Liina's first show success!

So yesterday was a dachshund clubshow held by the Kronoberg Taxklubben in Moheda, Sweden. It was a cold, but really nice day. It was also one of my first dachshund memories in Sweden as it was the first clubshow we went to last year and the first time I had the pleasure to meet Majsan in person! Now I am of course making a name for myself, popping up on several Swedish FB pages from the show. Hahaha! From unknown to "adopted Swede."

We had a WONDERFUL weather week leading up to the show- warm, sunny, beautiful weather. Then on the day of the last solar eclipse until like 2039, it was horrible, cold, and cloudy. :( We even had flurries of SNOW on Saturday in Skåne. It made me oh, so sad. I learned my lesson from Moheda last year and knew that I had to dress like I was going to stand outside for hours on end. So on went the long underwear, hunting socks, turtleneck, sweater, fleece, etc... and at half past six I was in the car and headed to Tjorup to join in on a carpool with Eva and Marianne. Around 7:30 we were on the road- 3 women and 6 dachshunds (mostly of the mini variety) heading north. Although it was a club show, it was by no means small. There were at least 100 dogs entered, probably more. Standard wires made up the biggest percentage of dogs- 28 males and 24 females- a crazy huge number of dogs. So many dogs means a big jaktclass as that is where one needs to win CKs towards the Championship. In the male jaktclass there were 11 dogs, so very stiff competition.

It was also an exciting day as it was Liina's first show! She had been to puppy shows, but those were mostly for fun and practice, this was the real deal. It was also the first time I had her officially measured. For a while now it has looked as though Liina may turn out to be a miniature, but of course it is hard to tell when they are young. At 11 months old, she has had her first heat and has stayed roughly the same size since about 8 months. So now I can say that currently the little girl weighs in at roughly 5.4 kg and is 34cm in the chest, putting her in the mini/dwarf category. So she was switched to the Junior class as a mini. She did an excellent job in the ring and we only have to work a bit on standing nicely for the judge. She preferred to sit on the table if no food was present. Regardless we got a wonderful evaluation:

"Excellent type, feminine, very beautiful profile, dark eyes well set ears, correct bite, good neck, enough chest, well angulated front and rear, excellent bone, nice feet, compact good body. Excellent topline, excellent coat, moves very well from all directions"

She was awarded Exc 1 and CK in Junior class and we walked for BOB. There were only females at the show that day, so there was no BOS. We were placed 2nd best female of the 3 competing for BOB resulting also in a Cert! In Sweden, a CERT is a bit pointless as the dog needs at least a CK from Jaktclass to go towards the championship, but oh well. Fantastic results for the little girl!

Chilling after our ring time-photo by Majsan

Ribbons!

Me and the little girl

So of course I was so excited, but I had to do a quick change of dogs as Baxter had to be walked and prepped- ie, moustache brushed out- before his ring time. I was ready for a battle as Baxter was one of 11 dogs in the Jaktclass, many of whom we had shown with previously. So we showed our hearts out. Baxter was in good spirits, moving well, and looking great.

Part of the jakt class, including the judge asking us to start going around.

 We made the cut as 8 of the 11 dogs were awarded Excellent, then the judge narrowed it down to 5. Majsan with Jaktvallens Loke and I with Baxter walked again to try for a spot in the top 4. Baxter was chosen over Loke and we were in the top 4! Very exciting. We then did our final laps for the best male and we were placed 4th best, unfortunately with no CK, but with a very stellar evaluation. I was also happy to see a little note about me at the end.

"Excellent type and size, very masculine, good bite, good forechest, well angulated front and rear, excellent topline, well angulated hindquarters, excellent stride from the side, slightly wide in the front, excellent coat, very well shown"

I would have really liked the CK, but an Excellent and evaluation like that from such a big class is great. I am very happy to also say that in 4 out of the past 5 shows that we have gone to and I have shown Bax, we have placed in the top 4 in jaktclass. Not too shabby. He and I are making a pretty good show team. :)

My boy and I at the show

All in all it was a nice day, if not a bit long. I was very happy by the judgements and placings, happy to see old dog friends, and more happy to meet and make new ones. I had a woman tell me before the show that Liina was the prettiest dog she had seen and should surely win. Very flattering. What I love about my dogs is that they are SO calm at these shows. Both Baxter and Liina could easily sit on a camping chair instead of their kennel. They like to people and dog watch as much as I do. So great to have such laid back dogs. Hopefully more amazing things from these two youngsters in the future!