Baxter is an Uncle!

On the 21st of July, Baxter's sister Iita gave birth to 7 puppies (3 boys and 4 girls) in Finland. Mom and puppies are doing well. The father of the litter is MultiWinner and Ch Lollipop della Val Vezzeno.

Iita's character is exactly like Baxter- a wonderful, lovey dog that is very people oriented. Iita has not yet been in trials, but her mother is a Swedish tracking champion and an Italian working champion and her brother-our Baxter-has proven himself to be quite versatile in blood tracking, spurlaut, water retrieving, and is coming along nicely with training underground. Additionally, Lollipop has earned an Italian working championship (fbja, bhfk95, Sp).

Father of the Litter: Ch Lollipop della Val Vezzeno

Due to the large litter size, some puppies are still available. The pedigree of these puppies is filled with beauty and working champions, and these puppies are looking for active homes (show, hunting, or trials). If you are interested you can contact Kennel Barbwired (in English, Detusch, Suomi or Svenska). I can also put you in touch with them.

Sweden has granted us a warm welcome

We have now lived in Sweden for 6 months. Can you believe it? There has been a lot of changes and a lot of frustrations, such as a never-ending waiting period for my residence permit, which I am still waiting for by the way, but I digress. One thing that I didn't expect, but which has been a completely wonderful surprise has been the kindness of the people.

Of course most of our early contacts were dachshund (tax) people, so naturally they must be wonderful, right? ;)

The group after a gryt training (photo H. Arlock)

 
It has been so much easier to start to integrate into the new culture and surroundings with the dogs. We had activities and busy lives once again. We weren't just sitting home alone in the middle of the countryside, we were going to practices, shows, and social outings. Social media has been crucial to getting to know people and Facebook has connected us with a lot of Dachshund people. It is really a wonderful thing to meet and hangout with your Facebook friends on a regular basis. We even met one of our blog followers (Lindsjö Taxar) that was kind enough to chat us up, give us training tools, and invite us for future hunting practices with the dogs. 

Majsan & Simon at the show in Tvååker. Neither of us got the results that we needed, but it was fun to get together none-the-less

Simon has even started playing his trumpet once again due to our friend Elisabeth. Luckily, we now have a house with no neighbors, so he can play all he wants... now I'm just waiting for the drum set to appear.

Simon and Elisabeth playing horn at the club show in Kjugekull (photo E. Ahlin)

We haven't necessarily been as successful in showing as we would like to be since moving here, but it will come. We have a young dog and  The dogs have made up for it with their natural abilities. We had to "re-learn" how to track since the Swedish method is different than me previously learned (which reminds me that I should have Simon do a write-up regarding it). The dogs are doing just fine, but it is the handlers that need more practice!

All in all, things are going well here in Sweden and summer holidays are just around the corner. What more could a girl and her dachshunds ask for?

Baxter's first open class tracking trial a success!

This week started out really shitty with my computer being stolen from our car while out with friends in Helsingborg. Ugh. It was my work/home/everything computer. Thankfully everything was backed up somewhere and the car did not have any major damages. Still annoying none the less.

Anyhow, Markku and Salla were visiting for a holiday/shows/tracking trials with their dog and while here, chatted with a few tracking judges. Markku found out that at least one judge would be available this week and so we signed Baxter up for a tracking trial. Our trainers this spring suggested that Baxter needed more focus in order to do well, but after speaking with more people, they thought he sounded ready and suggested we just try a "real" test track. So today Simon and Baxter headed off to Sjöbö to do their first open class tracking test.

I am overjoyed to say that the boys did very, very well and were rewarded with a 1st prize in open class! Not only is this a great result, but Baxter needs the result if he ever wants to be a Beauty Champion in Sweden. We are all really happy and hope for at least 2 more 1st prizes in our future! :)

Congratulations my boy and very good work!

Photo by Eva Ahlin

How versatile is your dog?

This is a topic that I have started writing about time and time again, but after a comment today, I felt the need to write about it. We were told today that our dog has "too many problems" with tracking and there is no way we should even be thinking/practicing for den tests. Now these "problems" with tracking is focus. Baxter is still a relatively young dog and in true dachshund fashion, is stubborn. He is amazing on all of the "hard" parts- bloodless areas, turns and the bloodless down and back (there isn't a good translation for the Swedish word). He is a high energy dog with a lot of drive, but he doesn't always want to track because we ask him. This will come with time and more experience for sure. The length, time, etc... doesn't matter, but deer tracks right across the path is WAY more interesting than our stupid artificial tracks. Anyhow, more practices and he will be fine. We would love for him to be ready now, but we are more than willing to spend time and energy on our little doggie.

It isn't the comment of "too many problems" that bothered me, the thing that bothered me was that someone other than Simon was trying to tell me what I should do with my dog. I know that it is a dog, but I feel like the semi-equivalent is when new parents are told how they should raise their child. Just a bit pissed off. I mean, if this was an especially close friend that knew our dog really well or his breeders, maybe I would have had a conversation about it. Luckily, Simon was approached with this question, because he is much more cool in these situations than I am. He basically replied "I think my dog is capable of telling the difference between an artificial den and a blood track" and that was the end of the conversation. This is not the first time that we have had someone try to tell us how to raise-people had their opinions of Freddie too-and train our dogs, in essence, tell us that we just do far too much with them. I'm not sure if some of these people feel the need to treat us a bit like children, since we are on average 20 years younger than many members, but it gets old. I am completely open to having an open discussion about these things, but I do NOT respond well to just being told I can or cannot do something for no great reason.

My question, though, is how much is really too much? If we were blood tracking every day or hunting or doing agility or whatnot, then yes, I would agree that we are doing FAR too much. For a while we were a bit overloaded: 2x per week dog class/obedience in 2 different clubs, training for BHP, training blood tracking. I mean, a dog is definitely a time consuming hobby, but between all that and work, we had no free time. We have cut back significantly in our activities since moving to Sweden. We are still busy, don't get me wrong, we have been showing Baxter about 1x per month, we practice obedience on our own in the garden, and we have taken a tracking course in order to get a feel for how to do blood tracking here. Now we have started gryt/den training now that tracking is over, but this was a total of 3x and maximum 1 time per week. I wouldn't call that intense training.

I also find that it is a little close minded to think that a dog is not capable of performing multiple tasks. I think my dog is smart enough to know the difference between an artificial den and a blood track or chasing rabbits or retrieving. We have different collars and different commands for each activity. Also, we aren't doing blood tracking in the morning and den in the evening or anything, these activities are days or weeks apart. Anyhow, isn't one of the great things about dachshunds is that they are supposed to be versatile dogs? They are the only breed that officially hunt under and above ground and many participate every year in Vp (versatility test) that involves: Spurlaut, SchwhK, Stöber, and obedience all on 1 day, these dogs have to have hunting drive AND know how to do multiple activities. These are not easy tests. They are taxing on the dog and the handler and we are hoping to some day participate in one. In fact, now in Switzerland to be a working dog 3 different test now have to be passed to get your working certificate: Sp, SchwhK, BhFK95 (rabbit trailing, blood tracking, den tests) and for the CIB, the dog has to also pass Stöber test or Vp, in addition to 2x CACIB in 2 countries.

An example VP form

Can all dogs be equally versatile? I doubt it. We see huge differences between Freddie and Baxter in how they work. Baxter is more reserved and more meticulous then Fred. He thinks about things more while he is doing them and is more strong willed. Freddie is much more willing to please and is much more eager and excitable type of dog. He lets his instincts take over, especially during the hunting activities. On blood tracking and BHP (the companion dog test), Baxter far exceled even at his young age, but he needs a little more work to be truly excellent- he has a LOT of natural talent. Freddie took much, much more work to get him to pass the 2 tests that Baxter did amazingly well on. It's not that he isn't talented, but his excitability kept him from calmly, quietly waiting, or running (honestly, 500m tracks in 10-15 min when we were starting out), rather than carefully following a blood track and checking his work as Baxter does. On den test which is a lot of instinct, Freddie is far superior, though it took him 3 tries to master this different den set up(as compared to the German style), whereas today, on Baxter's 2nd ever practice in a den, he showed no problems in the tight entry space and moving around/exploring the different areas. Different dogs, different lineage, different ways of working.

Dogs are like people, they are different, but I think that the important thing is to try different activities and see where the dog does well. Maybe hunting isn't your dog's forte, but agility is, so go and work with them on that! Don't put the dog into a single category. If you have the opportunity and desire to try out different tests and activities, my advice is to do it! It can never hurt and it gives you the chance to further bond with your dog. Now, if your dog doesn't like the activity, that is another thing, but you'll never know until you try! 

 

Will we do various tests with the boys in Sweden- yes. You have to pick your battles, but we are going to carry on with what we are doing since, overall, it seems to work. Maybe the dogs will prove the nay-sayers wrong, either way, they are champions to me!

Picking the perfect puppy

First of all, I know that I stated at the beginning of the year that I wanted to take more time to write opinion pieces and just post more in general. Well, one would have thought that being unemployed would lead to a lot of time to write. Wrong. Between searching for openings, re-writing my CV and cover letters to fit the company, and moving-yes, moving AGAIN- time slipped away. It wasn’t the highlight of my life and after spending all day on the computer, the last thing I really wanted to do was sit down and write additional articles. Funnily enough, now that I have started my new job, my motivation to blog has really started up again. Who knows the reason, but I’m going to try and stick to my original plan and post more often.

 

Out on a stroll at the new house

One great thing to come out of the rather busy 6 months that I spent unemployed was that it gave me a lot of time to read up and research different dogs and bloodlines. I’ve looked at dogs throughout Europe and even some from the US looking for what is “my type” of dachshund. Why you may ask? Well, we were searching for a puppy. Yes, Simon and I decided that we would like to eventually breed and so for the past year or so my ear was to the ground and all eyes were on the internet looking for the perfect puppy. We weren’t sure how long it would take or where the little one would come from, but why not start looking and asking around.  

Now there is no such thing as the “perfect” puppy. Once in a blue moon does a dog come around that really, truly has it all, and that “all” is different for every person. I had to ask myself what I thought was important in dachshunds, what traits I liked, and what bloodlines I liked or disliked and why. I asked around to my mentors for suggestions and several breeders to ask about upcoming litters. Since this bitch would be my brood bitch, I wanted to ensure that I could get the best puppy I could. This is where Simon and my crazy dog lifestyle really came in handy.

 

The World and European Dog Shows are great venues for peaking at upcoming "Superstars" in the show world.

I talked to both large and small kennels and all the kennels I asked told me that they would love to give us a puppy. They had seen us at shows, seen us at trials, followed our adventures with our dogs via Facebook or the blog and knew that we would be an active family for their dog. Not only would the pup get a lot of experiences and be in an active home, but of course show and trial wins are great advertisements for the kennel itself.

So did we want a puppy from a show breeder or a working breeder? Well, ideally we were searching for both. Our mentors were pivotal in shaping our idea of the breed and even though their dogs were from mostly show lines, there were working dogs and dogs with multiple working trials in their pedigrees. In fact, in the Nordic countries, dachshunds cannot become a beauty champion WITHOUT a working trial. That’s right, the pretty dogs have to do some work too. In Sweden they must get a 1^st prize in open class blood tracking (20hr), 1^st prize in artificial underground test, or 2^nd prize in hunting test. The requirements are similar in Norway, Finland, and Denmark. I personally think this is a great thing since what is the point in having a beautiful dachshund if it can’t do the work it was meant to do? So we wanted to be sure that our future puppy had a promising background with both working and show results.

Freddie's Dad Effendi (above) and Baxter's mom Iiris (below) are good examples of dogs that have multiple show and working titles.

We were also looking for parents that were structurally sound, with good proportions, and good size. I bring up size because I have noticed much bigger dogs since we have moved up North. In Germany or Switzerland, Baxter was not enormous, but was on the larger size being ~9.5-10kg. Baxter is still able to squeeze into tight spots and run around in artificial dens and this, to me, is important as dachshund should be able to chase their original quarry. Ideally, I would like a female that is on the smaller side. I think that size in dachshund can be just as difficult to keep in check as good hair quality. I know I rag on the Nordic dachshunds being big, but it isn’t just in the north that you find big dogs… they are everywhere! In fact, for several years there has been a debate about allowing a 4^th size of dachshund into the ring-one that is over 10 kg. In Germany before 2013, any dog weighing over 9.9kg was not allowed to be given an “Excellent” rating and, thus, could gain no certificates towards a championship. As of July 2013, this rule was abolished and scales are no longer in use. Actually, I think Switzerland and Germany were the last countries to abolish scales for dachshunds as they aren’t weighed almost anywhere else. There are good and bad points to this decision, but at least as of November last year, I wouldn’t say that there was a huge influx of show people bringing in big dogs. In fact, I only once noticed “giant” dachshunds in the ring that made a 9.2kg male look like a mini. Ideally, I would like a standard bitch, from small/average sized parents in the hopes of maintaining small, feisty hunting dogs.  Of course this may all backfire and the puppies may end up as 12 kg monsters, you never know.

One thing that I find both exciting and frustrating is looking through pedigrees. My Bachelor's degree is in Genetics and it was really the topic that not only started my love of science, but also directed me to the career that I am in today. Dogs genetics are, therefore, quite an interesting subject for me. There is a lot of information out there (titles, trials, temperment, disease testing, etc...) and pedigree dogs are very well documented. Of course, perusing through pedigrees can be frustrating when looking for a puppy, an example, Revestreken's Frikk. Now, I have nothing against Frikk himself. He is a very nice dog with a lot of working and beauty titles and is still going strong as a veteran. The problem came when I found a dog I liked, ohh and ahh'd over it, found the pedigree and... Frikk. Due him having so many nice qualities, Frikk is in the pedigree of many dogs throughout Europe (and the US). My own dogs are included in that statistic as Frikk is Baxter's Great-Grandfather. Did I want to line breed on Frikk? Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to look for a puppy that had no Frikk bloodlines or quite far back in the pedigree. This would give me the opportunity later on to use one of the many wonderful dogs I had seen and researched or their offspring without having a high inbreeding coefficient. 

Revestreken's Frikk

That brings us back again to breeding. Did I want a female that I could pair with my males? The answer: maybe. I have nothing against my boys, they both have their strengths and weaknesses, as do all dogs. I think Freddie is an excellent dog. He is a hunter, but also a goofy companion and sofa dog. His anatomy is very nice, but he would definitely need a partner with excellent hair. Baxter is a very pretty dog with great hair, great head, great body, but his front is a bit wide. His hunting skills are excellent, but he is not as intense as Freddie, though he is high energy with a lot of drive, he is very reserved at home. With qualities like these and rather unique pedigrees (French/German & Italian/Finnish), I hope that they are appreciated by the breeders here in the north for their own merits. If I had a female with a pedigree that was compatible with Freddie or Baxter AND compliment and improve upon their faults, then yes, I would consider it. Would I be sad if neither Baxter or Freddie had puppies? A little. In the end, I would personally rather find outside daddies for my future puppies.

So, have I found my perfect puppy? Well, maybe not perfect, but there were several wonderful and very promising candidates... but much more on that later. :)

Training with the badger

So I realize that the blog so far this year has been SUPER Baxter heavy. He is our youngster and since we did not do extensive training with him last year, we are trying to make up for it this year. Although Freddie has had to sit out on a lot of our activities, I think it is for the best as shows and tracking are no fun when you aren't participating. That being said, when we heard that Gryt (Den/Pot) training was starting in our local dachshund club, we jumped on the opportunity.

As I've talked about previously, despite being a bit bigger, Freddie is a monster in the artificial dens. He has completed both trials in Italy with 100 pts (and one RRCAC) and BhFK95 in Germany, where he was complimented by the judges for his working style. We figured that trying him on
the dens in Sweden would be worthwhile.

from pitchcare.com

So there are a few things that are different about dens in Sweden:
They are smaller overall and hexagonal in shape.
The entries are narrow so the dog must go through the smallest spot in the den first.
There is an arm through the middle with a decline and 60 cm "jump" up to the kessel.
There is a badger, which is enclosed in a den to protect it from the dog and the dog from it.

Here is a diagram of the Swedish den

So earlier this week we went out to practice with our dachshund club in the den. There was a very nice and very experienced coach there as most of the 7 dogs that would be practicing were first timers. He was really good at making the whole experience positive for the dogs and not keeping them too long with training, especially since it was quite warm, which isn't nice for the badger, dogs, or people. For an initial experience, the dog was allowed to sniff and react to the badger in the light. Like in German, the top of the den were covered in wooden board that could be opened in several spots. The dog was placed in and given a LOT of praise when it started being very interested and barking at the badger. You could tell in the dog when instinct kicked in as the god sunk down and the bark changed. Of the dogs there one dog other than Freddie had experience in den testing, but in Denmark. Denmark is more like Finland in how they run their tests (I reported on a Finnish fox test early last year) and have an open den where the dog and fox are able to make contact. It was interesting to see this dog work as she seemed to keep waiting for the badger to come at here and kept running in and out of the den.

Then it was Freddie's turn. Fred was already crazy before he got to the den as he could hear the barking of the previous dog from outside the barn. Obviously the dog was saying there there was something interesting and Fred starting barking high pitched excited barks. He then ran into the barn and looked like a complete idiot with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The trainer initially wanted him to do as the other inexperienced dogs had done and go to the open arm, but Simon said no and instead wanted Freddie to enter as you would in a test (though without the narrow part). Fred wanted to sniff around a bit, but Simon quickly convinced him that going in the tunnel was a good idea. A few seconds of silence and then-BAM-music. Ok, music for me. Freddie working is a wonderful sound to my ears. He has a very strong and powerful bark and is extremely persistent. This is both good and bad as in the Swedish test, the fox doesn't move, but there is a portion of the test where the opening between the dog and badger is closed and the dog must be quiet. The trainer tried to do this with Fred while he was in the tunnel and Fred would stay quiet for 30 sec or so and then get frustrated and let out some pathetic "why can't I get at this?" barks. He promptly was told off for that, since this isn't what we want. We also tried Freddie through the narrow starting tunnel. This was new and he wasn't so sure, but with a little coaxing, he went in just fine (and the 2nd time was better). Overall it was an excellent practice and Freddie received a lot of praise from the trainer.

 The trainer also took it upon himself to personally ask us where the dog was from and what his pedigree was like. When we told him that he was 4 years old from French and Austrian/German lines, he asked if he was available for breeding. We said that he was, to which he loudly replied "Every breeder in Sweden should use this dog. This is one of the best working wires (in den) I have seen in a long time." He promptly tried to pimp Fred out to the Danish wire breeder that was also present. It made me both proud and slightly embarrassed that this man I had just met was so in love with our dog's working abilities that he wanted to line up ladies for him. After the practice we went to go say thank you and good bye to the trainer who spent the majority of the time convincing Simon to get Freddie his Swedish Championship in Gryt (den). This involves real work underground on badger or fox (as well as the artificial test) and we are thinking about it. With the right hunting crew -of which we know a few now- I think it would be possible.

Freddie really is an excellent hunting dog and I'm happy that we can start to do more with him. I foresee Drev (Hunting) and Spår (tracking) training in the future for our brown dog.

Good boy Fred!