Training and Enjoying life

I realize it has been a quiet year for us, but there is, as always, a lot of change. What I can tell you is that this spring and summer will bring with it underground training, a revival of tracking and practicing for 40 hr tracks, a break from dog shows, and lots of exploring nature. Until we have more news, here are a few pictures from our spring here in Skåne. Enjoy!

Wonderful day in Denmark

On Saturday, Liina and I traveled over the bridge to Roskilde, Denmark to participate in our first Danish International show. Based on general life-things, I took a chance and only signed up for 1 day of exhibition. Well it surely paid off!

Liina ended as Best Female 2 with all the prizes! So we were super excited to take both the Danish CERT as well as our very first CACIB. :)

Liina also got quite a nice evaluation from Judge H. Almgren (SE):

Translated- Well moving bitch. Eyes could be darker correct bite, good shape on ears, could be higher placed. Strong, tight back, somewhat flat croup. Strong double coat, good, strong wirehaired attributes, nice overall impression. Tail nicely worn additional to the back.

As always, the Danish dachshund people were very, very welcoming and I was extremely happy to see many facebook friends and familiar faces. 

Liina does it again!

My show girl is on a role! At the spring exhibition in Tvååker she was shown in jaktclass:

Exc1 CK Best female 3 with res-CERT!

3rd time this year as Best female 3 with res-CERT. Wish it was a bit more, but I'll take it! Happy with this happy little show girl! <3

The only thing that was a bit sad was that this was Liina's 3rd CK in jaktclass and her 2nd birthday is on Thursday. If it was a week later she would have been a Swedish CH. ;)

Ah well, we will hope the next exhibitions go just as well! 

When we returned home it was still quite early (up at 5:30, home by 15:00), so we went for a walk in the forest near our house. It was a really nice day and you could feel that spring was definitely in the air.

IDS Malmö

As I said, this spring my focus will be on Liina and trying to achieve her Swedish Championship. At the last minute this February, I decided to strip Liina and check her coat to see if we would be participating in anything this spring. To my pleasant surprise, he coat was great and it meant that we could show a bit this spring. So, with 1 day to spare, I signed up for Malmö International Dog Show.

I am happy to report that Liina received the following score:
Jakt (hunting) class: Excellent 1, CK, Best Female 3 with res-CERT and res-CACIB.

Liina with her prizes

Liina's evaluation (translated from Swedish):

Harmonious female. Feminine head with god proportions. Correct bite, excellent neck and overline. Well angulated front and back and well developed body. Could have a little more ground clearance. Fluid movement, excellent coat quality, good temperament.

I was so proud of my little girl and her great performance. The judge was a bit heavy-handed on the table, but we have been training this aspect very, very hard and she handled the situation great. Liina is a bit low, but the comment is likely due to my grooming... I forgot to properly groom her chest (oops!) so it didn't help the ground clearance. In any case, I am pleased with today's results.

We have a show again in about a month and then middle of May. I'm hoping that they will go just as well for my little gal! :D

Sorry for the silence!

I just realized that I haven't written any posts since the end of 2015!

Very sorry everyone! Our life here in Sweden has been a little bit quiet. The dogs were supposed to be on show tour starting this month, but that won't happy until later in the year. I was in a small car accident earlier this year, spinning out on black ice and damaging my poor little car. Well, now I have a sporty, little Ford and dog show money has been pumped into buying our transportation. C'est la vie! There will always be later this year...

My poor little car. Luckily I am perfectly fine.

Liina and I went up to My Dog in Gothenburg early in January and happily came home with 2x Exc and 1xCK. It was a nice weekend and we are hoping that the next couple months will bring a few more nice results. :)

Liina and I at My Dog 2016

Baxter will not be shown much this year. I am hoping he can finish his few titles with Nikos later this year and then "retire" from the show ring. He has done enough... Exc1 in 11 countries is quite a great accomplishment for a small dog... especially when he is/was mostly owner handled. Maybe we will show a little bit more in Germany or Austria or Denmark, but no stress for my handsome boy. Now I am working on taking a little winter weigh (off both him and me!) and getting ready for this fall. We may have *finally* found a couple spots to try out Drev and I would love to try out Bax and see how he does. Otherwise, he will be a happy, healthy, pretty boy. :) Maybe we will start training viltspår again and go for trials in Finland or Denmark or Norway... maybe even Germany! We will see.

Bax and his BFF Leo

My goals this year are mostly for Liina. I would love to see her get her CH in Sweden. I would love to try her again on Gryt and see if a year away sparks her interest even more. I would love to do a small show tour with her and try for a Nordic Champion. I would love for her to get a CACIB and start her international Championship. I would love to start looking for her future husband (though this is a few years off). Lastly, I would like to keep training viltspår with her and try for the 40hr exam in Denmark later this year.

Finally... This is year is a big year as Freddie should have a date in summer/autumn! We will keep you all updated if and when tiny Freddie's will make their appearance. It should be an exciting pairing and a COI of 0%, a mix of German-French and Swedish lines. If you are interested in knowing more, let me know!

Freddie on holiday in Oslo

A lot of goals... We will see what 2016 brings!

Happy New Year!

After a day of moving all of my things and another couple hours of cleaning (knowing that tomorrow there will be MORE cleaning), I decided to sit on the couch with a beer and my dogs. It is giving me a great opportunity to look back, not only at 2015, but also at the blog and life.

This past month, my little blog turned 3 years old! I really can't believe it. What does 3 years give us?

• A new dog
• A Kennel name
• A new start
• A new website: Moniker
• A loaner dog and a confidence booster
• Show/working trips to 12 countries
• 17 Champion titles
• More than 25 successful working trials in 4 countries
• 125 posts
• More than 20,000 visitors to the site

 

2015 was a year of change. Simon and I parted ways after almost 6 years. Although the break up was difficult, we are on good terms and have continued to work together with the dogs. He of course loves them as much as I do. This collaboration led to 2 bloodtracking champions and an approved Gryteftersökhund (in homologation). I have debated changing the blog banner and information. The name of the blog (WHdackel) wasn't just for Wirehaired, but also represented our last names: W & H. Although our tag says "a couple and their dogs," I still don't feel it is totally wrong. The blog was made out of love for our boys and it will continue to function as a medium for me to report their awesome accomplishments and bitter losses.

2016 will continue to be a year of change. A new house, a new start, and, hopefully, soon a new job. Where will we go next? Who knows. Regardless, we will keep you posted!

Have a great start to 2016 everyone!

Happy Holidays from Moniker!

A very Happy Holiday season from us!

This year it is warm (10C/ about 50F) and rainy, but hopefully the dogs will get to run around in the snow again soon!

We wish you a happy and healthy 2016!