks to me and wants to please me. She is very clever and a joy to have around. The one problem of her being so similar to her brother, is that Baxter is starting to get a bit jealous that he has to share "his" person with someone else. Let me tell you, I am not cold at night with a dachshund on each side of my feet!

So my "job" is now finished. We accomplished a whole lot in just 3 weeks... "unlocking" 4 championships (FI, LT, LV, WUT), earning 3rd Best Female with CK in hunting class and earning her Swedish Beauty Champion, and 3x 1st prize in blood tracking earning her Swedish Blood tracking Champion.

Iita came to me a great little dog and will be leaving as a multi-Champion! I am SO happy that I proved to myself I can be a good handler, both in show and in trial, and got to know this great girl.

A Nice Day in Tvååker

So friends, it was our last show day of the season. I decided when Markku proposed that I take Iita for tracking, I suggested trying our luck at 1 dog show. The Halland Taxklubben has their annual fall exhibition in Tvååker and last year it was nice and fun. This year I wanted to check out the new dachshund judge: Jens Myrman as he has been showing up quite often in the show circuit. As Liina is in Finland, I figured it would be nice to take Iita and Baxter. Baxter hasn't been show much since he returned from his trip this spring, but why not bring him along every once and a while.

So we were up at 5:30 this morning to get ready and get on the road up to the show. It started at 9am and we had to be checked in before it started. As I am NOT a morning person, I stopped the night before to grab a Starbuck's to go and a Red Bull since 2 hours of driving while the sun is coming up is not especially fun for me.

Anyhow, my normal "show friends" weren't there, but that was ok! Some of my facebook friends came over to say hello and chat. :)

Anyhow, there were 25 standard wirehairs at the show today and they were fairly evenly split into male and female. Baxter was in a class of 4 males and Iita in a class of 8 females. I am very, very happy with the results:

Baxter: Excellent, CK, Champion Class Concurrence (CHKK) 2, Best male 2
Iita: Excellent, CK, Jakt Class Concurrence (JKK) 2, Best female 3
(with res-CERT if not for her earning the CH)

With these results, Iita was awarded her Swedish Show Championship! Both dogs performed beautifully and I was the one at fault since I didn't bring enough treats! Thanks go out to my friend Elisabeth that saved the day with more goodies.

Now we are all tired and enjoying some snuggle time on the couch.

Great News from Finland!

Markku and Liina went to the National Dog Show in Tuulos, Finland yesterday. Liina had to originally be entered as a normal size wirehaired dachshund because on the closing date of the show, her Swedish confirmation paperwork had not yet come. Anyhow, as she is now recognized by the Finnish and Swedish kennel clubs as a miniature, she was allowed to change classes. This made her a bit of the dark horse in the competition... an unknown dog coming in for the first time in Finland and now as a mini.

Markku is an old pro when it comes to showing and he and Liina have been practicing together. Well, Liina was not only awarded Exc1 and CQ, but Best Female 1 with CAC and Best Opposite Sex (BOS)! Her first show in Finland and she practically took it all! Not bad from the first miniature wirehaired dachshund out of kennel Barbwired. :)

Happy breeder and little Liina!

Such wonderful news after a shitty couple of weeks! Additionally, Liina was entered in Junior class and won best junior female, so she also earns the WUTJCh title. So proud of this little girl! Also very proud that she has been awarded CERTs in 2 countries at 17 months of age and with limited showing. It also means that when she earns her Swedish Championship, she will also have earned her Finnish CH as well. I hope that big things lay ahead for her. The house is for sure quiet without her here, but the big Barbwireds and keeping me company.

Many thanks to Markku for showing Liina and I hope for continued success in the next couple of months!

My new Project

So where did summer go? Here it is, already the beginning of autumn and this year is just flying by...

I have been keeping myself nice and busy with work, visits from friends, and, of course, hanging out with my 4 leggers. Liina and I attended a couple of shows in the past month and although the results have not been spectacular, one exciting thing did happen. Liina is now officially registered as a miniature wirehaired dachshund. She has been finally measured to 34 cm at just shy of 17 months old, but even I think that is a bit big as she had previously been measured 32 & 33 cm. In any case, the little princess is indeed that...

Liina and I in Kjugekull this past May

Well, last weekend Salla came into town and brought with her a new friend for me...

Everyone, meet Baxter's sister Barbwired Bella Bambina "Iita"

A few months back, Markku wrote to ask if I would mind "hosting" Iita and doing some training and tracking with her while Liina was with them in Finland. I, being crazy, said "of course" and so Salla and Iita flew in for the Copenhagen Winner show (Iita was Ex2 in her class). Salla and I spent the weekend hanging out and enjoying Skåne's bizarre weather... snow/hail in the morning, then blue skies, then heavy wind and rain- all in a matter of hours. 

Then on Monday I did the crazy think and signed Iita and I up for an anlagsprov/aptitude test tracking exam. The weather was perfect, a little damp, but not raining and we were in a wooded area with a lot of moss and grass. I was nervous as I realized as soon as we started the exam that I had NO IDEA what language the dog was used to tracking in! Her owner Marja told me that she had been speaking English with Iita during tracking, but I wasn't sure. Luckily Iita knew exactly what she was doing and I just had to read her. She was a bit quick and overshot a couple areas, but came back with little time wasted. She did NOT seem to understand why there was an unknown woman following her though! She came back a couple times just seeming to ask me "Why is this woman out here with us?" before touching her nose to my leg and moving on. After 13 minutes we were finished with the exam and passed with very nice marks from judge Jessica. Yay! Iita was now qualified for Swedish working class at show and we could move onto Open class tracks.

Godkänd anlagsprov!

The very next day was a super busy one. After speaking with Marja the night before, I had learned a new and important Finnish work "Jälki," which was Iita's motivational word for "track". Admittedly, I tried English and German on her with piss poor results. With our anlagsprov passed, we could move onto open class and the exam that I had optimistically booked at the beginning of the month could happen. Before that though, we had to take Salla and Liina to the airport. Liina would be spending the next 3 months in Finland for shows, training, and maybe taking the PIKA trial for mini dachshunds. So I sadly said goodbye not only to my good friend, but to my tiny little girl. 

Liina the traveler en route to Helsinki

Immediately after dropping the girls in Copenhagen, I raced back over the bridge to Sweden in just shit weather conditions. It was pouring rain, windy, and cold. I was not enjoying the drive and I knew I would like the tracking even less. I also knew that with the weather we would arrive late to Görel so I sent an SMS apologizing and hoping that she wouldn't be too pissed at my tardiness. When I arrived, Görel was kind,  but I of course was a bit frazzled, tired from driving, and just ready to go. I of course apologized profusely for being late, but she shrugged it off in a kind, Swedish manner. We then went to the woods and I immediately got nervous. These were the woods where a year earlier Baxter had failed with Simon. I knew there were a lot of animals in there and the brush would be thick, so it would be a challenge. We started and I remembered that Iita had never been taught the Swedish "starting box," but at least today I had her motivation word! I told her to track and she did. She worked well despite the thick brush and was relatively easy to read when she was off. All was going well and then all of a sudden, her head was super alert and up, the body was tense and she took off like a shot. I lost hold of the line and my saving grace was that she zig-zagged and was wrapped around a tree. I didn't see the animal, but Iita certainly was after it! I immediately ran to grab the leash and told the judge I would take my 1 call back. It took longer than expected to untie Iita and the judge double checked that I did indeed request a call back and I confirmed. We came back and she was very proud of me for reading the dog and situation and call for the callback so quickly (even if it took me a few minutes to get back). Whatever the animal was (I think it was a Roe deer or maybe a small Red deer) it decided to sit and watch us for a while. Iita was a bit more wide in her tracking after that, but she immediately picked the track back up and followed it with relative ease to the end. All-in-all a good track in tough terrain, but my quick thinking I believe secured our 1st prize. :) 

With that result Iita now qualified for her Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Welt Union Teckel Championships. 

The new Champion playing at home

We have taken a short break from tracking as I had a work conference, but Iita is a natural. She loops a bit more than I like, checking and double checking corners, leading to me working hard to keep a long, loose line, but she is a good tracking partner. We will do a few more tests and a show before she heads home at the end of the month. She has been a very good houseguest and is basically a female Baxter. She wants to be with me and be my shadow and has decided that I am her person. It is rare to find dogs that are so calm and adaptable as these two. Feed them and give them love and they can be almost anywhere and with anyone. Baxter is a little jealous though that his sister wants to be my lapdog, but he just squeezes himself on there as well.

17 Beauty and work titles between these siblings

Tracking training and trials will start again this week. I decided I wanted extra practices with Iita so that I can learn to read her a bit better. Baxter will be so mad that he is AGAIN not going tracking, but your time will come Bax, we will train again next year, but maybe for Denmark, Finland, or Norway and their tests. ;)

And what of little Liina? She is enjoying time with her family at Barbwired in Finalnd. She is playing with Mom and uncle Ollie. Dad is a bit of a bother and she would like Grandma to play, but at 10, Iiris is starting to show her age. She tolerates the little girl well, but wants to be left to herself. 

3 generations in 1 basket! Here you can really see Liina's size difference.
 Grandma(Iiris) in on the bottom, Mom (Aura) on the left, and Liina on the right.

So my new project is off to a great start and I really hope that Iita will go home with a working title, but only the next few weeks will show for certain...

Huge success for Baxter's nieces and nephews!

It has been a rather slow month in our dog world. We are waiting on shows (5 next month) and hosting Baxter's sister Iita. She will be my new project as a "temporary" show and tracking dog. It should be a fun time!

Barbwired Bella Bambina "Iita" winning her 3rd CERT as well as BOB in Finland

In the meanwhile this has been a fantastic month for Barbwired kennel and I am EXTREMELY proud that Iita's puppies are rocking it in the show ring around Europe!  All of these puppies are out of Iita's one and only litter (currently!) to WW-15, EUW-13, CH Lollipop della Val Vezzeno.
Just to recap...

Barbwired Ducati (here at 5 months old) was rated Excellent 2 in Junior class at his first show.

Barbwired Dolce Gusto "Viola" was awarded Excellent, CK and Best Female 3. Viola currently lives with mom Iita.

Barbwired Diatto "Väinö" not only totally handsome, but on his very first match show was BIS1 and at his first official show at 1 year old was Best male, CERT, and BOS out of 38 dogs!

12 months old

Väinö (right) with breeder Markku (Barbwired) and Gordon (Liina's dad on left)

And last, but not least, is beautiful "Pippa"- Barbwired Dietorelle. Pippa lives in Switzerland with my very good friend Rebecca. Earlier in August, Pippa was shown twice at the international dog shows in Innsbruck, Austria where she rocked the Junior ring and was awarded 2x Ex1, 2xCACA/J, and 1x 2nd best female! It was very stiff competition as there were 7 junior females on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. To make things even better, Pippa attended the Landessieger Show (Swiss Dachshund Club Specialty) where she won junior class earning the Landesjugendsieger title and went on to win BOB and BIS1!!! 

Amazing results from the pups in this litter! Not even in the adult classes yet and they are doing fantastic on show! Furthermore, these are only 4 of the 7 puppies, so it will be super interesting to see what happens in the future.

I can only hope that Iita and Baxter share the genetics for producing amazing puppies! Maybe in the future it will be Baxter's offspring rocking the rings. Only time will tell.

Congrats to all the owners and, of course, the breeders!

Continued success for Freddie!

This past Sunday the Skåne-Blekinge taxklubben hosted a grytanlagsprov and grytapporteringsprov. Both Freddie and Baxter participated. Sunday was not Baxter's day. He was a bit distracted and spent the 3 min time sniffing and wandering around instead of entering the den. Since he did not enter, he could not get a grade, but the judge wanted him to have a positive experience, so I was allowed to put him in myself and allow him to bark. He entered and did good work (the judge apologized since he would have passed had he entered). In all the practices this year he was working at the bars of the pot and working for a good amount of time, so I was hopeful, but unsure that Bax would perform to the best of his ability. Oh well, dogs are not machines and some days work and others don't. Baxter has great hunting drive, but Sunday just wasn't his day. Baxter received a Kval 2 last year at the same test, so I had hoped for a Kval 1... anyhow, there is always next year.

Freddie on the other hand is a hunting machine. He received a Kval 1 last year on his grytanlagsprov and loves the den. He is in amazing shape this year (he has lost about 1 kg and is pure lean muscle) and was SO excited to be at the grytprov location. On a previous practice, the Kval 1 dogs were allowed to try apporteringprov. This involved dragging a dead fox (approx 6 kg) roughly 6 m in length which includes one of the turns in the den. The dog is allowed 10 min time and the owner is allowed to encourage the dog by voice. The dog MUST pull the animal to within arms length of the opening and the owner is allowed to pull out the dead animal.

5 dogs were tested on apportering and all 5 dogs passed! The fasted dog retrieved the fox in as little as 1 minute (not Freddie, but a very talented Danish female wirehair)! All got high praise from the judge.  :)

He looks happy after a good day's work! Good boy Freddie!

What is MORE exciting is that Freddie now qualifies as an Eftersök dog for Gryt (Tracking dog for underground). To qualify this, he had to pass the following:

1.) Grytanlagsprov Kval 1 (den test quality 1)

2.) Viltspåranlagsprov (blood tracking aptitude test)

3.) Grytapporteringsprov (den retrieving test)

Now we really have to get the brown dog a jaktprov! Good boy Freddie and good work!

Freddie is a Champion!

Championat!! Found out today that Freddie received a 1st prize in open class at the Tax camp in Bassholma. This closed Freddie's blood tracking championship (SEVCH)! Freddie-Fallilou du Sangre Bleu- is a son of Kobeddus Effendi and Canaille de la Meute a Cheops. LZ: Sfk, Sp, BhFK/95, BHP1&2, I-Schwhk, I-Schwk/40(CACT), I-Fbja(resCACT), I-BHFK95(100pts), S-grytprov Kval 1, S-Schwhk 3x1st prize
FW: Ex1 JBob, int. Ex1 VDH-CAC
Many thanks to judges E. Hörnfeldt Ahlin & J. Nilsson for their time and judgement.

So proud to have all three dogs in the family complete Championships! Such a great group of dogs to work with. 😊

Freddie at 4 months and his first tracking practice

Freddie at 3 years old and 5 years old below

Skåne Blekinge Taxcamp

Sorry for the long delay, but there hasn't been too much to report. Baxter returned home on the 28th of June and then from the 11th til the 19th Kennel Barbwired was in Sweden doing tracking trials with Baxter's brother and 2 of Liina's full uncles. They had great success and ended up with 5 new titles for the boys: 3x SEVCH (Swedish Tracking Champion), 2x FICH! Now their first breeding bitch Iiris (Baxter' s mom and Liina's grandmother) has 5 Working Champions out of her 11 total puppies: Austria-MultiCH/Winner, SEVCH, IT Working CH; Andau-FIJVA (Finnish tracking CH), SEVCH & Drevprov (Mäaj-1); Amadeus-SEVCH, FICH; Better than the Rest-MultiCH, SEVCH & multi-working trial; Blaze of Glory-SEVCH, FICH. Quite an accomplishment for such a small number of dogs from a relatively young kennel! Grattis! Onnea! Congrats guys!

Team Barbwired: Salla with Viljo, Markku with Max(left) & Pronto (right)
More info on any of the Barbwired dogs, check them out HERE

So this was my last week at work before a short holiday. I wasn't going to take holiday this year, but the weather in Sweden has been SO cold and rainy, that I needed to get away for a little bit. On Thursday my vacation started bright and early by driving up to Bassholma for the Skåne Tax Camp. It was the 1st time this camp was being held and, overall, everything was well organized and went smoothly. 

I spent my days at gryt training with Baxter-who hasn't been in the den since last year- and doing Permodjur with Freddie and Baxter.

Swedish gryt

The bear (Björn), Wild boar (Vildsvin) and Moose(älg)

Basically the Permodjur is a reaction test. The dog is put into a fenced in area with a bear, boar, or moose for upwards of 20 minutes to see how they react. The animals move via remote control, the pelts are all real, and all of the animals have scent. We thought it would be stimulating for the boys and just fun to try. Would I ever put them up against a real bear... no. I would also avoid the boar as they are usually a lot quicker than dachshunds, but with the Permodjur, it is a fun activity and the dogs leave unhurt.

Freddie was the real star! He is persistent, unafraid, but smart about how he works. He also can go, go, go! The 1 day that Freddie and Simon attended the camp he had 2 tests (one on bear, one on wild boar) and a tracking trial. He was awesome, but led to a very tired Freddie. 

Baxter also did well, but he isn't the natural hunter that Freddie is and he is a bit slower for the lightbulb to click on. When it does click, he shines, but he is slowly becoming a more self confident dog. He barked up the bear, but at a much further distance than Fred, and today he went in on the boar. He was slow to start and admittedly was more likely to go chase and bay at the boar when it was moving. He also did SO much better on the badger this year, working right against the bars a couple more practices and maybe a 1st prize is in his future...we will see.

For those interested, here are short clips of Freddie's boar and bear tests.

Mission Accomplished!

So June was a good month all around... well, except for the weather! Swedish summer has yet to appear and as of yesterday, it was still totally necessary to wear a jacket to work. WTF Sweden!?!?!

End result of this day... CAC, CACIB, BOB, BIG1 :)

So one great thing... Baxter is home! Oh how I missed my fuzzy boy! Don't get me wrong, I love Liina and Freddie, but Bax and I have a special bond. Liina is not especially happy that he is home. They play and wrestle, but she constantly patrols the kitchen and any food bowl on the floor (empty or full) is hers. We are working on her guarding. I can take things away with no problems, but she is a true bitch to both Bax and Freddie in this respect. She is still young and we are working on it.

2x Barbwired dogs... one standard and one mini

 I also did something for myself this month... I took a course, practiced, and studied my butt off for the Swedish Hunting Exam. It was a lot of firsts; learning about Swedish hunting laws, learning European animals, of which I had NO idea of the Swedish names, though sometimes I knew the German, not that it helped me, and learned to shoot a shot gun and a 308 class 1 rifle. As I am a true beginner, I didn't always put the guns flush to my shoulder, resulting in some gnarly bruises now. The written/theory portion for me was ok. I can learn and understand laws and facts fairly quickly (thanks to a bajillion years of schooling), but I was nervous about the shooting since it wasn't something that I could practice or learn on my own at home. I was a bit down after our 2nd session at the shooting range the day before the exam. I seemed to do ok on the rifle, but the stupid clay pigeon shooting, ugh. I felt hopeless. My class was small and a nice group of people, me and 4 guys. I said our class sounded like a bad joke, " An American, an Irishman, an Englishman, an Aussie, and an Italian walk into a bar..." Anyhow, the guys all had previous shooting experience, two of which having served in the military. After inconsistently shooting clay pigeons for 2 days, I thought I was getting the hang of it, but nope. Final practice and I was stuck with a "score" of 3/6, just not enough. I was discouraged but reminded myself that tomorrow was another day.

So on Sunday we traveled up to Markaryd to take our theory and practical exams. The theory exam was ok and consisted of 70 questions, which we were allowed to have translated. I think I could have done ok on the test even without the translation. Once it was confirmed that we had all passed with at least 60/70 questions correct (we all scored much higher than that), we were allowed to go for the practical test. It consisted of several parts. I and 2 of the guys were up first on the shotgun. We first had to pass a gun safety test, in which we had to pretend we were on a hunt and come up to several obstacles, such as a river, fences, people out in our hunting area. Once we had been approved, we could go shooting. The first shooting test was on a running hare. We had to get a minimum of 8 pellets into the target area. Then off to another gun safety area where we had to determine if the various animals that "popped up" were close enough to safely shoot and (hopefully) kill. All of these tests were fine and we all got our cards signed off with no issues. The final test was the clay pigeons. We were given 6 rounds of shot and had to hit 4 of 6 clays. I was so nervous as this was definitely my worst area (though not horrible). We did one round and it felt good. I hit about 8 of 12 clay pigeons and decided that there was no time like the present and to just go for the test. Well, it was awesome. I think I hit 11 of 12 clay pigeons! I was so elated that I ran to my instructor afterwards to give him a bit hug! I was so excited that not only had I passed the theory portion, but I could now officially hunt with a shotgun (my favorite). :) Next it was onto rifle shooting. We performed gun safety again and then I was the first in the group to take gun safety and start shooting. We did precision shooting with a 22 calibre rifle, then onto the moose. For this the moose is about 80-100m away standing. Once the first shot hits, the moose begins running, then stops, turns around and runs again. You have to shoot the moose while both standing and running and hit within the target 4 times in a row and then complete 3 sessions of this. There are 9 chances to complete it. It was my last test of the day and I was tired. My first 2 rounds were flawless and after a short break, I finished... passing all aspects of my hunting exam!

Booyah!

I am now licensed to hunt in Sweden! Now to just wait until deer hunting season!

Baxter's most successful trip

Baxter is finished with his show tour and coming home soon. 

Bax, BIG1 in Thessaloniki

In the meanwhile, here are his stats from his 2 month show tour:

12xCAC, 4xCACIB, 2xresCACIB, 5xBOB, 2xBOS, 2xBIG2, 2xBIG1

 He gained 4 national championships (LT, RO, SE, SRB), 2 international championships (CIB, CIE), 1 Grand Championship (SRB), Welt union teckel (WUT) championship, and has now open championships in AT, DE, HU, and GR.

He and Nikos were a great team and Baxter has gotten nothing but the highest compliments from judges and show people/friends alike. He will return to Nikos next year to finish HU and GR, but in the meantime he will be going on a diet (he was too well loved while in Budapest) and meeting with the badger this summer. I hope to have him in shape for hunting this autumn/winter. 

So excited my boy will be back home to snuggle soon!

Website Promotion and puppies!!

I am happy to announce that Freddie's breeder- Madame Dessinges- has started her own kennel website!

Du Sangre Bleu kennel can now be found here: http://dusangrebleu.chiens-de-france.com

Pages for Freddie's sisters Frieda and Fauve can be seen as well as a little page for my brown boy. :)

Currently, Frieda has puppies which were born on the 9th of May. The father of the litter is an extremely handsome and talented French male: CIB, CIT, WUTCH, French Working CH, CHCS, CACS NE 2010, , CHCP, VCF ST 2011 Dino de la plaines aux lievres
(view the pedigree here: Dino x Frieda)

Dino and Frieda are both regularly used in hunting in France. Both parents are OI free and non-carriers and PRA/CAT free. Additionally, both have been awarded Excellent in the show ring, with Dino additionally being awarded CACs and CACIBs.

The French and German blood behind these puppies is outstanding! If I only had room for a new puppy...

That being said, a few of the pups are looking for active show and/or hunting homes! Madame Dessinges speaks excellent English, so don't hesitate contacting her if you are interested.

Freddie's beautiful sisters Frieda and Fauve