Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weather. Show all posts

Monday, November 4, 2013

A marathon Spurlaut exam

When I checked the weather for Altenheim on Sunday, I kept it to myself- 10˚C max temp and a 80% chance of rain all day. Yup, just what I wanted to see for a Spurlaut test... ugh. The thought of being drenched and wandering through muddy fields in search of hares did not make me very happy, but it was our last opportunity until March/April to perform the exam. Baxter had showed promise at our practice in Grünstadt (which I still need to write about) and the concept of hares + chasing + trailing + barking, seemed to finally switch on in his, sometimes thick, head. With trailing he is excellent. His nose is fantastic and he has been beautifully trailing hares since he was ~ 1 year old, but the sound wasn't coming. On the last few practices he actually saw the hares and I think that triggered something. Those few sichthase (sight hares) were a blessing and since the end of September we knew he was Spurlaut.

This pleased us and also his breeders. In the nordic countries, Spurlaut isn't a requirement for any tests and, thus, many don't know if the trait is retained. From their first litter, only their own bitch from their 1st litter, Baxter's 1/2 sister Barbwired Austria, was tested for Sp when they were living in Switzerland. Aura did a phenomenal job and earn 100 pts and tagessieger in Austria for her work. Baxter's mom Iiris (at age ~5 years) had also been tried on Sp, but by this time she was accustom to blood tracking and fox work and was quiet while trailing the hares. Maybe with sichthase, this would have been different and triggered her voice a bit, but as I've mentioned before, hares in Switzerland are not plentiful and even Germany can be a gamble. We knew from the Palladini's that Baxter's dad Apollo was spurlaut, so we hoped that Baxter retrained this trait. Once we knew that he was Spurlaut, even if he still needed practice, we figured that we would take the gamble and sign up for the last test of the year in our region in an attempt for him to earn the achievement: Sp. 

On Sunday the conditions were not the greatest for this exam, but they were better (rain-wise) than the forecast had predicted. A foreboding sky that looked ready to storm at any moment, standing water on many fields, still many fields covered in left over wheat and corn, and winds that reminded me of tornadoes made this an interesting exam. Furthermore, in order for all the dogs to have at least 2 hares (and for 2 dogs to have 3) we walked 3 different sets of fields from 10am until 3pm, making for a rather exhausting day and likely about 10-15 km worth of field walking...which I am feeling today!

Of the 5 dogs that were examined, Freddie and Baxter were the only dogs to pass.  Since Freddie had a score of 2nd place last year in Nordbaden, he was eligible to take the test again for a chance at 1st place. This was advantageous as we were in need of 1 more dog to partake in the exam in order for it to happen. In the end there was a late entry and Freddie wasn't needed, but he loves running hares on the field, so we thought we'd give him a shot. It was also an experience for me as it was my first time participating with a dog in the exam (I was handling Fred). Freddie's first hare was a rückwards hase (backwards hare) the jumped up from behind and ran where we just walked. I didn't see the trail of the hare as I was trying to calm Freddie down because a deer had jumped right in front of us and of course he saw it and wanted to chase it. So, all in all, it was a bit of a disaster. He tried to follow the hare, made some progress, but with the commotion, the scent of 10 people and dogs, etc... he just didn't do it. It would have been great if he did, but even the judges agreed that it was a difficult situation.Fred's second hare was much nicer. It jumped about 20 feet in front of me while we were waiting on another dog. Fred did a great job trailing it, but the wind was strong and I could tell in the end he was struggling to find the scent line, which by that time was likely dust in the wind. Regardless, he performed and was the best of the day with a 2nd place rating.

Baxter was our wild card. We knew he was Spurlaut, but he was still rather inexperienced since he had run about 3 "proper" hares in practice not as sichthase. His first hare was a good one, the judges had to jump it from it's sitting place, it ran straight and over the road, but I think Bax, as the 1st dog of the test, didn't quite know what was going on and started doing more "Stöber" type work on the field. He failed this hare horribly, but we knew he at least got another chance. The second hare jumped on his own, ran a weaving pattern and disappeared over a hill and onto a grassy field. Bax was loud on the hare all across the first field until he broke the hill and then Bax was quietly searching for the scent. By this time the wind was getting extremely strong and though he searched, the little dog didn't pick up the line again. The judges felt that this work warranted a 3rd bunny to see if the 1st one was just a fluke. On his 3rd and final hare, it jumped, ran a straight line over the road and into the corn. Bax found the line, took off like a rocket and barked his little heart out. He searched the road for the scent and with a little coaxing, found it again and trailed it through the corn. We didn't hear much more due to the wind, but Simon had to retrieve him, still trailing, 2 fields over. Baxter found his voice, but still needs more practice to be very confident in trailing the hares, especially in hard situations like over roads. Regardless, the judges said, Yes, this dog is definitely spurlaut and has the desire to follow the game and awarded him a 3rd prize. Now we can continue on with more work with the small dog, such as fox and Stöber. We are all exhausted, but happy with the results.




Thursday, January 10, 2013

Playing around

As I mentioned previously, the winter weather in Basel has been anything but normal. It's been roughly 5-7C (over 40F) and dry. Today it started to rain a bit and now the weather forecast is calling for it to be around 40F and snowy this weekend. Maybe my little snow dog will get some of the fluffy stuff to play around in!

Even though work is more stressful than ever, all of our dog activities have been on their winter break. No obedience classes, agility, hunting activities, not much of anything, which is both good and bad. The boys were a bit restless trying to get back into their "week" routine while Simon and I are at work. We tried to compensate a bit this week by taking them nice long walks this weekend in the woods nearby. At one point the boys found a stick and decided to play keep away. Enjoy!















Saturday, December 29, 2012

Where is my white Christmas?

 I'm originally a Wisconsin girl. I'm used to harsh winters with grey skies and snow that falls and piles up so that the ground is white from roughly November until April. After my Bachelor's degree I moved to Colorado to pursue a Graduate degree. Now Colorado is synonymous with mountains and skiing and I never thought that the weather would be better than Wisconsin. To my delight, the average temperature in Boulder, Colorado was 45F and had 300 days of sunshine.
These pictures are a few years old now, but they were taken on a hike that I went on in January 2006. Yep, this is Boulder in January.









About 2 years ago a friend called me on Christmas from Boulder to tell me that it was 70F and they were grilling out for Christmas dinner. Boulder did get snow and when it snowed, it tended to be epic snow. It would snow like crazy for a couple days and be cold, then later in the week it would be sunny and everything would melt. It was a fun place to leave for a few years.

In 2008, I moved to Basel, Switzerland. I have to admit I had gotten soft after living in Boulder for 3 years and was terrified to move to Switzerland with cold, Wisconsin-like winters again. Well, after 4 years I am happy to report that Wisconsin still reigns as the worst winter place I have ever lived. Basel is in this little, wonderful pocket where it is relatively sunny, warm and milder than the rest of Switzerland. It was over 60F (17C) on Christmas Eve and sunny. Christmas day was similarly mild, but with a bit of rain.
My view from Simon's parent's house in Luzern (central Switzerland) on Christmas day. The only snow present was on the mountains

I have to admit that there is a little part of me that misses a white Christmas, but at the same time the mild weather suits me well. I've become soft after being out of Wisconsin for almost 8 years. We may still get snow this year, but for now, I'm enjoying running the dogs, shopping, and enjoying the rest of my winter holiday.