Breaking the Silence

I know it has been a long time. There is a lot to catch up on and still so much to talk about. I've decided to take this blog in a slightly new direction this year. Oh, don't worry, I will still be chronicling our dackel adventures, but I felt like with a new home and new start, something different was in order. So I will try to include not just show and trial news in the blog, but more opinion pieces, historical pieces, and general interest pieces about our favorite 4 legged animals. There will be at least one of these pieces per month, at least that's the goal. As you can see, I'm already a month behind, so February will likely have many entries.

We are here! Well, I am not "officially" here yet since I still have things to settle in Switzerland, so I have helped to set up the house and will commute back and forth this month. Yes, your heard correctly... Commute. It will be a tiring month, but I am sure that it will all be worthwhile in the end.

In addition to trying out how to register and obtain a personal number in Sweden (a task of GIGANTIC proportions), we need to register the dogs with the SKK so that we can officially take part in all of the activities here. Hopefully this is a smooth and painless process.

For the moment we love our new home and the dogs seem to love it as well. They get a good dose of off leash running every day and get to enjoy the sea and chase birds and track rabbits (though luckily most of them have hidden away before our morning walk). Freddie FINALLY lost the last 500 g put on by Simon's father on the dog's last extended stay in Luzern and is looking in top condition. I can't believe that the dogs will be turning 2 and 4 this year. Time sure does fly!

We and living in a quiet village on the south western coast of Sweden. I have always lived near lakes and rivers, but a sea is definitely a new concept. I have to say, I am not the biggest fan of the wind here, but otherwise the weather hasn't been too terrible, but the snowfall already had me missing Basel.

Simon snapped a few pictures a couple days ago while out walking the dogs about 5 minutes from the new house. I hope you all enjoy!

The birds are flying off to go to bed. I think I will join them. Until next time!

Happy New Year!

As 2013 ends and 2014 begins, we have a lot of look forward to in the next year. A new house, a new club, a new set of people, and new adventures. It will be a time of change, which is of course as nerve wracking as it is exciting. That being said, from our furry, 4-legged dachshunds to yours, have a Happy New Year and don't go overboard on the champagne!

Per German tradition, we indulged in a little "Dinner for One." This skit was completely new to me upon moving to Switzerland 5 years ago, now I think I can recite it. If you have 10 min, I highly recommend a viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1v4BYV-YvA

Best Wishes to all of our Friends and Readers in 2014! 

We wish you all a lot of good health, good friends, and success in the up coming year.

Tschüss 2013!

Happy Holidays

What a way to end our show year!

We decided this fall that we wanted to take a week long vacation to celebrate finishing our degrees. Of course we planned on bringing the dogs with, so I looked for a few locations that I'd like to go to and also possibilities for dog shows or trials. Low-and-behold, there were double CACIB shows in Wels, Austria, only 2 hours from Vienna. Even better, there was a lovely Wine and Spa hotel, that I had seen on CNN about 2 years ago as one of the top wine destinations in Europe, only an hour and a half away. We've been wanting to visit Austria for the past couple of years, but never made the 8 hour trek to Vienna. So after I finished my degree in October, the first thing I did was to book hotels and sign up for the dog shows.

Well, I have to say, our last dog shows of the year paid off! After a disappointing weekend in Geneva in November, in which Baxter received the Excellent 1, but the CAC was withheld, this was a great pick me up. Not only did Baxter receive Excellent 1 with CACA (Champion certificate in Austria) on Saturday, but he repeated the win on Sunday and, in addition, picked up another CACA and a reserve CACIB! The CACIB is given to the best male, so our little guy was picked as 2nd best male dog.

There were over 30 dachshunds from all over Europe there this weekend, so we were very happy about our first wins in Austria. Now we have at least 1 year to collect at least 2 more CACAs. :)

Not only did we have a nice time and, of course, had some nice wins, but we finally met the breeder of Freddie's father Kobeddus Effendi, Caroline, in person! We have been Facebook friends and emailing back an forth for years now, so it was nice to finally meet and chat.

Now Simon, the dogs and I are having our vacation. We explored Linz a bit and visited the Christmas market and had great views of the city, even though the weather was a bit crappy. Now we are settled in for the night at our fantastic fancy hotel. It is the best graduation present that I could have at the moment. :)

So with our wins, we are ending our show season. It has been an amazing year and I couldn't ask for more from the dogs. They have both done amazing and been incredibly successful this year. I can only hope that 2014 will be as fruitful as 2013!

Reasons to be Thankful

Being a born and bred American, I'm still a fan and proponent of Thanksgiving. For the past 4 years I have hosted Thanksgiving dinners for our friends. They may not be necessarily exactly on Thanksgiving (usually they are 1 to 2 weeks later), but they are always a warm atmosphere of camaraderie and a feeling of the season. My tiny Swiss oven (with the help/recruitment of at least 2 other ovens) has managed to feed up to 30 people, though I'm still wondering how we managed to get them all in the house!

Although this is a few days late, I felt that it still deserved a posting.

This year I have a lot to be thankful for:

First of all my friends! Through thick and thin I have had a lot of great friends. Here are just a smattering of pictures from the past couple years, but they are all fantastic, wonderful people and I am thankful to have them in my life.  

On a stroll in Luxembourg

Hiking in Basel

 

Playing with the Wii at one of many parties

Second, is our breed mentors, who are also Baxter's breeders and our close friends Markku and Salla (Kennel Barbwired). They have always been supportive and encouraging and always push us to be the best we can. I have missed them a lot since they moved back to Finland two years ago, but having the dog connection, they are never more than a phone call away. I would be lying if I didn't say I was excited to be a bit closer to them for the next few years.

On a trip to Croatia with Baxter's 1/2 sister & brother, Aura and Arnold, and mom Iiris

Third is my ADORABLE goddaughter Emma. She is the daughter of Markku and Salla and she is the happiest baby that I know! She is a heartbreaker and I love spoiling her. She is really starting to have a wonderful personality and I look forward to watching her grow up.

Fourth of course is my boys!! They are clowns, they are my footwarmers, and they are the monsters that I struggle with every evening when I go to bed and find a dackel shaped lump on my side of the bed. They have taught me so much about the breed and what these little dogs are capable of. They have made me feel more integrated into the community and forced me to really learn more of the language (though I still need to practice a LOT). They are extremely successful dogs in their own right and I look forward to a lot more wonderful years with the two of them. They have also really got me thinking about dog breeding and I have begun my search for a nice female. I don't know how long this will take... a few month or a few years, we will see, but I have a good idea of what I am looking for and when the right pup comes along, I'll know it.

After a spurlaut practice in 2012

Freddie in his element

Baxter in his chair

Fifth is Simon. He has been my rock and has been there for me through a very difficult last couple of years. In addition, he agreed to dive into the dackel world with me and has been a companion, partner in crime, and interpreter. Together we made a house and lives for ourselves and soon we will go through the process of moving and starting over in a new country. Thanks for being part of the adventure!

Sixth is for my family. Being back in the USA for Thanksgiving made me realize that sometimes it is just really nice to have family close to you. Laughing uncontrollably over stupid jokes, playing games, chatting over dinner or a drink, just everything is nicer in person. Although we don't always agree on things, they have always been supportive... even when I moved 5000 miles away.

The final thing I am thankful for is finding a place to live in our soon-to-be homeland. It is a townhouse instead of a house, but the location is totally ideal. It is near a huge green space, a 2 minute walk to the seaside, 5 minutes into town and shopping, and a direct bus line to Simon's work. I'm still in the process of looking for a job, but I am hoping that the next 2 months bring some success. Here are a couple pictures of Malmö, which we can see from our section of seaside near the house. Of course I forgot to take pictures when actually touring the apartment!

The sea off Malmö

in Malmö

Panorama of the seashore in Malmö

As 2013 comes to a close, I am hoping that 2014 brings great things. A lot will change and I am sure it will be challenging, but it will definitely be an interesting adventure!

What a month!

So the past month has been a whirlwind in our household as you may have realized from the flurry of posts. Every weekend we have had a dog event. Although this is not the most ideal for our personal life, it has been extremely fruitful for us as dog owners!

Just to summarize it all:

Baxter successfully completed 3 tests- BHP-G (BHP Tagessieger), Schwhk/40 (Tracking), Sp (Finding Hares)

Best of all, for his BHP-G exam he achieved 1st prize and best of the day (Tagessieger) and 92pts and 1st prize on his blood tracking exam. Spurlaut could have been a bit better, but we can live with 3rd prize and can work on getting him a higher prize later on.

Furthermore, for his first exhibition as an adult (sniff, our little puppy is now officially too old for junior class... they grow so fast!) he received V1 CAC towards his German championship (Karlsruhe).

Plus our little guy has developed into a very handsome dachshund if I do say so myself!

Fred amazed us with his continued great work! For the first time in over a year he ventured back into the fox den and earned 2x 100pts, 1st prize in trials and furthermore, 1 second reserve CAC (RRCAC). Plus he did amazing in the rather tough BhFK in Italy where the dog must work the fox up a chimney. He only needs to work on being a little bit faster...
Additionally, Fred did amazing work on his tracking exam, earning him 100 pts and a CAC towards his Italian working championship. I guess we will have to plan at least 1 more trip down to Italy to try for the remaining CACs and get the brown dog a show rating (Fred's Hat-trick).
Finally and the biggest surprise of the month was Freddie's rating at the IRAs. As I mentioned, we took Fred in order to get him a rating in a catalog show because who knows what we'd like him to do in the future. In working dog class Fred received the rating V1 CAC (Karlsruhe)! He is a great mover, but the ring is not his style and he was far happier in his kennel or on my lap, so he'll remain our "little" hunter for now.

So good job boys! 

Finally, I have one more big announcement... 2014 will begin a new chapter for us and the dachshund as we are planning for a move to Sweden! Simon has officially accepted a postdoc position in Lund (~60 km from Copenhagen) and so we are all excited to continue with our new and exciting adventure. Of course we will miss Switzerland, but Basel is only a 12 hour drive away. It's amazing to me how small Europe is. :)

So get ready all! New tests, new shows, new environment will all be coming in 2014! Now I'm off to practice my Svenska. Hej då!

Italian trip 2013

This year we decided to make our trip to Italy slightly earlier this year to ensure that we would be able to get in some tracking trials. We signed Freddie up for tracking as well as fox trials and with Baxter we focused on tracking.
We went down a few days earlier this year in order to do a Saupr. practice as well as try our little dog on the fox. We couldn't have picked a prettier day to drive down. Please enjoy some of Switzerland's gorgeous views. :)

Driving through the Vierwaldstättersee in Central Switzerland 

Simon is from this area and I have to say, I'm jealous I didn't have this view growing up

A view of the Alps 

Our last sunny view before the Gotthard tunnel

  

Ticino was cloudy, but the hanging clouds are beautiful

Getting closer!

This region of Italy is often quite foggy

A little sun to end the day

We were extremely happy with the extra private practice at the Palladini's house. Antonio and Barbara are really some of the nicest people that I have met. Antonio was more than willing and happy to allow us to try Baxter in the artificial fox den and pit both dogs against the boars. Success in both practices and maybe we will try the small one on these trials in another year or so, but we didn't want to overwhelm him this time.

The boys were ready to go! Freddie spent much of the time in the front seat "driving" the car while we were waiting for our start times. Baxter occasionally jumped to the front, but preferred sitting on top on the wine that we picked up.

Waiting for our tracking trial

My team

Success! Great track guys!

Picking up our awards for tracking

All I can say is success! Freddie is really coming into his own as a hunter and I really need to get my hunting license ASAP so I can continue with this talented dog. Not only did he ace his 40 hr tracking trial with 100 pts and a CAC (a certificate towards an Italian working certificate), but he once again was a maniac on fox. In both trials offered (BHFK95 and FBJA) he received 100 pts, 1st prize and 1 RRCAC(2nd reserve) in FBJA. The Fbja competition came down to how quickly the dogs made it to the fox. Amazingly, there was a standard long that was amazingly fast at 15 sec from the entry to the fox. Just for reference, the fastest kanninchen dachshund in an earlier trial made the trek in 9 secs, so this longhair was quick! Fred took what seemed like the longest path possible (which included a dip/incline) and took 26 sec, putting him in 3rd place of the 4 top dogs. For the BHFK95 he did amazing and pushed the fox like a champ, but did the trial in 4 min 13 sec and he would have needed to complete it in 4 min for the CAC. Oh well, no worries! Still a great job!

Atta boy Fred!

Our haul

Additionally, Baxter did amazing on his tracking exam. Both Simon and the judge were amazed at how meticulous and focused the small dog was on the trail. He just needs a bit more practice on corners as he tends to overshoot, then back track and start again. We are planning to continue with tracking practice this autumn since it is great exercise for the dogs and for me! Hopefully we can continue to get better and better. Next year's goals include finishing Freddie's Italian working championship, tracking and hunting tests in Germany with the boys, and hopefully partaking in working trials in the Nordic countries. Of course at least one of these goals require me to follow up in my goal to complete my hunting license/exam! Let's see what next year brings!