Puppy development

Hi again.
I have been absent for a long time, I know. Well, for various reasons, I have been in Finland since the 1st of May. Yes, it has been SO difficult to leave beautiful Sweden in the springtime, but I have been helping out here with my friend's house, goddaughter, and their new puppies. What's that you say... puppies? Ohhhh yes, that's right, I'm with Markku & Salla and sitting next to where I am typing are 4 adorable dachshund puppies (and mom of course!).

2 of the girls, taken 3 days ago

Although the puppies are of course cute, it has really been an eye opening experience to watch their development 1st hand. When I arrived the puppies were exactly 10 days old and now they are approaching their 4 weeks mark. I've seen their eyes open, heard their first peeps, watched them take their first steps (though walking is still a bit awkward for some), figure out that their brother and sisters, as well as mom, can be played with, chewed on, slept on, and barked at, and eat their first meal.

In addition, I have gotten to experience tiny puppy kisses, having my fingers "chewed" on (their teeth haven't erupted yet), being barked at by the feistiest little girl, and today there was a play battle between my hand and the lightest girl. Lastly, I have gotten to see tiny puppy tails wagging so happily when mom comes in or we come in to talk to them. Of course these little things have me wrapped around their paws and I melt when I look at them, but this has been a totally valuable time for me as well.

I, one day, hope to also breed. The whelping box, the care, the day to day activities and well being of these little guys are important. In addition, Salla is giving me lessons all the time in what happens when during development and how to start picking out important attributes in young puppies. Although I've read all about these things, it is a different matter seeing them "live."For these puppies, it is too soon to say anything about their movement since walking is still being mastered, but one can look at them structurally; in the rib, hip, front legs, back angulation, length, and make an educated guess about height. We of course all have our favorites. :)

Who doesn't love sleeping puppies?

I will not be here to see the pups off to their new homes, but some have already found some great and enthusiastic new owners and I'm sure they will have long and happy lives. No, I will be returning to Sweden in about a week to pack up the apartment, move to a new, awesome house with garden(!!), and start a new job in June at the Biomedical center in Lund. Last, but not least, I will get to see my boys again! I have missed them all (the 4 legged ones as well as my 2 legged one), even though my time here has been highlighted with my happy, beautiful goddaughter, puppies, and great friends, it will be great to have things back to "normal." :)

The new "home" for our little pack (the Audi is already comfy)

The boys enjoying a walk in the countryside near the new house

A new litter in the Barbwired Family

Late on Easter evening, Baxter's half sister Ch. Barbwired Austria (Ch. Taxette's Isla Margarita x Ch. Suddebok Voronoff) gave birth to 4 puppies (1 male and 3 females- all wildboar in color). The father of the litter is Ch. Gordon Forte-Forte de Buch de la Perouse. Everyone is doing well and the puppies are very vital and active.

Both parents are accomplished show dogs, but have also been tried in working trials. Additionally, Barbwired Austria is a Swedish tracking Champion and an Italian working champion and has also completed working trials in Germany, Switzerland, Finland, and Austria.

Currently, one female puppy is still available. 

For more information on the puppies please see Barbwired "C" Litter.

4 years have flown by...

This has been an amazing weekend. Great weather, great food, great people and last, but not least, a celebration today for our lovely brown boy Freddie for his birthday. I can hardly believe that he is already 4 years old! Where does the time go??

Almost 3 years old winning 2nd place in trial (Fox) in Italy

It seems like just yesterday that we were driving 6 hours to Paris in anticipation to pick up this little guy:

Adorable, no?

                                 
He changed our lives forever and with this little brown dog, we caught the "dackel bug." Freddie is a wonderful companion, loves just about everyone he meets-including kids-, an all too good watchdog, and a great working dog. He may not have Baxter beat in titles in front of his name, but he has the working trials to make up for it! He's excellent on fox and we hope to work him under the ground here in Sweden as well, though this time on badger.

Me and a little Freddog

Since it was close to 18C (~65F) today, Simon and the boys took a morning stroll on the beach while I was getting brunch ready, followed by an afternoon walk through the forest. Now there are two tired dachshunds in my living room as Simon and I relax, enjoying the rest of our Easter Sunday.

Happy 4th Birthday Freddie and Happy Easter to all of our readers! 

Kennel Barbwired has a new look

I haven't been a very active blogger lately, but I have been busy with a couple other things. One of which was re-vamping the Kennel Barbwired website. I think it came out pretty well if I do say so myself. ;) So if you just can't get enough of Baxter or want to check out his mom or siblings as well as all of the dog's accomplishments, go take a look. I can fully attest that they have some very nice looking and working dogs for anyone interested.

Starting our Swedish testing

So I have been preparing a piece on doing so many different activities with our dogs, but the past two days halted it a bit.

Today we performed our first test in Sweden, an Anlagstest for blood tracking. This test is a beginner test to basically to see if a dog has the drive and ability to do blood tracking.  The test calls for a 2-5 hr old track that is at least 600 m through various terrain that the dog must complete in a maximum of 30 min.

We signed Baxter up to participate in a open class blood tracking course so that we could learn about blood tracking in Sweden, which is certainly different from what we are used to in Germany/Switzerland/Italy. Plus, the young dog could use some more experience. On Wednesday we went to the theory course.... All in Swedish (luckily we had a translator), but surprisingly, I understood more than I thought I would. The organizers/ judges for the course are very nice women that, thankfully for us, speak excellent English. They wanted to be sure that we took the Anlagstest before starting the course and were confident that the Bax would do fine even though we haven't tracked since October. So yesterday we got a email that they would have time today if and asked if we could make it and we were on the road to Hässleholm around 10:30 this morning.

Our track was 4 hr old through a forest with moderate cover, though lots of fallen trees, hills, and relatively steep downhill. There was a large stream and some boggy areas, and quite a bit of wildlife (we saw fresh moose prints on our track and 3 deer as we were leaving). Baxter did great and the judge thought so as well, stating that he was a really good blood tracking dog that stayed exactly in the middle of the scent line. With that he got the pass and will now be able to participate in open class blood tracking trials!

Next week we'll take part in some Easter activities with the club as well as laying our 1st open class blood track for practice. Here's to hoping for more good things to come!!

Our April Fool's boy turns 2

Today Baxter turned 2 years old. I can't believe that he is 2 already! Where does the time go? Baxter has matured into a very nice looking boy (if I do say so myself), although he is still a big puppy. I've written about his numerous accomplishments over the past year, so  I won't brag about them here. All I can say is that we are SO incredibly proud of him and looking forward to many more years together.

4 weeks old

On the beach today

A little photo shoot at the pier near our house 

Multi JCh Barbwired Better than the Rest Sfk, Sp, WaT, SchwhK/40, BHP-G

After our photo shooting, we took the dogs for a bit of running in the sand. The water has been a bit high lately, but in the past few days it has receded and the beach has returned. The boys had a good time, even though it was a bit cold this afternoon.

Beach runner!

tug-o-war

Playing in the water

Natural water retriever  (in the background your can see the Øresund bridge that connects Sweden to Denmark)

Life isn't too bad by the beach

The Champion

Show season is upon us again. At times it gets very, very difficult to not take the judges evaluations personally. Showing a dog is a bit like showing a piece of yourself. You put it out there to be judged, sometimes favorably, sometimes not. While one judge might think you have the next World Winner in the making, the other may suggest that this dog is too flawed to continue showing. It's a game of preferences, since no dog is perfect.

Taken from the blog: "The long and short of it all," illustrated by Sheila Dolan

That being said we will likely not be showing as much this year in order to save up a bit of money and give Baxter a bit more time to mature. Never fear, we won't be short on activities. Baxter and Simon are attending a tracking class this spring to learn the rules of tracking in Sweden and to practice. We are planning to work towards tracking championships with both of the dogs this year as well as learn more about the den tests in Sweden. Much more to come, I'm sure.