Baxter Passed his Wassertest

Today in Uezwil, Switzerland, Baxter (Barbwired Better than the Rest) passed his Wassertest with flying colors! Simon and Baxter were the first team to participate and Baxter was SUPER excited to go. Simon said he flew into the water, grabbed the duck, and brought it back to shore like a pro. I wish I could have been there to see it. The judge said that there was nothing more to comment other than it was great work!

Klubsiegerausstellung, losing streak, and duck retrieving

Hello all, I know I have been absent lately. Between normal, everyday work, trying to finish up my degree, working with the dogs, and making a 3 tiered wedding cake for my very good friend's special day, blogging took a back seat.

Photo of said wedding cake. It was delicious, if I do say so myself!

So to briefly catch you all up...
We have been chasing a final CAC/J in Germany and we are on a "losing" streak. 3 judges, 3 shows, 3 SGs. All the judges (more or less) have agreed that Bax is a beautiful dog, but his movement isn't there yet. Some judges even commented that the movement may never come and thought that we should take him to a vet to have him examined or recommended muscle powder, etc... One actually said the he was "too low, too heavy, and too loose in the back to ever be a show dog" and that we should save our money or get him a working certificate as working dogs can be more faulty. Whaaa? That really blew me away...
I thought that youth class would be forgiving of these traits since many dogs are not finished at 1 year or 15 months or even 2 years, especially males. So, sadly, we are giving up on the last CAC/J since the shows between now and the end of October in our area are non-existent and the though of driving to Leipzig, Rostock, Bremen, or Dortmund (all at least 5 hours), plus the money and time to likely be told the same things that we have been told in the past seems like a waste.

We did, however, enter Bax for the first time in Zwischenklasse (15-24 months) at the Klubsiegerausstellung in Kaunitz, Germany. We chose this class because we knew that the youth class would be large and full of young up and coming dogs from large, well known breeders. Opting out of youth class was a good choice since there were 12 males entered! It was a VERY full ring! In ZwK there were only 4 males and Baxter was the youngest. I think that he stands out in the ring, not only because I'm partial and think that he is a pretty boy, but because there seems to be a trend lately in taller dachshunds with narrower fronts. Baxter is lower to the ground compared to many dogs and he has a wider front, but it is a straight front and if he stands properly (and not like an A-frame tent, which is his favorite to do in the ring...) he looks beautiful and well built. We came in 3rd of 4 dogs, so not great, but also not a disappointing start. We know his faults and we will get his evaluation tonight to see what the judge commented on. For the time being he is signed up for 1 more show weekend this season: the Swiss club show and the Euro dog show in Geneva. After that set we are planning lots of blood tracking, swimming, running rabbits (if we can find them) and maybe some boar work to get the little one fit and working his nose. For the time being, we will be stationed in Switzerland, but a move will be in our future. Now just to find the jobs!

The Klubsieger was a cool show to be at since a lot of prominent breeders were present and there were of course 350 dachshunds of all sizes and hair types running around. I spoke a bit with Barbara Palladini about her dog Lollipop, who is a beautiful dark, male and went WUT-WS, KS, BIS this weekend. She in turn gave me a nice evaluation of Baxter and suggested that we take about 6 months off from showing and let him have fun being a dog. She said that most of their dogs aren't ready before the age of 2 and that he just needs time. She also told us how much she liked him and then laughed, saying that "Well, he is 1/2 mine!" :) She said that a lot of his qualities reminded her of Apollo (Baxter's dad) and you can tell that she loves that dog. We also were fortunate to briefly meet Brigitte Preuss, who is one of the very well known breeders of wirehair dachshunds and helped to shape how these dackels look today. Our Züchtwartin Tanja owns dogs from Frau Preuss and they have been friends for years and she is the one that introduced us. Frau Preuss loved Baxter's head and coat and asked if she could steal him. So, even though the small one didn't win any prizes, he received a lot of love from the bystanders.

Last but not least we have been practicing our duck retrieving! I think Baxter will retrieve no problem, but Freddie is a bit of a wild card. I think that with a little pressure and the real duck, he just might pass. We'll see in a week! We are planning on taking the boys out swimming and retrieving at least 2 more times in the next week, hoping to solidify their skills. I think that this fall we will again try our dogs blood tracking and spurlaut. Hopefully we can get Baxter his working certificate before we start up with shows again. Time will tell. 

Quiet, but all is ok

I know that I have gone quiet recently. It is not because we aren't active with the dogs, but there isn't anything spectacular to report show-wise (we are currently on an SG-streak in Germany) and hunting trials are up and coming.

Never fear, there should be more to report in the next few weeks. Until then...

Baxter passed his Wesenstest!

So just a brief update for you all. We had a very eventful week, Simon successfully defended his PhD thesis and now Baxter passed his Wesenstest with flying colors!  Unfortunately Baxter was 2 days too young to also do his Formwert, so we are doing that privately in about a month. I was not able to attend as I had my own challenges today... I'm making a wedding cake for our very good friend's wedding in 2 weeks. So I have baked 9 cakes today, but I still need to bake 3 more and work on the frosting. Maybe tomorrow.

Anyhow, for dogs to be approved for breeding in Switzerland there are 3 things that are needed: Wesenstest, Formwert, and an eye test. The Wesenstest can be performed after the dog is 12 months and the formwert after the dog is 15 months. The eye test can be done at 15 months as well...maybe before, but I don't see the point in having it done unless you plan on breeding your dog. The Formwert is basically a dog show. The judges check the teeth, testicles, tail, etc... make sure that the dog is structurally sound and if it is awarded a SG or V (very good or excellent) they can be bred. 2 judges are present in case of discrepancy. I'm not too worried about the formwert, but we have to wait now until August to have Baxter approved.

Our little guy hanging out after a show

So the Wesenstest is basically a character test for the dog. The dog shouldn't be too afraid or aggressive or needy. These are all traits that aren't good for breeding stock. The test goes something like this:
First the dogs in the test group are unleashed in a field to run around while a shot is fired from a starter pistol. This is to make sure that the dogs aren't afraid of gunshots. The dogs are then called back and the testers proceed one by one.
The next step is an obstacle course where the dog has to go over different surfaces (wood, concrete, metal, etc...), go through tunnels, through hanging bottles, by open umbrellas, boxes, and buckets of toys. All of this  is done off leash, but with the owner and judges walking with the dog. Baxter had no problems and was more than happy to go through all the obstacles. The dog and owner then have to walk past a man with a chainsaw/lawnmower/weed wacker type equipment. Baxter was really interested in this guy and went in for a bit of a closer look. Then the dog and owner have to walk through a crowd of people, again all off leash. One of the people in the crowd read Bax's name off his hunting collar and said "Hi Baxter," which got his attention and made him go all happy, wiggly. All got a little laugh and then it was time to finish the test.
The last part of the test is to check for aggressiveness. The dog is tied up and the owner goes away out of sight. Whining is ok, but aggressive barking is not tolerated. Freddie whined a lot during his wesenstest. Baxter, in Simon's words, "sat there looking like a doofus." No whining, crying, barking, just watching. There are 3 things that go by: a person on a bike, a person with crutches and a hat, and a person with a dog of another breed.

All in all the weather was crappy, but the little guy passed with no problems! Furthermore, even though Simon was alone, there were several other club members that we knew there, so he didn't have to be bored. Now just an eye test and "show" eval and the little guy is ready for breeding. :)

"Self-confident male that mastered the obstacle course with no problems. Again, great dog!"

Spiel ohne Grenze

 Literally, this translates to "Game without Borders" and it is a yearly event at our dog school in Basel. This year roughly 20 dogs of various breeds ranging from Chihuahuas to Yellow Labs and mutts of all sizes participated with their people. It was a lot of fun and I'm only sad that I didn't get more pictures! Many people were there with their cameras though, so I'm hoping I can link you all to the photo gallery in the upcoming days,

So what is Spiel ohne Grenze? It is an obstacle/challenge course with different stations. At each station one is graded on how well he and his dog perform the task. This year we had 10 stations set up in the training space.

Station 1: Blow dart practice
Our trainer Karin is a wonderful woman, if not a bit crazy. She is a Poodle and Border Collie breeder and a hell of a trainer. She believes in positive reinforcement, but also realizes that some hard-headed breeds (like bulldogs and (cough) Dackels (cough, cough)) do not always respond well to soft training. She does not enforce things like choke collars or shock collars or anything that intense, but basically she lets the dogs know that she is boss and when she says play time is over, it's over! Anyhow, she has a farm in Germany and aside from her dogs, she keeps chickens, geese, goats, etc... Well, one day a goat got out and the neighbor was threatening to shoot it since it was trespassing on his property. Karin tried to catch the goat, but couldn't. For some reason she owns a blow gun and had tranquilizers on hand. I think you can guess the outcome. The goat is still alive and doing well.

She decided that we should all practice our blow dart skills. There was a small stuffed doll worth 10 points and a stuffed bear worth 5. Hardly anyone was able to hit the targets. I managed right under the bear's foot. Boo! Simon and I went back after everyone was finished to try again and I have to say, we got much better at aiming and hit the targets multiple times! Practice makes perfect I suppose.


Station 2: Sausage, sausage everywhere!
In this exercise, there were about 10 bowls of sausage set up along a 15-20 ft track. You had to leave the dog at the starting line, run to the finish and call him. The dog lost points he he stopped along the way for a snack. Baxter did this amazingly well. Simon called, he ran, he stopped to peer into a dish, was promptly told to "leave it!" and continued on his way. Freddie on the other hand was a little shit head and decided that eating sausage from one of the bowls was nicer than listening to me. He came to me very guiltily afterwards...

Station 3: What do you know about dogs?
This station was all on the people. We were asked questions about dogs such as:
What was the dog breed featured in the movie "Babe"?
How many groups are dogs divided into in the FCI?
Do dogs sweat?
Do dogs display "handedness"?
How many teeth to adult dogs have? etc....
 Both Simon and I passed with full points. :D

Station 4: Bend over and throw it!
This was again all on me. We had 5 balls and had to toss them through our legs and into a bucket a distance away. I managed to make one or two! Ya!

Station 5:The great search.
At this station there were 3 hula hoops hidden in the bushes. In each of the hoops a few pieces of Frolic, which is labeled as "dog food" but the nutrition in that stuff is horrible. It would be like feeding kids nothing but candy. Needless to say, most dogs go crazy for it. Well, all except our garbage can Baxter. He turned up his nose at it and instead decided to use that bushes as a toilet. Anyhow, the goal was for the dog to find the treats in all 3 hoops within 1 minute. Freddie was much better than Baxter, even though he thinks that the hula hoops are really evil entities.

Station 6: Show off!
This was where our trick dog had time to shine. Each dog had to perform 5 tricks that were not "sit" or "platz/lie down." Freddie is very willing to learn new tricks and so Simon had taught him quite a few. We did roll over, give paw, speak, manly (sitting on his haunches), and dance. The trainers were all very entertained. :)

Station 7: Find the dog
This was a challenge, but really funny to watch. We were blindfolded and then had a tarp put over us before being spun around several times to disorient us. The dog was tied in the pen and we had to find them within 1 minute. Simon was lucky enough to get an excited Baxter than ran to him when he did excited talking. Freddie was very apprehensive about why I was dressed in a sheet and somewhat avoided me. I found him though, but I think I stepped on his foot. Oops! All was forgiven and I received a lot of kisses once the tarp came off.

Station 8: Dackels rule!
This was the station that I first was quite freaked out by because the hurdles were set REALLY high. They were taller than both the dogs and I was worried about them trying to jump them. Instead, they were there for the dogs to crawl! Ha! Having dogs that are only 1/2 as tall as normal dogs had an advantage! :) Both boys looked at us like, what? This? It's like the coffee table at home. Do do do do.

Station 9: More ball throwing?
For this task that dog and our trainer stood in a kiddie pool and we had to throw balls into it. These are the balls like they have at McDonald's playlands, so they aren't hard, but nonetheless, I thought that Freddie might get freaked out by this. Nope. He stood there and looked at the couple balls that managed to plop into the kiddie pool. Baxter tried to play with them once they made it there.

Station 10: Follow the carrot.
Remember in the old cartoons how if someone wanted to get a lazy horse walking they would tie a carrot on a string to the end of a stick? Yes, well, that was essentially what we had, except it was a 2 foot stack of dog treats. We were given a serving tray with 2 water-filled glasses, the stick with treats on to hold and had to walk with the dogs in slalom. This was not the easiest, but it was certainly funny to watch and perform. It was funny to watch the different dogs reacting to the treats, some were very determined to get them, no matter the height!

In the end, this year's obstacle course was a bit more people based than in past years. Last year was supposedly very agility based and had moving platforms, the high platforms, hoops to jump through and a see-saw as well as questions. I love that the group really tries for a wide variety of activities and changes it up every year. Of course all of the hard work is rewarded with beer, grill food, lots of yummy salads and desserts and at least a gift for the participating dogs.

All in all, Freddie and Baxter were 4th and 3rd respectively. :) Both received treat bags with lots of goodies and Freddie got an extra bag for 3rd place filled with treats and toys. Additionally, we went for a run around the park and some river swimming and ended up with a couple very tired dogs. It was really a wonderful way to spend the first official day of summer.

(Note: I will update with pictures in the upcoming weeks so you can all see the silly things that we had to do!)

The boys are gearing up for Wassertest!

So we had an EXTREMELY cold and rainy May. There wasn't a lot of opportunity for the dogs to go swimming since the river was super high and super fast. We were in Central Switzerland visiting Simon's parents last night and decided to take advantage of the fantastic weather today to explore some spots on the lake for Wassertest (Water test) training. Simon's father suggested a little part of the lake near a swimming area and nature reserve, but not in either. The water is fairly shallow, so Simon and I could easily go in about calf/waist deep and get the dogs if they were in trouble.

Not a bad view, eh? I think we will be coming back for more practice in July.

 One of our problems with Freddie and water retrieving was always that if the toy wasn't interesting enough and went too far in, then pffft, forget it. The toy was gone. We have lost several floaty toys due to our hard headed, brown dackel. I saw this wonderful idea on http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/ a while back, but I currently can't find the post! Basically, one of the dog owners tied feathers to a floaty toy in order to make it more interesting for the dogs. Since we had 2 frozen ducks in the house, I thought I'd give it a try. We took a wing off of one of the ducks and tied it to the dog's orange floaty. Man! You would think it was Christmas!

I love swimming dackels! They look like otters.

Baxter easily went into the water for a few short and progressively longer swims. He did a couple ~8 meter retrieves before getting tired. Swimming is new exercise for him and although he loves it, he seems to get a bit tired after a while and gets a more nervous about the longer swims. I'm not positive if he really is tired, but this is what it seems like. Not wanting to have a negative experience, we kept the remainder of the swims shorter (max 4-5 m) and provided a LOT of praise. I know he would have gone in for the toy without the wing, but this really helped with the prey drive.

Our big surprise came in our water hating brown dog! I've mentioned several times that Freddie is NOT a water dog. He goes chest deep and then does a lot of thinking, seeming to weigh his options in order to decide if he really needs whatever it is that's in the water. We were planning that our practice today would be just for Baxter, but nope! Low and behold Freddie's amazing hunting drive turned on and that one duck wing was more than enough to make the orange floaty worth saving!

Freddie jumped in in front of Baxter on a long swim...

and the boys brought in the toy together!

close up of the long swim

Here you can see the distance a bit better. The other shore was ~25m (70+ feet away)

There was a sand bar, so some of the time Freddie was able to "hop" his way along for about 4 m before swimming. Baxter, being shorter, had to swim more. Regardless, both dogs did fantastic! It was a great surprise and now I'm hoping that we'll be able to sign these 2 up for Wassertest with the SDC this August. Now both boys are pretty tired from their morning swim. The ducks are ready and waiting, all we need is a bit of time. :)

News from the North and Swimming!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Simon and I are deep into thesis writing and paper re-writing/submitting, which are putting long posts and dog-related activities on the back burner.

We went up to Saarbrücken for the 1 day National Dog Show in hopes to get Baxter his last CAC-J for his German junior Champion title. The judge gave him a wonderful evaluation, but only a SG (sehr gut) rating. It was a bit shitty since his main complaint about the dog was his movement. He said that he had good stride and ground coverage, but was wobbly and his joints were still too loose. We have heard this comment before, but most judges realize that he is just about 1 year old. I have to admit that I felt better knowing that only 1 junior dog (of 6 total male and female) received a V (Excellent) and I would guess that at least 1/2 of the dogs entered received SG ratings. Of course we were disappointed that the winning streak was broken, but 7 shows and 4 Junior Champion titles is not a bad career start! On a side note, I have to recommend Saarbrücken as a real hidden treasure of a German city. The city itself sits on the border to France, is incredibly green, hilly, full of beautiful old buildings, and has a great little old city center. Despite the result, we had a wonderful time and enjoyed the city more than I could have imagined. :)

In other news...
Baxter's mom Iiris "Taxette's Isla Margarita" came out of "retirement" last month and added new titles to her already impressive list: Latvian, Lithuanian, and Baltic Champion! It was great news to hear that a 7 year 11 month old dog could still make a huge impression in the ring. Iiris turned 8 a couple of weeks ago and now competes in Veteran class. At a recent show in Kuopio, Iiris and her daughter Bella Bambina "Iita" (Baxter's sister) were both rated Excellent and CQ. CQ, if I understand this correctly, we don't have this distinction in Switzerland, means "CAC Quality" and these dogs would then compete for CACs and/or CACIBs. Iiris received BOB-Veteran and Iita, Best Bitch 4. A HUGE congrats to Baxter's family!!

Looking good at 8 years old! Iiris (left) with 13 month old daughter Iita (Photo: M. Varjosalo)

    
Lastly, I don't want you all to think that we have given up on our hunting activities! Unfortunately, all of our "normal" dog activities are a time sink. I love them, but we had to prioritize right now in order to get everything accomplished for ourselves. Since Baxter was not able to get in enough tracks for us to be confident that he would pass his Spurlaut exam, we decided to wait on further training until fall. We were going to do a few tracks throughout the spring and summer, but it has been so cold and wet this year that laying out blood tracks would be a bit of a waste. Maybe the sun will finally make an appearance in June...

Freddie is not a water dog. He swims beautifully, retrieves like a champ, but is unreliable with the two things together. I kind of think he developed a dislike for the water when he was about 1 year old, swam a bit too far into the river and decided to climb onto a rock, refusing to come back to shore. I had to wade out to get him (luckily the river was only 2.5 feet deep or so) and bring him in. Since then, he will swim, but the toy has to be worth saving. Baxter on the other hand is looking to be a much braver water dog. As a puppy, he spent a bit of time watching the fish in a colleagues back yard pond and tried to catch them by walking on lily pads. Needless to say, lily pads do not hold 4.5 kg puppies and at 9 weeks old, Baxter showed us (Thankfully!) that he could swim. Lately he has been wading in a lot of the little streams around the dog park, but these were at most chest deep. Last night we decided to take a walk after a long day of work at our local dog park. The river that runs through the park is the Wiese and connects with the Rhine just slightly downstream of the dog park. With all the rain we have had this year it is quite fast and deep at the moment (still less than 5 feet deep, but that is several dackels high!) and we were reluctant to let the dogs swim. Baxter had other plans though and kept trying to go to the edge and take a dip. Finally we got to an area with a small inlet where the water was mostly still. I threw a nice big stick in about 6 feet from shore and the little one jumped in to get it. No problem! Simon threw it a bit farther on the next go and Baxter retrieved it and decided to swim a bit farther out before turning around and heading back to shore. He got a lot of praise and treats and I figure that if he'll go in with little problem to get a stick, then a real duck should be just fine!  We got a few recommendations regarding more still water in the area and I hope that we'll be able to do some practicing before too long.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll try and update a bit more in the coming weeks, but until then, I wish you all a great start to June!