Exciting news!

Just a brief update for everyone...

There will likely be pups from Freddie (CH Kobeddus Effendi x Canaille de la Meute a Cheops) AND Baxter (MultiCh/Winner Apollo della Val Vezzeno x MultiCh/winner Taxette's Isla Margarita) this autumn. <3

Both boys have "dates" coming up and we will keep you all posted regarding if, indeed, there will be the patter of puppy paws in the future. These would be the first litters for both of them.

Both boys have Ex1-CAC rating on show.

• Baxter is a MultiCh, Swedish Blood tracking Champion, and has additional working trials in Germany (Sfk, SP, BHP-G), Italy (SchwhK/40) and Switzerland (WaT). 
• Freddie is a Swedish blood tracking champion and amazing underground dog with working trials in Germany (Sfk, Sp, BhFK/95, BHP1&2), Italy (SchwhK, SchwhK/40 (CACT), Fbja (100pts-ResCACT), and BhfK95-100pts), and Sweden (GRYTPROV Kval1, Grytapportering godkänd/approved, Gryteftersök godkänd/approved) and hunts hare and deer (drev)

What I can say is that both females have outstanding pedigrees and the inbreeding coefficient (COI) in both cases will be virtually 0%.

 

Needless to say, we are proud and excited for our boys!

Working hard

Pretty dogs can work too! Here is Baxter coming out to greet me after working hard an a gryt apportering training. It took Bax a while to realize that the fox staring him in the face was dead, but once he had, he started moving it. The fox used was FAR too heavy (about 2x heavier than it should have been), but regardless, Bax got it about 1.5m down the tube before I called him out. The fox was so large it was getting caught in the tunnel. He was tired and the training was a huge positive as he kept returning to the tunnel to work, even when I hadn't asked him.

I am so very proud of this boy. 

Liina also did a great job in anlagsprov training. She is still not convinced that the tunnels are so fun to enter, but she is working the badger in an excellent way. Maybe it is hormones as her heat should start soon or maybe she is just tired from a lot of travel, but it's ok. She is still a relatively young dog and just the fact that she is so good working the badger and that she *will* move in the tunnels is enough for me right now.

The negative of all these trainings, is that they are few and far between. It is hard to practice well with a dog if you only go once every 2 weeks. Plus, training is now finished for the summer... already. I'm super disappointed. Ah well, there is always next year.

Training and Enjoying life

I realize it has been a quiet year for us, but there is, as always, a lot of change. What I can tell you is that this spring and summer will bring with it underground training, a revival of tracking and practicing for 40 hr tracks, a break from dog shows, and lots of exploring nature. Until we have more news, here are a few pictures from our spring here in Skåne. Enjoy!

Sorry for the silence!

I just realized that I haven't written any posts since the end of 2015!

Very sorry everyone! Our life here in Sweden has been a little bit quiet. The dogs were supposed to be on show tour starting this month, but that won't happy until later in the year. I was in a small car accident earlier this year, spinning out on black ice and damaging my poor little car. Well, now I have a sporty, little Ford and dog show money has been pumped into buying our transportation. C'est la vie! There will always be later this year...

My poor little car. Luckily I am perfectly fine.

Liina and I went up to My Dog in Gothenburg early in January and happily came home with 2x Exc and 1xCK. It was a nice weekend and we are hoping that the next couple months will bring a few more nice results. :)

Liina and I at My Dog 2016

Baxter will not be shown much this year. I am hoping he can finish his few titles with Nikos later this year and then "retire" from the show ring. He has done enough... Exc1 in 11 countries is quite a great accomplishment for a small dog... especially when he is/was mostly owner handled. Maybe we will show a little bit more in Germany or Austria or Denmark, but no stress for my handsome boy. Now I am working on taking a little winter weigh (off both him and me!) and getting ready for this fall. We may have *finally* found a couple spots to try out Drev and I would love to try out Bax and see how he does. Otherwise, he will be a happy, healthy, pretty boy. :) Maybe we will start training viltspår again and go for trials in Finland or Denmark or Norway... maybe even Germany! We will see.

Bax and his BFF Leo

My goals this year are mostly for Liina. I would love to see her get her CH in Sweden. I would love to try her again on Gryt and see if a year away sparks her interest even more. I would love to do a small show tour with her and try for a Nordic Champion. I would love for her to get a CACIB and start her international Championship. I would love to start looking for her future husband (though this is a few years off). Lastly, I would like to keep training viltspår with her and try for the 40hr exam in Denmark later this year.

Finally... This is year is a big year as Freddie should have a date in summer/autumn! We will keep you all updated if and when tiny Freddie's will make their appearance. It should be an exciting pairing and a COI of 0%, a mix of German-French and Swedish lines. If you are interested in knowing more, let me know!

Freddie on holiday in Oslo

A lot of goals... We will see what 2016 brings!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

National Purebred Dog Day

Even though I am not in the US to celebrate purebred dog day, the dackel and I want to show our support!

My dogs were bred not only for their looks,  but for purpose. ALL of their ancestors have participated in and passed a variety of working trials in order to maintain the purpose and mentality of the breed. Their parents were carefully selected for their working attitude, beauty, personality, and mentality. I can tell each of their ancestors back AT LEAST 4 generations, and in most cases even out to 8 generations. You want to tell me all of my dogs are inbred? Well 2 of my 3 have a 0% COI in 4 generations, meaning they share NONE of the same descendants. Freddie is slightly higher (though still VERY LOW) as his great grandfather was used 2x in his pedigree. Most people don't have as detailed a family tree as most purebred dogs, nor can they claim that somewhere in their past their isn't some sort of "inbreeding." 

Baxter (top-2 months), Freddie (middle-3 months) and Liina (bottom-4 months) as puppies

Each of the dogs has their own distinct personality and abilities. Baxter is a show dog with a LOT of hunting drive and promise in both tracking and underground, Freddie is a hunting machine with an excellent drive and a strong, elegant body and Liina is an upcoming shining star who is a natural tracker, with a lot of good looks and attitude. Many, many thanks to all of the ancestors and careful, responsible breeders for taking the time to show, test, and plan for their future generations! 

Someday I will join the ranks and carry the torch of responsible breeders everywhere.

For now though, I am going to go snuggle my dogs. :)

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! 

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!

PRA-Cataract Free!

Right before New Year's Simon was kind enough to take the boys to a wonderful eye Dr. in Lörrach, Germany for their ECVO eye tests. We had used this Dr. before for Baxter's first eye exam and admired her attention to detail and competence so when Simon took the dogs for the holidays, I asked if he would mind making appointments. Freddie was due for a new test and Baxter should have had a new eye test when he turned 3 on April 1st, but we figured why not do both at once.

I am happy to report that the repeat eye tests for both dogs show they have clean and healthy eyes free from PRA & Cataracts! The vet even remembered Baxter from when he first visited her a year and a half earlier. What nice service! :)

        

Freddie and Baxter outside Lucerne, January 2015