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!

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!

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

Standard Male Wirehaired Dachshund Puppy looking for an active new home!!

There is one male puppy left from Barbwired's "D" litter that is looking for an active home (show/trials/hunting). The puppies parents are MultiWinner & Ch Lollipop della Val Vezzeno and Barbwired Bella Bambina. The mother is our Baxter(Barbwired Better than the Rest)'s sister. Lollipop has been tested on several trails in Italy (Sp, Fbja, BhFK95) and although the other "B" littermates have not yet begun working trials, Baxter has already completed hunting tests in several countries, including Sfk, Sp, WaT, SchwhK/40, Artificial underground & Open class blood tracking.

I cannot say enough good things about Barbwired Kennel. They are wonderful people and, although a small kennel (only 4 litters total-2 of which were this year- in over 6 years), they have thus far produced top quality dogs used in show, hunting, and trials. We were happy enough with our boy to go back for more. :)

If you are looking for a very promising new member to your family, get in touch with Kennel
Barbwired: http://barbwired.fi/  or contact me for more details.

Here you can see the pedigree of the puppy: Barbwired D Litter

Lollipop winning Best male at the European Dog show 2013

Mom Barbwired Bella Bambina "Iita" with 1 day old pups (courtesy of Kennel Barbwired)

Baxter is an Uncle!

On the 21st of July, Baxter's sister Iita gave birth to 7 puppies (3 boys and 4 girls) in Finland. Mom and puppies are doing well. The father of the litter is MultiWinner and Ch Lollipop della Val Vezzeno.

Iita's character is exactly like Baxter- a wonderful, lovey dog that is very people oriented. Iita has not yet been in trials, but her mother is a Swedish tracking champion and an Italian working champion and her brother-our Baxter-has proven himself to be quite versatile in blood tracking, spurlaut, water retrieving, and is coming along nicely with training underground. Additionally, Lollipop has earned an Italian working championship (fbja, bhfk95, Sp).

Father of the Litter: Ch Lollipop della Val Vezzeno

Due to the large litter size, some puppies are still available. The pedigree of these puppies is filled with beauty and working champions, and these puppies are looking for active homes (show, hunting, or trials). If you are interested you can contact Kennel Barbwired (in English, Detusch, Suomi or Svenska). I can also put you in touch with them.

Picking the perfect puppy

First of all, I know that I stated at the beginning of the year that I wanted to take more time to write opinion pieces and just post more in general. Well, one would have thought that being unemployed would lead to a lot of time to write. Wrong. Between searching for openings, re-writing my CV and cover letters to fit the company, and moving-yes, moving AGAIN- time slipped away. It wasn’t the highlight of my life and after spending all day on the computer, the last thing I really wanted to do was sit down and write additional articles. Funnily enough, now that I have started my new job, my motivation to blog has really started up again. Who knows the reason, but I’m going to try and stick to my original plan and post more often.

 

Out on a stroll at the new house

One great thing to come out of the rather busy 6 months that I spent unemployed was that it gave me a lot of time to read up and research different dogs and bloodlines. I’ve looked at dogs throughout Europe and even some from the US looking for what is “my type” of dachshund. Why you may ask? Well, we were searching for a puppy. Yes, Simon and I decided that we would like to eventually breed and so for the past year or so my ear was to the ground and all eyes were on the internet looking for the perfect puppy. We weren’t sure how long it would take or where the little one would come from, but why not start looking and asking around.  

Now there is no such thing as the “perfect” puppy. Once in a blue moon does a dog come around that really, truly has it all, and that “all” is different for every person. I had to ask myself what I thought was important in dachshunds, what traits I liked, and what bloodlines I liked or disliked and why. I asked around to my mentors for suggestions and several breeders to ask about upcoming litters. Since this bitch would be my brood bitch, I wanted to ensure that I could get the best puppy I could. This is where Simon and my crazy dog lifestyle really came in handy.

 

The World and European Dog Shows are great venues for peaking at upcoming "Superstars" in the show world.

I talked to both large and small kennels and all the kennels I asked told me that they would love to give us a puppy. They had seen us at shows, seen us at trials, followed our adventures with our dogs via Facebook or the blog and knew that we would be an active family for their dog. Not only would the pup get a lot of experiences and be in an active home, but of course show and trial wins are great advertisements for the kennel itself.

So did we want a puppy from a show breeder or a working breeder? Well, ideally we were searching for both. Our mentors were pivotal in shaping our idea of the breed and even though their dogs were from mostly show lines, there were working dogs and dogs with multiple working trials in their pedigrees. In fact, in the Nordic countries, dachshunds cannot become a beauty champion WITHOUT a working trial. That’s right, the pretty dogs have to do some work too. In Sweden they must get a 1^st prize in open class blood tracking (20hr), 1^st prize in artificial underground test, or 2^nd prize in hunting test. The requirements are similar in Norway, Finland, and Denmark. I personally think this is a great thing since what is the point in having a beautiful dachshund if it can’t do the work it was meant to do? So we wanted to be sure that our future puppy had a promising background with both working and show results.

Freddie's Dad Effendi (above) and Baxter's mom Iiris (below) are good examples of dogs that have multiple show and working titles.

We were also looking for parents that were structurally sound, with good proportions, and good size. I bring up size because I have noticed much bigger dogs since we have moved up North. In Germany or Switzerland, Baxter was not enormous, but was on the larger size being ~9.5-10kg. Baxter is still able to squeeze into tight spots and run around in artificial dens and this, to me, is important as dachshund should be able to chase their original quarry. Ideally, I would like a female that is on the smaller side. I think that size in dachshund can be just as difficult to keep in check as good hair quality. I know I rag on the Nordic dachshunds being big, but it isn’t just in the north that you find big dogs… they are everywhere! In fact, for several years there has been a debate about allowing a 4^th size of dachshund into the ring-one that is over 10 kg. In Germany before 2013, any dog weighing over 9.9kg was not allowed to be given an “Excellent” rating and, thus, could gain no certificates towards a championship. As of July 2013, this rule was abolished and scales are no longer in use. Actually, I think Switzerland and Germany were the last countries to abolish scales for dachshunds as they aren’t weighed almost anywhere else. There are good and bad points to this decision, but at least as of November last year, I wouldn’t say that there was a huge influx of show people bringing in big dogs. In fact, I only once noticed “giant” dachshunds in the ring that made a 9.2kg male look like a mini. Ideally, I would like a standard bitch, from small/average sized parents in the hopes of maintaining small, feisty hunting dogs.  Of course this may all backfire and the puppies may end up as 12 kg monsters, you never know.

One thing that I find both exciting and frustrating is looking through pedigrees. My Bachelor's degree is in Genetics and it was really the topic that not only started my love of science, but also directed me to the career that I am in today. Dogs genetics are, therefore, quite an interesting subject for me. There is a lot of information out there (titles, trials, temperment, disease testing, etc...) and pedigree dogs are very well documented. Of course, perusing through pedigrees can be frustrating when looking for a puppy, an example, Revestreken's Frikk. Now, I have nothing against Frikk himself. He is a very nice dog with a lot of working and beauty titles and is still going strong as a veteran. The problem came when I found a dog I liked, ohh and ahh'd over it, found the pedigree and... Frikk. Due him having so many nice qualities, Frikk is in the pedigree of many dogs throughout Europe (and the US). My own dogs are included in that statistic as Frikk is Baxter's Great-Grandfather. Did I want to line breed on Frikk? Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to look for a puppy that had no Frikk bloodlines or quite far back in the pedigree. This would give me the opportunity later on to use one of the many wonderful dogs I had seen and researched or their offspring without having a high inbreeding coefficient. 

Revestreken's Frikk

That brings us back again to breeding. Did I want a female that I could pair with my males? The answer: maybe. I have nothing against my boys, they both have their strengths and weaknesses, as do all dogs. I think Freddie is an excellent dog. He is a hunter, but also a goofy companion and sofa dog. His anatomy is very nice, but he would definitely need a partner with excellent hair. Baxter is a very pretty dog with great hair, great head, great body, but his front is a bit wide. His hunting skills are excellent, but he is not as intense as Freddie, though he is high energy with a lot of drive, he is very reserved at home. With qualities like these and rather unique pedigrees (French/German & Italian/Finnish), I hope that they are appreciated by the breeders here in the north for their own merits. If I had a female with a pedigree that was compatible with Freddie or Baxter AND compliment and improve upon their faults, then yes, I would consider it. Would I be sad if neither Baxter or Freddie had puppies? A little. In the end, I would personally rather find outside daddies for my future puppies.

So, have I found my perfect puppy? Well, maybe not perfect, but there were several wonderful and very promising candidates... but much more on that later. :)

Puppy development

Hi again.
I have been absent for a long time, I know. Well, for various reasons, I have been in Finland since the 1st of May. Yes, it has been SO difficult to leave beautiful Sweden in the springtime, but I have been helping out here with my friend's house, goddaughter, and their new puppies. What's that you say... puppies? Ohhhh yes, that's right, I'm with Markku & Salla and sitting next to where I am typing are 4 adorable dachshund puppies (and mom of course!).

2 of the girls, taken 3 days ago

Although the puppies are of course cute, it has really been an eye opening experience to watch their development 1st hand. When I arrived the puppies were exactly 10 days old and now they are approaching their 4 weeks mark. I've seen their eyes open, heard their first peeps, watched them take their first steps (though walking is still a bit awkward for some), figure out that their brother and sisters, as well as mom, can be played with, chewed on, slept on, and barked at, and eat their first meal.

In addition, I have gotten to experience tiny puppy kisses, having my fingers "chewed" on (their teeth haven't erupted yet), being barked at by the feistiest little girl, and today there was a play battle between my hand and the lightest girl. Lastly, I have gotten to see tiny puppy tails wagging so happily when mom comes in or we come in to talk to them. Of course these little things have me wrapped around their paws and I melt when I look at them, but this has been a totally valuable time for me as well.

I, one day, hope to also breed. The whelping box, the care, the day to day activities and well being of these little guys are important. In addition, Salla is giving me lessons all the time in what happens when during development and how to start picking out important attributes in young puppies. Although I've read all about these things, it is a different matter seeing them "live."For these puppies, it is too soon to say anything about their movement since walking is still being mastered, but one can look at them structurally; in the rib, hip, front legs, back angulation, length, and make an educated guess about height. We of course all have our favorites. :)

Who doesn't love sleeping puppies?

I will not be here to see the pups off to their new homes, but some have already found some great and enthusiastic new owners and I'm sure they will have long and happy lives. No, I will be returning to Sweden in about a week to pack up the apartment, move to a new, awesome house with garden(!!), and start a new job in June at the Biomedical center in Lund. Last, but not least, I will get to see my boys again! I have missed them all (the 4 legged ones as well as my 2 legged one), even though my time here has been highlighted with my happy, beautiful goddaughter, puppies, and great friends, it will be great to have things back to "normal." :)

The new "home" for our little pack (the Audi is already comfy)

The boys enjoying a walk in the countryside near the new house

A new litter in the Barbwired Family

Late on Easter evening, Baxter's half sister Ch. Barbwired Austria (Ch. Taxette's Isla Margarita x Ch. Suddebok Voronoff) gave birth to 4 puppies (1 male and 3 females- all wildboar in color). The father of the litter is Ch. Gordon Forte-Forte de Buch de la Perouse. Everyone is doing well and the puppies are very vital and active.

Both parents are accomplished show dogs, but have also been tried in working trials. Additionally, Barbwired Austria is a Swedish tracking Champion and an Italian working champion and has also completed working trials in Germany, Switzerland, Finland, and Austria.

Currently, one female puppy is still available. 

For more information on the puppies please see Barbwired "C" Litter.