Happy Friday!

Liina (Barbwired Champagne) would like to wish all our readers Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend!

Happy Birthday Barbwired "C" Litter!

11 months old

The last of my little pups is having a birthday. Today Liina turns 1 year old. She is such a funny little girl and you can definitely see a lot of both her parent's in her. She has her vocalizations and funny demeanour from dad and her toothy kissing and attitude from mom. At 1 year old she is really an accomplished little dog! She has already finished her Swedish blood tracking championship (we are just waiting-impatiently- for a matter to be sorted out by the SKK so it can be confirmed) and received Ex1 JBOB, CK, Best female 2 in her first ever official show! How exciting! I will start working her on the badger this May and if she is anything like her parents, she should excel at this as well.

She is a special puppy for me because I met her when she was just 10 days old and watched her grown up!

She became fast friends with the boys, though Baxter is her favorite playmate (he lets her win!)

Liina and her sibling before their eyes opened

Pile of puppies! Liina is belly up on the bottom of the pile

Liina Puti traveling back to Sweden with us

4 month photo (bottom) & 9 month photo (top)


Soon I hope to add a 1 year old photo!

I couldn't be happier with this little girl. She is a little demanding, but very worth it as she really just wants ALL of the love and attention. ;) 

Happy Birthday Liina! Let's make the next year even better than the first!

My Silly Brown Puppy turns 5!

Today is Freddog's birthday!! Can you believe that he is already 5? I sure can't. He has become such a big part of my life and is one of the reasons that I am as involved in dachshunds as I am. For a "companion dog" we have been super ambitious dog owners and Freddie has taken each challenge with stride. He was the perfect dog to start doing trials with and I am happy to report that he has never failed a trial. Some days are better than others, but he got a lot of great instincts from his wonderful parents. Of course a good dog like that is also key to motivate new owners to keep going and do crazy trips for trials in Germany and Italy. ;)

He is a funny boy who would sooner kiss someone to death than anything else. Food is the best motivator (as it is for many dachshunds) and he will do just about anything for a treat. His kind nature is one of the reasons that I fell in love with dachshunds. To this day he still acts like a big puppy, bringing toys and jumping with joy when you come home from work.

Although he never made it big in the show ring, he has earned a Exc1 with VDH-CAC in working class as well as a junior winner title. Where Freddie has excelled is in hunting trials. His current results are from 3 countries:

Germany: Sfk, Sp, BhfK/95, BHP1, BHP2
Italy: BhFK/95(100pts), Fbja (100pts, RRCACT), SchwhK, SchwhK/40 (100pts, CACT)
Sweden: Grytprov Kval 1, 1st prize open class blood tracking

Hopefully we will get the chance to finish some working trials here in Sweden this year to earn him working championships, but we will see. He is a passionate hunter and ready to go whenever we are.

So once again... Happy birthday my wonderful brown pup! I hope that we share many, many more!!

What a weekend! New Champion!

So as I alluded to in my last post, Baxter is with a handler friend of mine in Hungary for training and shows. So far he has met with great success, winning his class in all 3 of the shows that he has been in. So he now has show results also from Hungary and Serbia.

The greatest news came today though... Baxter's show results from this weekend (1 national and 1 international show): 2x CAC, 1x CACIB, 2x BOB, 1x BOG2, 1x BOG1!

Aside from the nice trophies, Baxter finished several titles: SRBCh, which then also finishing SEU(V)CH, LTCH, WUTCH and finally... C.I.B (International Beauty Champion)!

I am over the moon and so excited for my little guy! I of course cannot take credit for showing Baxter though, that awesome distinction goes to Nikos Papadopoulos (Sunshineland kennel) for doing amazing work with Baxter in such a short time.



So, many of you might wonder why Baxter is away from home touring central/eastern European shows. Well, the answer is a bit simplistic... Simon and I have decided to separate. It has been an ongoing process and I have now moved to Lund (you may have seen this on the contact page). There were elaborate plans this year to do a few big "show-cations" to try and finish Baxter's Championships and do practice showing with Liina. Since a single income does not lend itself to crazy trips on the other end of the continent, I had to evaluate my options. The result was that Baxter would spend the month of April (and maybe part of May) in Hungary with Nikos and his family, who are totally wonderful! He spends his days running around in the garden with other dogs, show training, and getting love from the family and the weekends showing. Although I miss my little man, it has made the stress of moving a lot easier since there was a lot of tension between the boys at the old house and they had to be separated the past 2 months. Freddie just is not good with 2 other dogs... 1 of either sex is ok, but 2 throws off the balance and makes him nervous and on constant guard. It is also giving me a better opportunity to train and bond with Liina, since Liina and Baxter will ultimately live with me in Lund. So there is the past 6 months in a nutshell. Thank you for continued reading of my blog! I hope for many more dog-filled years to come!

April is Birthday month!! Baxter turns 3

So I am going to brag a little bit about my baby boy, my Seelenhund, my buddy, my Baxter. He may not be the most absolutely prefect dog (but what dog is really?), but he is so in tune with my feelings. He has always been there when I feel down in order to snuggle and give kisses and try to cheer me up. He has secured a position in my bed and my heart. Although I HATE being woken up at the crack of dawn, it is really hard to stay made at this face:

Baxter's achievements thus far:

J, SEVCH, LU-JCh, CH (SKG)-JCh, CH (SDC)-JCh, WUT-JCh 

Jugendsieger Fribourg 2013 (JBOB)
Ortenaujugendsieger 2013
Jugendsieger Baden 2013
Jugendsieger Luxembourg 2013
Jugendsieger/Sieger St Gallen 2013 (JBOB & BOB)
Kaunas Winter Winner 2014 (BOS)

Exc 1 rating in 6 countries with CAC/J (3 countries) or CAC (4 countries)

Working tests:

Germany: Sfk, Sp, BHP-G (Tagessieger)

Switzerland: WaT (full points)

Italy: SchwhK/40 (92pts, 1st prize, 2nd place in trial)
Sweden: Bloodtracking 3x 1st prize + 1x Honor Prize --> SEVCH (Swedish Blood Tracking Champion);

Grytanlagsprov Kval 2 (underground aptitude test on badger, 2nd prize)

Baxter will be spending some time this year with a handler colleague for training and a few shows in central Europe. He will be home, however, in enough time for underground training and testing this summer in Sweden. 

So to my fuzz-face, I wish the Happiest of Birthdays with as much food as you can eat and bunnies that you can chase!