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.

Baxter was the BHP Taggessieger in group Hochrhein

 So the first in a series of updates and where to start...

Baxter and Simon took part on the 19th of October in the BHP exam in the Hochrhein club in the Badischer Dachshund Club of the DTK. The day started with coffee and choosing of the numbers (which were baked into dog biscuits).

The festively decorated table in the clubhouse

Which is the right biscuit...

Waiting for instructions

Finding out the order of the dogs

 This is an all day exam which consists of 3 sections:

BHP1:Führigkeit, Folgsamkeit, Ablegen, Verhalten bei Geräuschen, Verhalten gegenüber Menschen, Verhalten in Strassenverkehr

Ready for BHP 1 on the training space

BHP2: Führersuche & Warten

The view from the hills were the Führersuche was performed

BHP3: Wasserfreude

Baxter on a water retrieve

 So, for the non-Germans, I'll walk you through the test:

In the first section the dogs must show their obedience through a variety of tests, many of which can be performed with or without leash. First, the dog must walk at a heel over and around a variety of obstacles and they must demonstrate walking ~ 100 ft on heel off leash back to the starting point/judge. The dog must show that it is not afraid of loud noises, such as a pipe being hit with a hammer (ie, no running away from the sound). The dog is surrounded by people who approach the dog clapping and the dog also walks through a crowd. The dog must walk on the sidewalk next to a road and be approached by people with umbrellas, newspapers, bikers, cars, etc... going by. The owner must send the dog away from them and then call them back on command. There are variations of this part where more points are awarded if you can bring the dog to a stop on command before they reach you, but this is quite difficult. Finally, the dog can be free or on leash and they must wait. This test is done all at once whereas the other parts are done individually. The dogs are placed on a fence and told to lie down for 5 min in sight of the owner. During this time a person walks by and another dog walks by, etc... The dogs are allowed to stand and move a bit, but not to cry or try to walk towards the owner.

Waiting, waiting...

Iamira, the lone longhaired dackel in the test. She did excellent!

Waiting for 5 minutes to be called so the owners can go retrieve their dogs from the fence

Bax walking at heel with Simon during BHP1

Simon is a really great handler. Before each activity he makes sure the dog is calm and has his attention. This was before walking at heel back to the judge.

Checking for fear of sound. Baxter LOVES Eri! He didn't care about the long clang from metal on metal, he just ran laps around her until Simon called him back.

Jup and Kerstin showing off their skills in the street/traffic portion

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Baxter could care less about stopping to help with directions

Iamira was unimpressed by Eri and the umbrella

For the second test there are only 2 parts. First the dog is given to a handler while the judge and owner walk ~ 300 m (1000 ft) into a wooded area and hide. The track should include 2x right angled turns. Once the owner and judge are hidden, the dog is released and must track and find the owner. For the second part of the test, the dog is put in wait similar to in the 1st test, but the owner is out of sight. Again, bikes, people, dogs, etc... go by and the dog must stay calm and ideally not move.

Jup waiting while his mistress was out of sight.

For the third test, it is basically a variation of the Wassertest, except there is no gun shot and any toy can be thrown for the dog to retrieve.

Baxter with his favorite dummy duck

The dogs can pass each test individually which is then indicated BHP-1 or BHP-3, etc...

If the dog passes the combined test, it is given the title BHP-G (G=gesamt: entire)

We weren't sure how Baxter would do as we weren't able to go to many of the official trainings, but we do regularly train obedience and tricks with the dogs. Originally I was supposed to do the trainings with Baxter, but well, finishing up my degree got in the way and I was a mess of nerves.

Tallying the points

Handing over the score sheets

Handing out gifts to all of the helpers

Simon though is a star and amazing for taking over Baxter's training! He and Baxter totally shined and of the 6 dogs that participated in the test he received the maximum points he could get and was awarded BHP-G 1st prize Taggessieger (winner of the day).

We are extremely proud of our little dog! He performed like a star and worked perfectly with Simon. Simon said that the judge was especially impressed with the attention that Baxter gave him before each activity. Simon is big on making the dogs make eye contact with him before they start an activity and this was unique for the dogs at the test. It was a long day (roughly 6 hours), but well worth it! Baxter now gets to add the test score: BHP-G to his name. :)

The boys with the judge

Congrats Bax! Good job!

*** Many, many thanks to Peter for the pictures during the exam!!***

A lot to update! I promise it is coming!

Hello all.

I realize that I have been HORRIBLE at updating lately.  Let me give you a brief rundown of what is to come...

Baxter is Spurlaut! He needs some more hares to run to get a really good score, but he is Sp and we will try to get him tested in the near future. Our friends got some FANTASTIC pictures from this weekend and we are now just waiting for the pics to arrive.

I crossed my own hurdle and completed my PhD. That's right. Baxter and Freddie now have 2 Drs. for "parents". Unfortunately we are not the medical kind. ;)

My "Dr" hat

Baxter passed him BHP exam with 188 points, 1st prize and was Tagessieger! Huge congrats to the small one! We are so proud and Simon did a WONDERFUL job with "my" dog.

Finally, tracking season has started and we are gearing up the boys to hopefully partake in some hunting exams here and abroad this autumn. Simon and I laid ~500m artificial tracks today for each of the dogs and so we'll see how they do. The forecast changed and now they are calling for rain tonight so the boys may be in for quite the challenge...

Look for updates soon! Best from Switzerland!

The boys

BHP-G (1,2,3 together) Passed!

Black and Tan Longhair dackel puppy looking for a home

Are you searching for a new puppy from hunting lines? There is a male standard, black and tan longhair Dackel pup looking for a home. Both parents have been rated "Excellent" and are in active hunting homes. If you are interested, please contact me and I will put you in contact with the breeder.

For the betterment of the breed?

There has been an issue in Switzerland that has been really irking me lately in regards to dackels. This happens to be the change that took place at the General assembly last March regarding dogs in working class. In Switzerland (as in many countries) up until this year a dog could pass a 1000m Blood track (of any known PO) or Sp+ BhFK/St/Vp/Was in order to obtain a working class certificate. This certificate makes the dog eligible for the working class in exhibition, but, to me, it also proves that the dog has qualities that are desirable and are more than just a pretty face. Furthermore, to obtain beauty titles from many countries, working results are required because why have a pretty dog that isn't at least somewhat functional.

This past April there was a vote to change the rules for working class, to add a working title, AND to also effectively make the International Beauty certificate unattainable to Swiss dogs owned by non-hunters. Basically the new rules read like this:
GHK (Working dog class):
The dog should have the following tests-Sp, BhFK/95,SchwhK/St/Vp

OK, this I was ok with. It is harder to obtain since there was 1 more test required for the certificate, but still doable. These are all tests that I would always train my dogs on anyhow as the dogs should be able to work above and below ground.

A new title was added, or rather resurrected, the VollGebrauchsHund (Full working dog), which entails that a dog complete BhFK/95 and Vp. Fine, great! We now have a title similar to a German Gebrauchssieger. The GS title is much more elite, though, as you must have a natural Bauprüfung as well as 1st or 2nd prize in a Vp.

 What absolutely irritates me is that for the international beauty certificate (which is sanctioned by the FCI) is now linked in Switzerland to the dog being a VGH. Again, why does this matter? Well, in order to participate in tests other than Sp, WaT and BhFK/95, in many countries requires a hunting permit. This means that only the people who have the money and time to obtain a hunting certificate (which can take 2 years and over 2000 CHF) could obtain this title.


So why am I annoyed? Why am I angry and getting opinionated about this? Let me tell you...

Traditional Jagdhornbläser. Simon has now picked up this hobby.

1.) The new rules were never formally announced before the meeting and, thus, should not have been voted on. Furthermore, there was a misprint in the official GV minutes, indicating that this was only a topic for discussion. The attitude over this mistake has been "the members should have policed the board," but most members do not know all the fine details of the statues. Also, very few people were in attendance (less than 60 of the 650 SDC members) because no one knew an issue like this would be voted on. Sketchy to say the least... The vote did pass (though just as many people chose not to vote as said "yes"). Either way, I find it horrible that this could have been presented online or in the SDC bulletin that came out 1 month before the meeting and neither was done.

2.) The hunters are beginning to think of themselves as the elite. At a recent trial there was bitching over the fact that non-hunters were "taking spots" in blood tracking practices. One of the judges pointed out that this was a crap statement and it was first come first serve for those that want to work with their dogs! This is an attitude that I appreciate and admire. All of these tests which are listed above are artificial. There will be no injured deer or boar at the end of a track, no rabbits will be shot during Sp, no foxes injured in BhFK/95, so why need the license to take these tests? Technically according to the DTK, it is at the judges discretion if they allow a non-hunter to participate. It can happen and we know a few judges that would likely allow it, but you have to have an in. Simon asked our hunting test organizer last spring what the chance was that we could take a hunting test without the hunting license if there were open spots. His answer "Slim to none." Why? Our money is just as good as anyone else's! It is really a bit of an elitist attitude. For example, only 1 dog participated in the SDC blood tracking exam (1000m) this year. Freddie would have been qualified and I would have been happy to lay track, but we did not even apply since we were told earlier this year that we absolutely needed the license. This brings me to my next point:

3.) French hunting licenses. This is what is suggested to us EVERY time we mention that we don't have a hunting license. The french license is cheap, fast, and easy (by Swiss standards). The same hunting guy who told we needed a hunting license, followed up by saying, "Ya, but just get a french one!" Ummm... what? Technically the rules say that you can have a hunting license from where ever as long as it is valid. Why don't I just spend $100 and order one from the US? I would just need to take a safety course when I'm back home this fall. Ya know, I maybe I'll just do it.

4.) This whole change really dampens my attitude towards the club and the hunting club, especially since Simon and I have been some of the most active members. We began blood tracking practices on our own because of the attitude of some of the people in the Jagd club. When Freddie was a puppy his first practice track with the club was 500m. He did super well for the 1st half, but then started to get bored and sniff whatever because 500m is TOO LONG for an inexperienced young dog. Furthermore, the track was super near to a walking path, so everyone and their dogs, horses, etc... were walking past and poor Fred was getting distracted. We contacted the club president to ask if we could have a shorter track (250-300m) for our inexperienced pup and the response was "if your dog cannot complete a 500m track it is either very bad or you are very bad at motivating the dog." Well WTH! This is like expecting children to know how to read without ever learning the alphabet. Ugh. So we began blood tracking on our own and soon after Freddie was completing 500m, 40 hr tracks easily in 15 min. I think our work with Freddie has paid off as he was 4th on the working dog list in Switzerland last year for tests passed. He would have been 1st if both of our fox tests in Italy would have counted (he is missing 94 points), but no matter! I was very proud of the work that we did with him.

With all of these new rules I feel very torn as to what to do. I would love to continue with the club. We have friends in the club, but these new rules seem to target people like Simon and I and tell us that we are basically not good enough. Do I really need to learn French, German, and/or go into debit in order to continue working with my dogs? No. I don't. The problem is that any tests that we perform outside of Switzerland, Germany, or France will not count for anything in the eyes of the SDC.

5.) Oh yes, Switzerland now has the rule that only tests in Germany, France, Switzerland, or organized by WUT (Welt union teckel) will be counted towards working results in Switzerland. This means that any tests performed in Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Hungry, Croatia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, etc... essentially the whole of Europe, don't count towards the Swiss working dog certificate OR the VGH/CIB title. I realize that each and every country can decide which tests it accepts, but, for example, Italy conducts tests according to the DTK PO. It should count in Switzerland, right? Wrong. Sigh. Furthermore, the dog could be a working champion in any of the above mentioned countries, but unless it was a German or French Gebrauchssieger it would not count in Switzerland. Actually, a dog could technically be an International working champion, but not qualify for the working certificate in Switzerland. How messed up is that?

All these new rules would make sense if Switzerland was able to conduct all of the trials that it requires for its working certificates/VGH, but right now only Wassertest, Spurlaut, and SchwhK is conducted in Switzerland and this is only 1 of each test per year with a maximum of 8 dogs per test. We don't even have the facilities to do BhFK/95 in CH and this test is under scrutiny in many areas in Germany, so soon that may not be an option either. So the Swiss that want to work with their dogs will have to compete to get spots in the already crowded tests in Germany.

So what will we do? Well, we will continue on as we normally would. We will do the tests that we can in Germany/Switzerland (Sp, BhFK, maybe St if we can find a colleague to help us out). We will also do trials down in Italy this year and get results. It is not only fun, but fantastic practice for more tests later. Although I am not in agreement with all of the new rules, we will likely get a hunting license because we want to keep working with the dogs. We will likely never be hunters. I love to eat venison, boar, rabbit, but I rather be tracking the wounded animal than shooting it. Plus, I'm not actually sure that I could get a license for a gun since I am a foreigner...

Who knows what will happen in Switzerland in the future, but I can tell you I think that this new set of rules is not going to help the breed. From what I have seen personally, there is already a distinction between show dogs and working dogs. As we were told, "working class is for dogs with more faults," which I think is complete bull shit. By implementing these types of rules, I can only imagine that the difference between working dogs and beauty dogs will grow. In the worst cases, it could end up like the dackels in the US where it is hard to convince people that the overangulated lawn-mowers are the same breed as the agile, light weight trackers. I think that this is a negative step for Swiss dackels, but only time will really tell. Until then we will continue doing what we are doing and trying to make our dogs the best that they can be.

This weekend in Pictures

The ring set up at the Swiss club show. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Spectators

Junior male ring at the Swiss Clubshow

Simon and Baxter, Barbara Palladini with Castelpetroio Fa' Baccano and Dr. Marlies Müller with Lukas vom Linteler-Forst

Baxter stacked

View from our balcony in Pringy

In the European Dog show in Geneva

Baxter stacked on the podium

Competing for Best Male (CACIB)

On the down and back

European Champion 2013 Lollipop della Val Vezzeno

Markku and Iiris (Baxter's mom). Iiris at 8.5 years old is now European Veteran Champion 2013! Congrats Iiris!!

Markku and Iiris competing for Best Veteran

Best of Breed from Kennel Idesüss

Awesome castle bridge on the way back to our hotel from Geneva

Enjoying the gorgeous scenery

CH Landessieger, Eurodog Show & Formwert

Hi everyone!

Please forgive my tardiness as we have been having a great couple of days in the Geneva/French area! Yesterday was the Swiss Landessieger show and today was the Euro dog show.
 I am happy to report that we seem to have broken our SG streak and now have a few more "V"s under our belt. In the Swiss landessieger show Simon and Baxter received a V3 in junior class. Not too shabby considering the other competitors were the WUT Weltjugendsieger and the German Klubsieger. Baxter was officially the best junior male from Switzerland. ;)  Maybe next year the competition won't be so tough!

Today was the Euro dog show in Geneva. Baxter was in a class on 12 junior males and managed to receive a V rating. The competition was tough and the dogs that won yesterday also received Junior Winner and Junior Reserve Winner today. Simon and Baxter are still learning, but showed very nicely after a few tips from our mentors/breeders.

Big congrats today go to Baxter's Mom: "Taxette's Isla Margarita" who was V2 Veteran Reserve at the Swiss Clubsieger yesterday and V1 European Veteran Winner today! Congrats Iiris!!!

We are so excited to own such a wonderful dog and hope for many more great show days.

Furthermore, Baxter received his Zahnstatus (tooth status) as well as him Formwert evaluation.  Bax has no missing teeth and received a great evaluation. After sending in the paperwork, Bax will be approved for breeding in Switzerland.

Great and fun weekend so far!!!