Mission Accomplished!

So June was a good month all around... well, except for the weather! Swedish summer has yet to appear and as of yesterday, it was still totally necessary to wear a jacket to work. WTF Sweden!?!?!

End result of this day... CAC, CACIB, BOB, BIG1 :)

So one great thing... Baxter is home! Oh how I missed my fuzzy boy! Don't get me wrong, I love Liina and Freddie, but Bax and I have a special bond. Liina is not especially happy that he is home. They play and wrestle, but she constantly patrols the kitchen and any food bowl on the floor (empty or full) is hers. We are working on her guarding. I can take things away with no problems, but she is a true bitch to both Bax and Freddie in this respect. She is still young and we are working on it.

2x Barbwired dogs... one standard and one mini

 I also did something for myself this month... I took a course, practiced, and studied my butt off for the Swedish Hunting Exam. It was a lot of firsts; learning about Swedish hunting laws, learning European animals, of which I had NO idea of the Swedish names, though sometimes I knew the German, not that it helped me, and learned to shoot a shot gun and a 308 class 1 rifle. As I am a true beginner, I didn't always put the guns flush to my shoulder, resulting in some gnarly bruises now. The written/theory portion for me was ok. I can learn and understand laws and facts fairly quickly (thanks to a bajillion years of schooling), but I was nervous about the shooting since it wasn't something that I could practice or learn on my own at home. I was a bit down after our 2nd session at the shooting range the day before the exam. I seemed to do ok on the rifle, but the stupid clay pigeon shooting, ugh. I felt hopeless. My class was small and a nice group of people, me and 4 guys. I said our class sounded like a bad joke, " An American, an Irishman, an Englishman, an Aussie, and an Italian walk into a bar..." Anyhow, the guys all had previous shooting experience, two of which having served in the military. After inconsistently shooting clay pigeons for 2 days, I thought I was getting the hang of it, but nope. Final practice and I was stuck with a "score" of 3/6, just not enough. I was discouraged but reminded myself that tomorrow was another day.

So on Sunday we traveled up to Markaryd to take our theory and practical exams. The theory exam was ok and consisted of 70 questions, which we were allowed to have translated. I think I could have done ok on the test even without the translation. Once it was confirmed that we had all passed with at least 60/70 questions correct (we all scored much higher than that), we were allowed to go for the practical test. It consisted of several parts. I and 2 of the guys were up first on the shotgun. We first had to pass a gun safety test, in which we had to pretend we were on a hunt and come up to several obstacles, such as a river, fences, people out in our hunting area. Once we had been approved, we could go shooting. The first shooting test was on a running hare. We had to get a minimum of 8 pellets into the target area. Then off to another gun safety area where we had to determine if the various animals that "popped up" were close enough to safely shoot and (hopefully) kill. All of these tests were fine and we all got our cards signed off with no issues. The final test was the clay pigeons. We were given 6 rounds of shot and had to hit 4 of 6 clays. I was so nervous as this was definitely my worst area (though not horrible). We did one round and it felt good. I hit about 8 of 12 clay pigeons and decided that there was no time like the present and to just go for the test. Well, it was awesome. I think I hit 11 of 12 clay pigeons! I was so elated that I ran to my instructor afterwards to give him a bit hug! I was so excited that not only had I passed the theory portion, but I could now officially hunt with a shotgun (my favorite). :) Next it was onto rifle shooting. We performed gun safety again and then I was the first in the group to take gun safety and start shooting. We did precision shooting with a 22 calibre rifle, then onto the moose. For this the moose is about 80-100m away standing. Once the first shot hits, the moose begins running, then stops, turns around and runs again. You have to shoot the moose while both standing and running and hit within the target 4 times in a row and then complete 3 sessions of this. There are 9 chances to complete it. It was my last test of the day and I was tired. My first 2 rounds were flawless and after a short break, I finished... passing all aspects of my hunting exam!

Booyah!

I am now licensed to hunt in Sweden! Now to just wait until deer hunting season!

Baxter's most successful trip

Baxter is finished with his show tour and coming home soon. 

Bax, BIG1 in Thessaloniki

In the meanwhile, here are his stats from his 2 month show tour:

12xCAC, 4xCACIB, 2xresCACIB, 5xBOB, 2xBOS, 2xBIG2, 2xBIG1

 He gained 4 national championships (LT, RO, SE, SRB), 2 international championships (CIB, CIE), 1 Grand Championship (SRB), Welt union teckel (WUT) championship, and has now open championships in AT, DE, HU, and GR.

He and Nikos were a great team and Baxter has gotten nothing but the highest compliments from judges and show people/friends alike. He will return to Nikos next year to finish HU and GR, but in the meantime he will be going on a diet (he was too well loved while in Budapest) and meeting with the badger this summer. I hope to have him in shape for hunting this autumn/winter. 

So excited my boy will be back home to snuggle soon!

Website Promotion and puppies!!

I am happy to announce that Freddie's breeder- Madame Dessinges- has started her own kennel website!

Du Sangre Bleu kennel can now be found here: http://dusangrebleu.chiens-de-france.com

Pages for Freddie's sisters Frieda and Fauve can be seen as well as a little page for my brown boy. :)

Currently, Frieda has puppies which were born on the 9th of May. The father of the litter is an extremely handsome and talented French male: CIB, CIT, WUTCH, French Working CH, CHCS, CACS NE 2010, , CHCP, VCF ST 2011 Dino de la plaines aux lievres
(view the pedigree here: Dino x Frieda)

Dino and Frieda are both regularly used in hunting in France. Both parents are OI free and non-carriers and PRA/CAT free. Additionally, both have been awarded Excellent in the show ring, with Dino additionally being awarded CACs and CACIBs.

The French and German blood behind these puppies is outstanding! If I only had room for a new puppy...

That being said, a few of the pups are looking for active show and/or hunting homes! Madame Dessinges speaks excellent English, so don't hesitate contacting her if you are interested.

Freddie's beautiful sisters Frieda and Fauve

Liina BOS and Junior BIS-4 in Kjugekull!

I have heard a rumor that there is always rain for the yearly dachshund show in Kjugekull. Last year Baxter was BM2 with CK and CERT and this year it was Liina's turn to shine. Liina and I were up and on the road at 6:30 this morning to join our friend Marianne and her puppy Laura for the taxklub show. It was the biggest club show I have ever been to with 133 dachshunds of all 9 varieties registered! The judges were great and moved along at a relatively good pace despite the adverse weather conditions. The day started and ended with sunshine, but there was quite a lot of rain in between. Regardless, good times, good friends, and good results!

Liina was shown in Junior class as a mini wire (measured today at 32cm) with 2 other female mini wires in the class. The judge loved Liina and awarded her Ex1, CK, Junior BOB! I was over the moon! We then walked for Best female and won! SO exciting!!! Then the heavens opened up and the rain poured down. Both Liina and I looked like drowned rats, but were awarded BOS (best opposite sex). :)

Evaluation Translation " Excellent type, size and proportions. Beautifully well balanced head. Good ears, eyes (though eyes could be a bit darker). Good bite. Very good forebreast and front. Excellent neck and shoulders, good ribcage depth and length. Beautiful back/pelvis and well angled back. Excellent coat quality and excellent movement

To top it all off, we walked today in the Best in Show Junior competition and placed 4th! So proud of my little dog and how well she did today! A little more practice and she will be a superstar. :)

Freddie's weekend at Ales Stenar

Simon had colleagues in town and Freddie went along as a "mascot." I received some great photos of the brown boy!

2nd great track for Freddie

Freddie and Simon went for a blood tracking exam today in Sjobö and it couldn't have gone better. With a time of 17 min and high praise from the judge regarding his work, Freddie was awarded 1st prize in Open Class! Hard work and extra practice to focus paid off for our oldest boy. :)

Big Congrats Freddie my boy! Let's get that last 1st prize!

Doesn't he look so proud of himself?

National Purebred Dog Day

Even though I am not in the US to celebrate purebred dog day, the dackel and I want to show our support!

My dogs were bred not only for their looks,  but for purpose. ALL of their ancestors have participated in and passed a variety of working trials in order to maintain the purpose and mentality of the breed. Their parents were carefully selected for their working attitude, beauty, personality, and mentality. I can tell each of their ancestors back AT LEAST 4 generations, and in most cases even out to 8 generations. You want to tell me all of my dogs are inbred? Well 2 of my 3 have a 0% COI in 4 generations, meaning they share NONE of the same descendants. Freddie is slightly higher (though still VERY LOW) as his great grandfather was used 2x in his pedigree. Most people don't have as detailed a family tree as most purebred dogs, nor can they claim that somewhere in their past their isn't some sort of "inbreeding." 

Baxter (top-2 months), Freddie (middle-3 months) and Liina (bottom-4 months) as puppies

Each of the dogs has their own distinct personality and abilities. Baxter is a show dog with a LOT of hunting drive and promise in both tracking and underground, Freddie is a hunting machine with an excellent drive and a strong, elegant body and Liina is an upcoming shining star who is a natural tracker, with a lot of good looks and attitude. Many, many thanks to all of the ancestors and careful, responsible breeders for taking the time to show, test, and plan for their future generations! 

Someday I will join the ranks and carry the torch of responsible breeders everywhere.

For now though, I am going to go snuggle my dogs. :)