Liina passes Spurlaut!

Hi again!

Breaking the silence after several months... but with great news!

Liina has passed her Sfk and Sp exams in Germany. :) I am so crazy proud of the little Zwerg! Better yet, her score (although still second prize) of 91pts is the highest of my dogs. 

So proud, proud, proud!

The smallest member of my family added new titles to her name
Officially she is now: NORD DK FI SEU(v) LT RO ROGr SLO WUTCH SEVCH
LZ: Sfk, Sp, SE-SchwhK
FW: Ex1 CAC CACIB BIG2

Although this type of testing is not required for breeding in Sweden, I, personally, like and support the German aptitude testing. Spurlaut is genetic and even though Liina's mother carries for Spurlaut-she earned her Sp with 100pts-her father was not tested. All of the family is hot on fox and have excellent noses, so I hoped the small girl would be Sp. She also hinted at it earlier this year giving some "yips" chasing rabbits in our neighborhood.

I love this little girl to bits.  Even though she is not the standard I signed up for, she has far exceeded my expectations in terms of beauty, temperament, and now function... earning her Championship in tracking in Sweden and aptitude merits in Germany. I also know that she is courageous enough to meet the badger (caged) as well as the fox (uncaged) and hope that we can also test her in underground this year.  

I have been dreaming to one day have a dog I could attempt a Vp with... Liina might be that dog, little as she is. Time will tell, but for now... machts weiter...

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

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!

New Multi-Champion!

So as you all know by now, Iita (Barbwired Bella Bambina) is here in Sweden and staying with me for trials and show. Well, big news...

We passed our final tracking trial in 1st prize! Iita is a new Swedish Tracking Champion!!! Holy cow! It is one thing to work and pass with your own dog, but it brings a new confidence booster when you can pass with someone else's dog.

I am very lucky that Iita has the same personality as her brother and not only trusts me, but looks to me and wants to please me. She is very clever and a joy to have around. The one problem of her being so similar to her brother, is that Baxter is starting to get a bit jealous that he has to share "his" person with someone else. Let me tell you, I am not cold at night with a dachshund on each side of my feet!

So my "job" is now finished. We accomplished a whole lot in just 3 weeks... "unlocking" 4 championships (FI, LT, LV, WUT), earning 3rd Best Female with CK in hunting class and earning her Swedish Beauty Champion, and 3x 1st prize in blood tracking earning her Swedish Blood tracking Champion.

Iita came to me a great little dog and will be leaving as a multi-Champion! I am SO happy that I proved to myself I can be a good handler, both in show and in trial, and got to know this great girl.

My new Project

So where did summer go? Here it is, already the beginning of autumn and this year is just flying by...

I have been keeping myself nice and busy with work, visits from friends, and, of course, hanging out with my 4 leggers. Liina and I attended a couple of shows in the past month and although the results have not been spectacular, one exciting thing did happen. Liina is now officially registered as a miniature wirehaired dachshund. She has been finally measured to 34 cm at just shy of 17 months old, but even I think that is a bit big as she had previously been measured 32 & 33 cm. In any case, the little princess is indeed that...

Liina and I in Kjugekull this past May

Well, last weekend Salla came into town and brought with her a new friend for me...

Everyone, meet Baxter's sister Barbwired Bella Bambina "Iita"

A few months back, Markku wrote to ask if I would mind "hosting" Iita and doing some training and tracking with her while Liina was with them in Finland. I, being crazy, said "of course" and so Salla and Iita flew in for the Copenhagen Winner show (Iita was Ex2 in her class). Salla and I spent the weekend hanging out and enjoying Skåne's bizarre weather... snow/hail in the morning, then blue skies, then heavy wind and rain- all in a matter of hours. 

Then on Monday I did the crazy think and signed Iita and I up for an anlagsprov/aptitude test tracking exam. The weather was perfect, a little damp, but not raining and we were in a wooded area with a lot of moss and grass. I was nervous as I realized as soon as we started the exam that I had NO IDEA what language the dog was used to tracking in! Her owner Marja told me that she had been speaking English with Iita during tracking, but I wasn't sure. Luckily Iita knew exactly what she was doing and I just had to read her. She was a bit quick and overshot a couple areas, but came back with little time wasted. She did NOT seem to understand why there was an unknown woman following her though! She came back a couple times just seeming to ask me "Why is this woman out here with us?" before touching her nose to my leg and moving on. After 13 minutes we were finished with the exam and passed with very nice marks from judge Jessica. Yay! Iita was now qualified for Swedish working class at show and we could move onto Open class tracks.

Godkänd anlagsprov!

The very next day was a super busy one. After speaking with Marja the night before, I had learned a new and important Finnish work "Jälki," which was Iita's motivational word for "track". Admittedly, I tried English and German on her with piss poor results. With our anlagsprov passed, we could move onto open class and the exam that I had optimistically booked at the beginning of the month could happen. Before that though, we had to take Salla and Liina to the airport. Liina would be spending the next 3 months in Finland for shows, training, and maybe taking the PIKA trial for mini dachshunds. So I sadly said goodbye not only to my good friend, but to my tiny little girl. 

Liina the traveler en route to Helsinki

Immediately after dropping the girls in Copenhagen, I raced back over the bridge to Sweden in just shit weather conditions. It was pouring rain, windy, and cold. I was not enjoying the drive and I knew I would like the tracking even less. I also knew that with the weather we would arrive late to Görel so I sent an SMS apologizing and hoping that she wouldn't be too pissed at my tardiness. When I arrived, Görel was kind,  but I of course was a bit frazzled, tired from driving, and just ready to go. I of course apologized profusely for being late, but she shrugged it off in a kind, Swedish manner. We then went to the woods and I immediately got nervous. These were the woods where a year earlier Baxter had failed with Simon. I knew there were a lot of animals in there and the brush would be thick, so it would be a challenge. We started and I remembered that Iita had never been taught the Swedish "starting box," but at least today I had her motivation word! I told her to track and she did. She worked well despite the thick brush and was relatively easy to read when she was off. All was going well and then all of a sudden, her head was super alert and up, the body was tense and she took off like a shot. I lost hold of the line and my saving grace was that she zig-zagged and was wrapped around a tree. I didn't see the animal, but Iita certainly was after it! I immediately ran to grab the leash and told the judge I would take my 1 call back. It took longer than expected to untie Iita and the judge double checked that I did indeed request a call back and I confirmed. We came back and she was very proud of me for reading the dog and situation and call for the callback so quickly (even if it took me a few minutes to get back). Whatever the animal was (I think it was a Roe deer or maybe a small Red deer) it decided to sit and watch us for a while. Iita was a bit more wide in her tracking after that, but she immediately picked the track back up and followed it with relative ease to the end. All-in-all a good track in tough terrain, but my quick thinking I believe secured our 1st prize. :) 

With that result Iita now qualified for her Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Welt Union Teckel Championships. 

The new Champion playing at home

We have taken a short break from tracking as I had a work conference, but Iita is a natural. She loops a bit more than I like, checking and double checking corners, leading to me working hard to keep a long, loose line, but she is a good tracking partner. We will do a few more tests and a show before she heads home at the end of the month. She has been a very good houseguest and is basically a female Baxter. She wants to be with me and be my shadow and has decided that I am her person. It is rare to find dogs that are so calm and adaptable as these two. Feed them and give them love and they can be almost anywhere and with anyone. Baxter is a little jealous though that his sister wants to be my lapdog, but he just squeezes himself on there as well.

17 Beauty and work titles between these siblings

Tracking training and trials will start again this week. I decided I wanted extra practices with Iita so that I can learn to read her a bit better. Baxter will be so mad that he is AGAIN not going tracking, but your time will come Bax, we will train again next year, but maybe for Denmark, Finland, or Norway and their tests. ;)

And what of little Liina? She is enjoying time with her family at Barbwired in Finalnd. She is playing with Mom and uncle Ollie. Dad is a bit of a bother and she would like Grandma to play, but at 10, Iiris is starting to show her age. She tolerates the little girl well, but wants to be left to herself. 

3 generations in 1 basket! Here you can really see Liina's size difference.
 Grandma(Iiris) in on the bottom, Mom (Aura) on the left, and Liina on the right.

So my new project is off to a great start and I really hope that Iita will go home with a working title, but only the next few weeks will show for certain...

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

2nd great track for Freddie

Freddie and Simon went for a blood tracking exam today in Sjobö and it couldn't have gone better. With a time of 17 min and high praise from the judge regarding his work, Freddie was awarded 1st prize in Open Class! Hard work and extra practice to focus paid off for our oldest boy. :)

Big Congrats Freddie my boy! Let's get that last 1st prize!

Doesn't he look so proud of himself?

A new blood tracking Champion in the family!

So we have been practicing our blood tracking with Freddie. He is a great tracker, but at almost 5 years old, he is much more interested at finding the animals in the woods, then following an old blood trail. None-the-less, with 1x 1st prize, we are hoping to re-focus him, do some more training sessions and hopefully get 2 more 1st prizes for his blood tracking championship.  I would really like to start training him on fox in Denmark this spring, but I want to see if the old boy can focus enough to "finish" his blood tracking trial career.

A proud boy after a successful tracking training

Unfortunately for Freddie, last Thursday was not his day. With the warm weather there is always a lot of movement in the forest, which isn't good for a dog that is very interested in wildlife. Additionally, the forest where we went for the tracking trial has the ground mostly covered in dead leaves. With warm, relatively dry weather and the wind here in Skåne, that means that, of course, some of the trail is bound to blow around a bit. Anyhow, despite all that, Freddie just was not focused. He made it from start to finish in a time of 35 min, but not without several ventures off the trail to explore something else. He ended the day with a 3rd prize and suggestions from our judge that maybe he is a bit too old to track as he has gotten a taste of hunting. I think he can do it, but Freddie is a true stubborn dachshund and he needs a few training sessions with a real judge giving a few tips may be needed or he needs a VERY stern hand and a little yelling to get him to focus ONLY on the track. Regardless, I think even though it may be a bit complicated, Freddie will do it, but it may take a little time.

Freddie at almost 5 years and Liina at almost 1.

Liina on the other hand was on a roll and I wanted to keep the momentum. With 2x 1st prize in 1 week, I was hoping that we could get her last 1st prize and, thus, her Swedish Blood Tracking Championship. After Freddie's rather disappointing track, I knew the woods were alive and buzzing with animals and I was in for a challenge. Liina, though more distracted than on the previous tracks, was good. She circled more than usually and often went back to check herself, but in the end, she finished in 23 min and was very proud of herself. The judge agreed that it was still 1st prize work and with that Liina earned her first title at 10.5 months of age- Swedish Blood Tracking Champion (SEVCH)!

The newest SEVCH in the family!

Awesome, awesome, awesome! That little girl has a crazy good nose on her and definitely got some abilities from her parents- both are also Blood tracking Champions in Sweden and additionally, mom, Aura, received her Italian Working Championship from 20 and 40 hr blood tracking. I am especially proud as I handled this little girl! MY first CH as well. :) Baxter and Freddie were always handled by Simon, so even though they got their great results, it was never "officially" with me.

Additionally, I was offered an apprenticeship once I get my hunting license to train as a blood tracking judge.  Quite flattering and I think I would DEFINITELY like to try it. So much to do and so little time! We will see what the future brings, but what I can say is that the new champion was treated to a special dinner of sausages and I bought a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.

So now there are 2 SEVCH in the family... 

2x Barbwired, 2x SEVCH hanging out in the sun

Will Freddie pull through and prove that his nose is as great as ever? Only time will tell...

2nd great track for Liina!

Originally I had planned a track today for Freddie in the hopes that we could finish a Championship with him quickly as he is such an experienced tracker. Well, Freddie had been away from the forest a bit too long and his first overnight tracks were good, but not great. Lots of new wildlife here in Skåne and he decided he wanted to do a little spurlaut at one point instead of tracking. So we decided that since Liina was such a star on Wednesday, I decided switch her out and take her to track today instead.

So yesterday it was about 6C all day with heavy fog in the morning that lifted and gave us sunshine in the afternoon. I was excited as this would be perfect tracking weather for the next day and hoped it would stay. Well, I woke up this morning to a grey sky, the thermometer reading 3C, and raindrops on the windows- not so ideal, but ok, I could deal with it. As we drove through Skåne to make it to the tracking test at 11:00, the temperature dropped to 0.5C and the rain turned into fat snowflakes. Great. Ugh.

Well, the track was the most difficult the Liina had been on, lots of icy stream crossings and mud puddles, lots of crossing and tracking next to heavily used animal trails,  lots of fresh animal droppings and obvious places where animals had just been, even a few crossings over low stone walls. The day before the judge said that when she showed up to lay the track, there was a large Red deer  (Kronhjort) standing and watching her for a good minute or two before turning tail and running over the stone wall. Liina was not as quick on this track as her last one (35 min), but with snow starting to accumulate, cold, and wind, I still think she was SO good. There was only 1 spot where she freaked out a bit and that was at the first stream crossing. There were a lot of fresh tracks (boar and deer) in the area and Liina was a little apprehensive to cross over the 1.5-2 m "puddle" and was looking for the easiest way across. She is quite a clever girl, though a bit frustrating for the handler that just wants to cross. ;)

Anyhow, after that little hiccup, Liina did awesome and really showed that she could track. near the end there was one last blip where an animal had clearly run recently and Liina took off wanting to run after it, whining a bit when I told her no. Once I asked her to find it and show me the track, she went back to work and finished it with flying colors.

By the time we had walked back to the house from the tracking area, we were all wet, cold, and the snow had started to accumulate.

A view from the warm house after the track

The judge said that she really liked the working style of Liina and that she thought she did a really good job, especially considering the conditions. I also have to say that I thought it was a rather long track and the little girl did an excellent job and she was awarded a 1st prize. Now the Championship is close... only 1 more first prize needed and then Liina has her first title. She really is a natural and has quite the nose on her. I really appreciate this little gem that Markku and Salla entrusted with me.

Here's to hoping for more more amazing track... and better weather!

A Great Day out in the Forest

Today we headed out to Sjöbo for tracking trials and we couldn't ask for better weather this time of year, a bit damp and around 6C- heck, the sun even peaked out for a bit!

Both Freddie and Liina were signed up to do tracking trials today. Freddie went first and although there was a lot of wildlife in the forest today and he was a bit distracted, he squeaked by with a 1st place due to his ability to check the track and restart if Simon was sure he was off. He hasn't been tracking much since the end of 2013 and it was clear that he needed a little "practice" in his obedience on the tracking lead. He was just a bit too excited to be out in the forest today. Sadly, the poor boy had no "prize" at the end of his track as an animal had stolen the hoof.

The requirement for the woods for tracking in Sweden are that there are different types of terrain (and ideally not flat) and full of wildlife. Judging by the boar damage, deer and boar tracks, and fresh poop I saw today, there is no doubt that the woods were alive. Liina's track proved just that...

Liina was such a natural talent on her anlagstest, that I decided to risk it and try an open class track with her today. She definitely didn't disappoint me! She did excellent work and completed her track in 18 minutes! The biggest challenge for us was on our 2nd corner (the återgång- a back track) when we got to the turn around point, Liina turned to head back to the blood track and, whoops!, up popped a deer! All I could think was, oh shit, do I try to take her back to the start, do I pick her up and calm her down, do I try to continue, what? Luckily, the judge saw the situation and after Liina started to whine and longingly watch the running deer, we were called back to the start of the corner. Liina was a bit quick and more excitable than usual at that point, but she was working like a pro. I couldn't have asked more of her. Super dog and super time- 1st prize!

Needless to say that I am overjoyed with my talented group. I also have to pay great thanks to the ancestors of both these dogs. Though in different ways, both dogs  have Suddebok/Kobeddus in their lineage- dogs known not only for their beauty, but for their working abilities. Fingers crossed for more great results to come!!

2x Anlagstests, 2x GK!

Our oldest and youngest dackel rocked it today! We were going to Sjöbo for a tracking practice, but last minute our trainer/judge asked if we would want to just take the test as she thought both dogs were excellent on their previous practice. So, we took the last minute decision to test both of the dog and boy am I glad that we did!

Both Freddie and Liina were stellar and managed their tracks in 13 min and we doing SUCH great work! Simon handled Freddie and I took Liina. Freddie was a total star and did exactly what he loves to do-TRACK! He worked brilliantly and years of practice made this Anlagstest look like a breeze. If Simon had let Freddie go the speed he really wanted to, then we would have all had a nice jog through the woods. He is a wonderful dog to watch and I would love to use him on real game tracking.

I think what was great about this last minute decision to do a test is that it didn't give me any time to be nervous that I would be handling the dog in a test for the 1st time. I am usually the organizer and track lay-er, but not the handler. The past few months have been totally nerve-wracking for me as now I have been dropped into the role of both show handler and now tracking handler. Liina didn't let me down though... that little girl has a great nose on her! Her mom and dad would have been so proud. :)

The woods were quite wet today since there was snow last week and rain on and off since then, so quite a few ponds and mud pits had formed. Honestly, they didn't seem to phase Liina (I on the other hand, was very, very happy I had decided to wear my tall rubber boots) and she happily moved forward through the whole track. At one point a large Hare jumped out in front of us, but I didn't see it. Liina followed after the fresh track for a few meters, but when I stopped, she looked at me, and went back to the last point she had the track and restarted herself without my help. She is really great about back tracking and checking if she is unsure. She doesn't need much encouragement-only the occasional "Suche" or "Hyvää."

The judge was so incredibly happy with the work that Freddie and Liina did and the critique was not only kind, but extremely flattering for us and the dogs.  

2x Anlagstest (Beginners class tracks), 2x PASSED with FLYING COLORS!

I can't wait to start these two in open class tracks!

Dog ethics

Today I am bringing up a bit of an ethical question... When should a judge (show or working) not judge a dog?

Since showing, I have witnessed several occasions (in various countries) where the dog breeder is judging the dog. I also had at least 1 occasion where the dog that won best male, was to be bred that weekend to the judge's bitch. It is always a bit amazing to me that certain judges seem to have no problem not only judging dogs from their own breeding (read, dog's carrying the kennel name of the judge), but putting them up as Best male or female. I of course, like most people, like my dog to do well and win, but when I see a judge, judging a dog carrying their kennel name, it makes me sour. I think that this is really the right word...  I mean, why even try? If you see that "their" type of dog is not exactly your type, you may as well just go home. Ethically, I think that this situation is really shitty for everyone involved. Do you say something? Report it? Will anything be done? Or does this just make you a poor loser?

I realize in the show world that there are a lot of grey areas: You know the judge personally; you are on the board of the club that invited the judge/host the judge; the judge has used your dog in mating; the judge recognizes well known breeders; the handler of a dog in judging also handles dogs for the judge; etc... How do you handle this? Well, in FCI, each dog is evaluated individually and gets a rating, so if you are lucky, the dog/handler/breeder is not in your class. If you are unlucky, then you show your heart out and hope the judge likes you regardless of everything.

This type of ethical question doesn't just extend to shows though. If you are a breeder and also a working judge, do you judge your own dogs in tracking/hunting/underground, etc... trials? What about dogs from other judges or dogs from your breeding that are living with others?

I think sometimes I like to look through rose colored glasses. I know that you can't win all of the time and life isn't fair, but I wish the playing field was a bit more equal.

EDIT: I guess my post was rather timely. The BOB standard wirehair dachshund at the Eurodog Show was bred by the man that judged it. Needless to say, there was a lot of "colorful" comments about it on Facebook.

Working Championships in Sweden

So, I realized that I have never really written a comprehensive post about the hunting test which are performed in Sweden.


While there are many tests that a dog can do: Rally, Eftersök, BPH, Viltsvin, Viltspår, Gryt, Drev, Mantrailing, Agility- I will focus this post on the most common hunting tests that Dachshunds do here in Sweden and what it takes to become a Champion.

Let's start with Gryt Champion (Underground/den work):

In theory, this Championship sounds relatively easy to achieve, but very few dachshunds nowadays participate in Gryt here in Sweden as compared to Germany, Denmark, or Finland where den work still seems quite popular and many tests are performed each year.

The Swedish GrytChampion-SEJ(G)CH- is made up of 2 parts:
1.) Passing the Grytanlagsprov (den aptitude test) with a Kvalitet 1/1st Prize
2.) Passing the Grytjaktprov (basically the BhN (D or F) as in Germany- den hunting in the field) in 1st prize
In addition, the dog must be rated "Good" or better in exhibition.

To me, the underground aptitude test is something that I want my dogs to have. It proves to me that they can do something that the breed was originally bred to do: go into dark, tight areas, and be interested in working a badger or fox. Plus, a dog being able to fit into the artificial den puts a limit on the size of the dog. Neither of my boys are particularly small, but they are determined and agile enough to still squeeze themselves through a 13 x 17 cm space (5.1 x 6.7 inches). The Swedish den also contains a middle arm with a 60cm (almost 2 feet) vertical jump that both of the boys jumped up an explored during practice. For more information about the den set up here in Sweden, please check out this post: http://whdackel.blogspot.se/2014/06/training-with-badger.html

According to Taxen- the magazine of the Swedish Dachshund Club-in 2012  there were a reported 36 dogs that participated in the Grytanlagsprov and only 3 which went on to take the Grytjaktprov. There was a slight rise in 2013, with 51 dogs participating in the aptitude test and 6 in the den hunting trial. Now mind you I say "participating," just because you participate does not mean you pass. Indeed, at out trial this year only 5 of the 7 tested dogs passed their exams. This year only 4 of the 20 clubs hosted a Gryt test. It is a surprisingly low number, but den tests are in danger of being abolished all over Europe by activists, so I don't really expect to see an increase in the coming years. Hopefully den tests will continue and Dachshunds will continue to participate.

Next let's move onto Viltspår (Bloodtracking) Champion:

To become a Swedish Viltspår Champion-SEVCH- a dog must:
1.) Passing a Anlagstest
2.) Receive 3x 1st prize in Open class tracking exams
No exhibition score is currently needed as I believe even castrated dogs are allowed to participate in blood tracking trials.

An Anlagstest is basically an aptitude test to see if your dog is interested in blood tracking. The picture above gives a description/ gives you an idea of how the test is set up. 2 dl (200 ml) of cows blood is used on the track and "Blodupphåll" is a bloodless stretch and the track is left to age for 2-5 hrs. For the length of the test a deer hoof is dragged along with laying a blood track so the dog can technically follow the smell of a deer hoof as well as blood.

The judge takes the dog to the starting point and the dog is given a maximum of 30 min to work out the track with a deer hoof at the end. The judge looks for interest, the dog's working ability, tempo, and accuracy and in the end that dog either Passes or Fails. If the dog passes, it can then move onto the more difficult open class tracking exams.

The open class exams are a bit different from the aptitude test. The length of the track, amount of blood laid and hoof dragged is the same, but the time and how the track is set up is different. First off, the track is to be allowed to age for at least 12 hours (overnight) and be at least 600 m (650 yards) long. Instead of a clear mark to start the track, the dogs must search a 25 x 25 m "box" for the starting point. The judge brings the dog and handler to the edge of the "starting box" and tells them where the boundaries are and the dog must find the start and continue with the track. There are several bloodless stretches on the track, including at least 1 corner and a "back track" area (återgång) where blood is laid, then only the hoof is dragged back to the line/no blood, then after about 20 m the blood trail continues. Finally, 50-100m before the end of the track, the judge fires a shot to test that the dog does not react (similar to German Schussfestigkeit).  The dog is allowed 45 min to track and again the judge is looking for working ability, tempo, and that they are not bothered by gunshots.

Now a big part of the test is that it is performed in an area that is rich in wildlife. Here in Skåne that means several types of deer, wild boar, moose, fox, badger, hares, etc... We have seen all these animals, or tracks of these animals, while out blood tracking. Simon has encountered a herd of deer and a very large boar during his tracking exams. These are definitely distracting and for some dogs more than others. For us, getting Baxter to focus on the track more than the animals was a huge challenge as he much rather explore the forest and chase after all the animals, then follow a silly, old cow blood trail. 

In Sweden last year 1140 dachshunds participated in blood tracking exams, which accounts for roughly 50% of the dogs taking blood tracking exams in Sweden. It is a HUGE number. Blood tracking is by far one of the most popular activity being done with dachshunds in our area. I commend the Swedes for their forward thinking of allowing everyone to work with their dogs and not just those with hunting licenses. I know many people that have gotten their dogs 1st and their hunting licenses later. I will definitely be in that group and am excited to have well trained partners to hunt with me. Blood tracking is a great way to learn more about the dog and work as a team, plus it gets you out in nature! What more could you want? 

The last of hunting championships that a dachshund can get in Sweden is the Drevprov-literally translated "Drive test." This is the test that I know the least about at the moment, but the Drev season is starting now, so I hope to be able to write more about this in the future.

For more on Drev and dogs used for that purpose, I would highly suggest checking out the blog from Kennel Jaktvallens here in Sweden.

Swedish J(D)Champion
A dog must:
1.) Receive 3x 1st prize in a Drev exam
2.) Receive a rating of at least "Good" at an exhibition.
In order to get 1st prize a dog must:
Run/trail a hare or rabbit for 45 min or a fox, roe deer, or crown deer for 60 min or 2x 45 min.

The dog is judged on criteria such as searching ability, hunting ability, hunting drive, voice, etc...
From what I can gather, this test is a combination of the German "Stöber/Waldsuche" test and a very long spurlaut/sichtlaut type of test. Either way, it will be exciting to see and finally understand what is involved in this test.

This is a much more popular test than Gryt, but not nearly as popular as blood tracking. According to Taxen, 625 drev-tests were performed in Sweden last year. Sorry for my lack of pictures of dachshunds decked out in Drev gear!

One reason that I think there are so many trials performed in Sweden has to do with exhibition grades and championships. For example, to enter working class in a Swedish exhibition, one must pass an anlagstest. If you then get 3x CK (Certificate Quality) in hunting class, you qualify for a Swedish Show champion. To become a champion from a class other than hunting class, the dog must essentially be BOB or BOS at 3 shows, which is much more difficult. Though even if you get the CERTs or CKs, you still need a result. To be a Swedish show champion as a dachshund, the dog must also get either: 1st prize in Grytanlagstest  (G) or 1st prize in Open class blood tracking  (V) or 2nd prize Drevprov (D) or pass anlagstests in both blood tracking and 2nd prize grytprov (KoV). So being pretty isn't the only thing, the dog has to be able to work as well.

Well, that is my (more or less) comprehensive guide to what I know thus far about Swedish dachshund-related hunting tests. Even though the nordic countries all do very similar hunting tests, each are a bit different, with different rules or ratings or requirements, therefore I won't get into them now. Maybe another day...

The boys and the badger

All I can say is success! Freddie did an excellent job and worked a Kvalitet 1 (1st prize)!!! His one faux pas was that he had problems turning himself around  Baxter did an okay job, but was overall a little bit slow to start and could have been a bit more persistent, but barked himself a Kvalitet 2 (2nd prize). His practices were by far better than the test, but this was his first result underground, so I was happy! I think both of the boys could have done a bit better if there would have been a practice closer to the test, but I can´t be too sad.

The boys with their loot

Out of the 7 dogs that participated, 5 passed: 4 with Kval 1 and 1 with Kval 2. The judge commented on how happy he was to see dachshund participating in underground trials again. Supposedly there has been a steep decline in the amount of dachshund participating in, and being used for underground hunting, in Sweden. To have a test with only dachshund participants made him very happy.

This is Freddie´s first result from Sweden and he killed it! Now we have to decide what to do next. With this score, if Freddie is able to pass a real life hunting test (equivalent to the German BhFN/BhDN) and spring a fox or hold off a badger, then he would gain a Hunting championship. Alternatively, we could start training him in Denmark or Norway or Finland and try to get results from those countries. Currently, we are hoping to try Fred on Drevprov here in Sweden while we try to decide what we want to do with the underground test. Freddie is readily Spurlaut and has a lot of hunting drive, so you never know. Maybe he will end up a hunting champion... One can dream. :)

Freddie showing us all how it's done!

Baxter's first open class tracking trial a success!

This week started out really shitty with my computer being stolen from our car while out with friends in Helsingborg. Ugh. It was my work/home/everything computer. Thankfully everything was backed up somewhere and the car did not have any major damages. Still annoying none the less.

Anyhow, Markku and Salla were visiting for a holiday/shows/tracking trials with their dog and while here, chatted with a few tracking judges. Markku found out that at least one judge would be available this week and so we signed Baxter up for a tracking trial. Our trainers this spring suggested that Baxter needed more focus in order to do well, but after speaking with more people, they thought he sounded ready and suggested we just try a "real" test track. So today Simon and Baxter headed off to Sjöbö to do their first open class tracking test.

I am overjoyed to say that the boys did very, very well and were rewarded with a 1st prize in open class! Not only is this a great result, but Baxter needs the result if he ever wants to be a Beauty Champion in Sweden. We are all really happy and hope for at least 2 more 1st prizes in our future! :)

Congratulations my boy and very good work!

Photo by Eva Ahlin

How versatile is your dog?

This is a topic that I have started writing about time and time again, but after a comment today, I felt the need to write about it. We were told today that our dog has "too many problems" with tracking and there is no way we should even be thinking/practicing for den tests. Now these "problems" with tracking is focus. Baxter is still a relatively young dog and in true dachshund fashion, is stubborn. He is amazing on all of the "hard" parts- bloodless areas, turns and the bloodless down and back (there isn't a good translation for the Swedish word). He is a high energy dog with a lot of drive, but he doesn't always want to track because we ask him. This will come with time and more experience for sure. The length, time, etc... doesn't matter, but deer tracks right across the path is WAY more interesting than our stupid artificial tracks. Anyhow, more practices and he will be fine. We would love for him to be ready now, but we are more than willing to spend time and energy on our little doggie.

It isn't the comment of "too many problems" that bothered me, the thing that bothered me was that someone other than Simon was trying to tell me what I should do with my dog. I know that it is a dog, but I feel like the semi-equivalent is when new parents are told how they should raise their child. Just a bit pissed off. I mean, if this was an especially close friend that knew our dog really well or his breeders, maybe I would have had a conversation about it. Luckily, Simon was approached with this question, because he is much more cool in these situations than I am. He basically replied "I think my dog is capable of telling the difference between an artificial den and a blood track" and that was the end of the conversation. This is not the first time that we have had someone try to tell us how to raise-people had their opinions of Freddie too-and train our dogs, in essence, tell us that we just do far too much with them. I'm not sure if some of these people feel the need to treat us a bit like children, since we are on average 20 years younger than many members, but it gets old. I am completely open to having an open discussion about these things, but I do NOT respond well to just being told I can or cannot do something for no great reason.

My question, though, is how much is really too much? If we were blood tracking every day or hunting or doing agility or whatnot, then yes, I would agree that we are doing FAR too much. For a while we were a bit overloaded: 2x per week dog class/obedience in 2 different clubs, training for BHP, training blood tracking. I mean, a dog is definitely a time consuming hobby, but between all that and work, we had no free time. We have cut back significantly in our activities since moving to Sweden. We are still busy, don't get me wrong, we have been showing Baxter about 1x per month, we practice obedience on our own in the garden, and we have taken a tracking course in order to get a feel for how to do blood tracking here. Now we have started gryt/den training now that tracking is over, but this was a total of 3x and maximum 1 time per week. I wouldn't call that intense training.

I also find that it is a little close minded to think that a dog is not capable of performing multiple tasks. I think my dog is smart enough to know the difference between an artificial den and a blood track or chasing rabbits or retrieving. We have different collars and different commands for each activity. Also, we aren't doing blood tracking in the morning and den in the evening or anything, these activities are days or weeks apart. Anyhow, isn't one of the great things about dachshunds is that they are supposed to be versatile dogs? They are the only breed that officially hunt under and above ground and many participate every year in Vp (versatility test) that involves: Spurlaut, SchwhK, Stöber, and obedience all on 1 day, these dogs have to have hunting drive AND know how to do multiple activities. These are not easy tests. They are taxing on the dog and the handler and we are hoping to some day participate in one. In fact, now in Switzerland to be a working dog 3 different test now have to be passed to get your working certificate: Sp, SchwhK, BhFK95 (rabbit trailing, blood tracking, den tests) and for the CIB, the dog has to also pass Stöber test or Vp, in addition to 2x CACIB in 2 countries.

An example VP form

Can all dogs be equally versatile? I doubt it. We see huge differences between Freddie and Baxter in how they work. Baxter is more reserved and more meticulous then Fred. He thinks about things more while he is doing them and is more strong willed. Freddie is much more willing to please and is much more eager and excitable type of dog. He lets his instincts take over, especially during the hunting activities. On blood tracking and BHP (the companion dog test), Baxter far exceled even at his young age, but he needs a little more work to be truly excellent- he has a LOT of natural talent. Freddie took much, much more work to get him to pass the 2 tests that Baxter did amazingly well on. It's not that he isn't talented, but his excitability kept him from calmly, quietly waiting, or running (honestly, 500m tracks in 10-15 min when we were starting out), rather than carefully following a blood track and checking his work as Baxter does. On den test which is a lot of instinct, Freddie is far superior, though it took him 3 tries to master this different den set up(as compared to the German style), whereas today, on Baxter's 2nd ever practice in a den, he showed no problems in the tight entry space and moving around/exploring the different areas. Different dogs, different lineage, different ways of working.

Dogs are like people, they are different, but I think that the important thing is to try different activities and see where the dog does well. Maybe hunting isn't your dog's forte, but agility is, so go and work with them on that! Don't put the dog into a single category. If you have the opportunity and desire to try out different tests and activities, my advice is to do it! It can never hurt and it gives you the chance to further bond with your dog. Now, if your dog doesn't like the activity, that is another thing, but you'll never know until you try! 

 

Will we do various tests with the boys in Sweden- yes. You have to pick your battles, but we are going to carry on with what we are doing since, overall, it seems to work. Maybe the dogs will prove the nay-sayers wrong, either way, they are champions to me!