Freddie and Freja's puppies are 3 weeks old!

A little late, but Freddie and Freja's puppies at Skogsvettens kennel are now 3 weeks old! Their eyes and ears are open and they are starting to wander around. All are gaining weight and doing all the things little puppies should. The puppies are having their first meetings with their new owners as well.

Photo: Skogsvettens

(from left to right: Vile, Thekla, Ymer, Troja, Idun)

As of now, all puppies are spoken for.

2 male Standard wire dachshunds from hunting lines available!

Freddie's pups are now 3 days old and growing up quickly!

I have received word that the 2 males: Ymer and Vile are still available to active homes.

Both parents are excellent blood trackers, work well underground, and are chasing/hunting above ground.

Additionally, Freddie was tested in Germany and is Spurlaut (2nd prize & Best of Day).

Ymer's page: http://skogsvettens.nu/skogsvettens%20kullar/ymer.html
Vile's page: http://skogsvettens.nu/skogsvettens%20kullar/vile.html

There is 0% inbreeding in this combination. The pups are registered with the Swedish Kennel Club (and thus FCI) and the pedigree is full of hunting champions (International and National).

For more information or interest, contact me at whdackel@gmail.com

Freddie's puppies are born!

Late last night in Järbo, Sweden, Freja and Freddie's puppies were born! Weighing 276-308g, 2 boys and 3 girls were born. To my knowledge, all the girls are spoken for, but a male may still be available.

The 3 girls and 1 boy waiting for their little brother to be born

The pups come from great French, German, and Swedish hunting lines:


We are excited to watch Freddie's pups grow and develop and will continue to update as the weeks progress. <3

8 weeks today!

8 weeks along and highly pregnant, Freja is still actively out digging in the garden! Breeder Sussi thinks 4 puppies, but a few others (including myself) think there are a few more puppies hiding in there. Within a week we should know the number for sure! Sussi told me that they are very active pups already, so I can only imagine the havoc that these little ones will make in the future. :)

For more info, pictures (even in English!) see here: http://stravharigataxarsblogg.skogsvettens.nu/#home

These will be the first puppies out of our boy J SEVCH Fallilou du Sangre Bleu (Freddie) and, needless to say, we are very excited to see what he produces! These pups are going to have a lot of hunting potential as both Freja and Freddie love to chase, love underground work, and have great noses. Furthermore, these pups have generations of working champions (above and below ground) behind them. Both parents have earned 1st prizes in open class blood tracking as well as 1st prize in underground testing. Freddie was also trained and tested in Denmark this year. The brown boy still has it and has crazy drive, but was unfortunately a bit too hot for the fox during the test. Ah well, let's see if we can get his jaktprov this year instead. ;)

For more information on Freddie (merit, parents, etc...) see HERE

Count down to puppies

Less than 2 weeks until Freddie and Freja's puppies are here! Needless to say we are all excited. Freja already has a rather big stomach and Sussi (the breeder) thinks there are at least 4 puppies.

The Skogsvettens' website has gotten a facelift and Sussi has added some nice videos of Freja and Freddie working- both in gryt/underground training and permodjur (animal reaction tests).

See more here: http://skogsvettens.nu/valpar%20v%C3%A4ntas/index.html

Freddie and his stick as a 5 month old pup

Wirehaired Puppies expected October 13th!

Although it is still a bit early, day 26, we are cautiously optimistic that Freddie and Freja had a successful rendezvous. Freja is acting very pregnant, complete with "morning sickness" and extreme klingy-ness to her owner. It will be another couple of weeks before I can post belly pictures, but the expected due date of the pups is October 13th.

 

Below is a link to Skogsvetten's blog where you can read about how Freja's pregnancy is going (in Swedish).Freja's Pregnancy Update

This litter has a great combination of hunting lines, full of Swedish,Nordic, German, French Hunting champions and International hunting champions. Freja has several ancestors from the famous "Mariebergs" kennel in Sweden and Freddie is out of Kobeddus and de la Meute a Cheops lines, well known throughout Europe.

Freja is used practically at home for underground work and has been tested on badger (Kval 1) and blood tracking (2x 1st prize) in Sweden. Freddie (Fallilou du Sangre Bleu) has been tested throughout Europe (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden) and has the following merits to his name:

SEVCH-Swedish Blood tracking champion

J- Jaktmerit (Hunting Merit)

BhFK/95-DE, BHKF95-IT (100pts), BHP1&2, Fbja (rrCACT), Grytanlagsprov (Kval 1)-SE, Grytapporteringsprov GK-SE, Gryteftersökhund GK, SchwhK/20, SchwhK/40 (CACT), Sfk, Sp (TS), Viltspår (3x1st prize)-SE, Approved for Den test in Denmark (test later this year).

For more information feel free to contact us or contact Skogsvettens Kennel (Who speak excellent English as well as Swedish).

Fingers crossed for small hunting puppies in October!

Late last week Freddie had a visitor. Frk-Fröjd's Freja came down to be mated. She is a very social girl with every bit the dachshund personality and great hunting instinct to boot. Both she and Freddie are crazy about the fox and badger. Additionally, her family uses her in practical hunting here in Sweden and she has received 1st prize in Swedish den test (grytprov) and blood tracking.

The matings seemed successful (and Freddie a natural) and now we will wait to see if there will be the pitter-patter of tiny paws up in Gävle area this October.

The COI for this mating is 0% and there are hunting dogs on both sides of the pedigree. Freddie is out of CIT CIB CH Kobeddus Effendi and Canaille de la Meute a Cheops and his pedigree is filled with German, French and international working champions. Freja has strong hunting lines stemming from the well known "Marieberg's" kennel in Sweden and also has several hunting champions in her pedigree. We expect these pups to have a lot of hunting drive in them, so active owners are encouraged.

This will be Freja's final litter and we hope it will be a good one! 

If interested in this combination you can contact me or visit Skogsvetten's page. The kennel page is only in Swedish, but I can assure you that the owner speaks excellent English. :)

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!

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!

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!

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.

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

Freddie's weekend at Ales Stenar

Simon had colleagues in town and Freddie went along as a "mascot." I received some great photos of the brown boy!