A new blood tracking Champion in the family!

So we have been practicing our blood tracking with Freddie. He is a great tracker, but at almost 5 years old, he is much more interested at finding the animals in the woods, then following an old blood trail. None-the-less, with 1x 1st prize, we are hoping to re-focus him, do some more training sessions and hopefully get 2 more 1st prizes for his blood tracking championship.  I would really like to start training him on fox in Denmark this spring, but I want to see if the old boy can focus enough to "finish" his blood tracking trial career.

A proud boy after a successful tracking training

Unfortunately for Freddie, last Thursday was not his day. With the warm weather there is always a lot of movement in the forest, which isn't good for a dog that is very interested in wildlife. Additionally, the forest where we went for the tracking trial has the ground mostly covered in dead leaves. With warm, relatively dry weather and the wind here in Skåne, that means that, of course, some of the trail is bound to blow around a bit. Anyhow, despite all that, Freddie just was not focused. He made it from start to finish in a time of 35 min, but not without several ventures off the trail to explore something else. He ended the day with a 3rd prize and suggestions from our judge that maybe he is a bit too old to track as he has gotten a taste of hunting. I think he can do it, but Freddie is a true stubborn dachshund and he needs a few training sessions with a real judge giving a few tips may be needed or he needs a VERY stern hand and a little yelling to get him to focus ONLY on the track. Regardless, I think even though it may be a bit complicated, Freddie will do it, but it may take a little time.

Freddie at almost 5 years and Liina at almost 1.

Liina on the other hand was on a roll and I wanted to keep the momentum. With 2x 1st prize in 1 week, I was hoping that we could get her last 1st prize and, thus, her Swedish Blood Tracking Championship. After Freddie's rather disappointing track, I knew the woods were alive and buzzing with animals and I was in for a challenge. Liina, though more distracted than on the previous tracks, was good. She circled more than usually and often went back to check herself, but in the end, she finished in 23 min and was very proud of herself. The judge agreed that it was still 1st prize work and with that Liina earned her first title at 10.5 months of age- Swedish Blood Tracking Champion (SEVCH)!

The newest SEVCH in the family!

Awesome, awesome, awesome! That little girl has a crazy good nose on her and definitely got some abilities from her parents- both are also Blood tracking Champions in Sweden and additionally, mom, Aura, received her Italian Working Championship from 20 and 40 hr blood tracking. I am especially proud as I handled this little girl! MY first CH as well. :) Baxter and Freddie were always handled by Simon, so even though they got their great results, it was never "officially" with me.

Additionally, I was offered an apprenticeship once I get my hunting license to train as a blood tracking judge.  Quite flattering and I think I would DEFINITELY like to try it. So much to do and so little time! We will see what the future brings, but what I can say is that the new champion was treated to a special dinner of sausages and I bought a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.

So now there are 2 SEVCH in the family... 

2x Barbwired, 2x SEVCH hanging out in the sun

Will Freddie pull through and prove that his nose is as great as ever? Only time will tell...