Freddie and Freja's puppies are 3 weeks old!

A little late, but Freddie and Freja's puppies at Skogsvettens kennel are now 3 weeks old! Their eyes and ears are open and they are starting to wander around. All are gaining weight and doing all the things little puppies should. The puppies are having their first meetings with their new owners as well.

Photo: Skogsvettens

(from left to right: Vile, Thekla, Ymer, Troja, Idun)

As of now, all puppies are spoken for.

2 male Standard wire dachshunds from hunting lines available!

Freddie's pups are now 3 days old and growing up quickly!

I have received word that the 2 males: Ymer and Vile are still available to active homes.

Both parents are excellent blood trackers, work well underground, and are chasing/hunting above ground.

Additionally, Freddie was tested in Germany and is Spurlaut (2nd prize & Best of Day).

Ymer's page: http://skogsvettens.nu/skogsvettens%20kullar/ymer.html
Vile's page: http://skogsvettens.nu/skogsvettens%20kullar/vile.html

There is 0% inbreeding in this combination. The pups are registered with the Swedish Kennel Club (and thus FCI) and the pedigree is full of hunting champions (International and National).

For more information or interest, contact me at whdackel@gmail.com

Freddie's puppies are born!

Late last night in Järbo, Sweden, Freja and Freddie's puppies were born! Weighing 276-308g, 2 boys and 3 girls were born. To my knowledge, all the girls are spoken for, but a male may still be available.

The 3 girls and 1 boy waiting for their little brother to be born

The pups come from great French, German, and Swedish hunting lines:


We are excited to watch Freddie's pups grow and develop and will continue to update as the weeks progress. <3

8 weeks today!

8 weeks along and highly pregnant, Freja is still actively out digging in the garden! Breeder Sussi thinks 4 puppies, but a few others (including myself) think there are a few more puppies hiding in there. Within a week we should know the number for sure! Sussi told me that they are very active pups already, so I can only imagine the havoc that these little ones will make in the future. :)

For more info, pictures (even in English!) see here: http://stravharigataxarsblogg.skogsvettens.nu/#home

These will be the first puppies out of our boy J SEVCH Fallilou du Sangre Bleu (Freddie) and, needless to say, we are very excited to see what he produces! These pups are going to have a lot of hunting potential as both Freja and Freddie love to chase, love underground work, and have great noses. Furthermore, these pups have generations of working champions (above and below ground) behind them. Both parents have earned 1st prizes in open class blood tracking as well as 1st prize in underground testing. Freddie was also trained and tested in Denmark this year. The brown boy still has it and has crazy drive, but was unfortunately a bit too hot for the fox during the test. Ah well, let's see if we can get his jaktprov this year instead. ;)

For more information on Freddie (merit, parents, etc...) see HERE

Count down to puppies

Less than 2 weeks until Freddie and Freja's puppies are here! Needless to say we are all excited. Freja already has a rather big stomach and Sussi (the breeder) thinks there are at least 4 puppies.

The Skogsvettens' website has gotten a facelift and Sussi has added some nice videos of Freja and Freddie working- both in gryt/underground training and permodjur (animal reaction tests).

See more here: http://skogsvettens.nu/valpar%20v%C3%A4ntas/index.html

Freddie and his stick as a 5 month old pup

Wirehaired Puppies expected October 13th!

Although it is still a bit early, day 26, we are cautiously optimistic that Freddie and Freja had a successful rendezvous. Freja is acting very pregnant, complete with "morning sickness" and extreme klingy-ness to her owner. It will be another couple of weeks before I can post belly pictures, but the expected due date of the pups is October 13th.

 

Below is a link to Skogsvetten's blog where you can read about how Freja's pregnancy is going (in Swedish).Freja's Pregnancy Update

This litter has a great combination of hunting lines, full of Swedish,Nordic, German, French Hunting champions and International hunting champions. Freja has several ancestors from the famous "Mariebergs" kennel in Sweden and Freddie is out of Kobeddus and de la Meute a Cheops lines, well known throughout Europe.

Freja is used practically at home for underground work and has been tested on badger (Kval 1) and blood tracking (2x 1st prize) in Sweden. Freddie (Fallilou du Sangre Bleu) has been tested throughout Europe (Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden) and has the following merits to his name:

SEVCH-Swedish Blood tracking champion

J- Jaktmerit (Hunting Merit)

BhFK/95-DE, BHKF95-IT (100pts), BHP1&2, Fbja (rrCACT), Grytanlagsprov (Kval 1)-SE, Grytapporteringsprov GK-SE, Gryteftersökhund GK, SchwhK/20, SchwhK/40 (CACT), Sfk, Sp (TS), Viltspår (3x1st prize)-SE, Approved for Den test in Denmark (test later this year).

For more information feel free to contact us or contact Skogsvettens Kennel (Who speak excellent English as well as Swedish).

Road tripping to Gävle

So, once a year I have to do some sort of crazy show trip. This past weekend was that trip. When my boyfriend said that he had to head up sometime in the near future to Gävle, I immediately began looking for a show possibility. Low and behold, one of my favorite judges would be judging dachshunds at a hunting dog exhibition up there in early June. I confirmed that Liina would fit in the car with an arcade machine (the purchased item that helped initiate the trip) and Baxter could stay over the weekend with a friend since there was no need for him to spend all day at a show that he really didn't need.

Admittedly I was a bit nervous. We had showed at the local shows in Hässleholm two weeks earlier and had just so-so results- 2x Excellent, but without the final CK needed for the Champion title. It was a strange weekend though, especially at the International show where no mini wires were awarded with CK and the judge was in the dog's faces, poking at them all over, lifting them off the table to test the weight, really testing the mentality. Needless to say, I won't be rushing to either of those judges again.

So I still needed 1 CK for Liina to get her Champion title and was *hoping* that this long road trip would be worth while. So after a Friday night spent at my colleagues PhD defense party, we woke early Saturday morning, loaded the car, dropped off Baxter and started the trip up to the Gävle area. We made a few stops along the way. I think our favorite was at the ruins in Brahehus.

We were graciously hosted by our friends at Skogvetten's kennel in the little village of Järbo about 100km from the show grounds and similar distance from the boyfriend's arcade. Sussi decided to brave the show with her youngest female Hera and join Liina and I for a show day in Alfta at a hunting dog exhibition. 

We had lovely weather around 15-20C with sun and a little wind. It was a long day though as we were not up until very late (the last 20 dogs) in the ring, but we had to be checked in by 9:45am. So, waiting, waiting, waiting. It was a nice show and it was interesting to see new dogs and people.

I got a little nervous waiting around so long, but it was not in vain. There were not many minis (only 3; 1 male and 2 females), but there was still competition for me. Liina and I did our best and we were greatly awarded:

In Jaktklass: Exc1 CK CERT and finally Best Female-BIM! 

With that result, Liina finished her Swedish Beauty Championship! 

Better yet... she unlocked a LOT of other Champion titles! So little Liina is now:

SEU(v)CH, SEVCH, DKCH, FICH, NordicCH, LTCH, WUTCH!!!!

I was so proud and overwhelmed and excited. No, I didn't cry, but I almost couldn't believe it! My first Champion solely put on myself (OK, so FI, LT, and WUT were helped by Markku, but close enough! ;) ).  We will continue to show a bit and hope we can add some International titles to her name as well, but for now, we can rest as her first CACIB was in March this year and we must wait at least 1 year for the final result.

Everyone was tired after the show (Hera-above- was totally exhausted on the car trip home), but we were greeted back home with lovely dinner and company. 

The next day was already time to head towards home for work the next day. On the way down we decided to stop for lunch and sightseeing in Eskilstuna, where Andreas is originally from. I very much enjoyed the city. Big enough to feel like a real city, but still small and cosy, with a nice river front, shopping road, and little bits and pieces to see. After an impromptu Fika with Andreas' brother, we were back in the car and headed on our 6.5 hr drive towards home.

We stopped in Höör to pick up a very excited and happy to see me Baxter, said our thank yous and good byes and shortly thereafter we were home. It was a long, but fun road trip. It was nice to see the middle of Sweden and it was definitely as far north as I had been in the country. We all wound down on the couch, watching an episode of the Flash... or rather, drifting off to sleep while watching the Flash. All happy and content to be back in our house. :)

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!

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 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!

First go out at Drev

This was a post I meant to post more than a month ago... but, well, life got in the way.

After a year in Sweden, making connections, and trying hard to find land to practice on, we were kindly invited up to the Northern part of Skåne to try Freddie on Drev.

The only way I can describe Drev is that it is real hunting. The dog is released into the forest to search for animals. The dog then, hopefully, takes up the fresh scent of a deer, fox, or hare and chase it through the land. This was Freddie's first go out, and even though he did great on Spurlaut, it was hard to say how he would do with the "real life" situation.

In our area of Sweden there isn't the vast area lacking major roads that are ideal for Drev. Furthermore, as I am not yet out hunting, it is a really big deal to get an invitation. Well, a contact from our local dachshund club was so kind and she and her husband offered to let us go to them and try Freddie in their forest! 

For Drev, there are always risks, wild boars, wolves, cars, etc... but as Freddie is a smart dog and wolves (the biggest threat in my opinion) are not as common this far south and not in that area, we thought we would try. We were lent a GPS collar so we could see where Freddie was, how fast he was going, and how far away from us he was.

The first thing we did was go out and basically tell him that he could go search. Freddie was very good at going out and circling back to check where we were. While on one of his first searches, he opened a little, but it didn't lead to anything and we didn't see any animals (though their bedding and tracks/poop). After being out about 1.5-2 hrs, we headed back to let Freddie rest a bit and have lunch. We then took out Anna and Joachim's 11 year old shorthair Pixie, who was fantastic. She did indeed find something out in the forest, but by the barking and GPS track, Joachim thought it was a boar and called her back. When we went closer to pick her up/call her back, we definitely smelled boars and I am happy that Joachim had his rifle with "just in case."

We then took Pixie back and decide that as the weather hand turned beautiful for the end of October (15c and sun... see photo above) we would try a different area and see if Freddie found something. We did a little initial searching, then we came upon a glen and in the very back corner, Joachim noticed a couple of Roe deer. Freddie followed him into the glen (above) and Joachim and Simon told him to search. Then a few minutes later there was music! Freddie had taken up the deer scent and was off. I wish I would have thought to get a video! It would have only been barking, but who cares! Freddie worked really well for his first time out- roughly 30 min and about 300 m away from us. Anna said that we couldn't have asked for better work on his first time out. We only called Freddie back because he must have lost the scent and started circling in an area about 100m from us. Simon and Joachim went, called him back (with name and whistle) and you could watch him march slowly back on the GPS. Getting the dog back to you is a huge and important aspect of Drev, so Fred coming back was just as important as him taking up and chasing the deer.

On the way back to the car, Joachim asked if we wanted to swap a labrador for Fred. lol. I think he liked him. We are invited back out, but this autumn was a bit hectic for me as I was in the US for almost 3 weeks and writing papers at work. I recently bought a used GPS collar from another Swedish dackel friend and I am hoping we can get him out again this year for practice if the weather stays mild, otherwise, we are shooting for a few more practices and hopefully testing in 2016. Either way, Freddie definitely didn't disappoint! 

I really hope to also take Baxter out in the future to see what he's got, but we are taking one thing at a time at the moment. :)

A BIG Thank you goes to Anna and Joachim for allowing us to further work with Fred and offering their land!

Liina is home!

After 3 months away, my little zwerg (Barbwired Champagne) returned home with me to Sweden. She was a good houseguest during her stay in Finland and came home with very nice results from the 5 shows she attended:

2xBOB

2xWinner

1xBOS

3xCERT

5xExc

4xExc1 CK

1xExc2

With these results, she should earn 4 new titles upon reaching 2 years of age. Not too shabby for the little girl.

Now we have a little bit of time to rest before the next shows start. Good to have you home my sassy little dog!

New Multi-Champion!

So as you all know by now, Iita (Barbwired Bella Bambina) is here in Sweden and staying with me for trials and show. Well, big news...

We passed our final tracking trial in 1st prize! Iita is a new Swedish Tracking Champion!!! Holy cow! It is one thing to work and pass with your own dog, but it brings a new confidence booster when you can pass with someone else's dog.

I am very lucky that Iita has the same personality as her brother and not only trusts me, but looks to me and wants to please me. She is very clever and a joy to have around. The one problem of her being so similar to her brother, is that Baxter is starting to get a bit jealous that he has to share "his" person with someone else. Let me tell you, I am not cold at night with a dachshund on each side of my feet!

So my "job" is now finished. We accomplished a whole lot in just 3 weeks... "unlocking" 4 championships (FI, LT, LV, WUT), earning 3rd Best Female with CK in hunting class and earning her Swedish Beauty Champion, and 3x 1st prize in blood tracking earning her Swedish Blood tracking Champion.

Iita came to me a great little dog and will be leaving as a multi-Champion! I am SO happy that I proved to myself I can be a good handler, both in show and in trial, and got to know this great girl.

A Nice Day in Tvååker

So friends, it was our last show day of the season. I decided when Markku proposed that I take Iita for tracking, I suggested trying our luck at 1 dog show. The Halland Taxklubben has their annual fall exhibition in Tvååker and last year it was nice and fun. This year I wanted to check out the new dachshund judge: Jens Myrman as he has been showing up quite often in the show circuit. As Liina is in Finland, I figured it would be nice to take Iita and Baxter. Baxter hasn't been show much since he returned from his trip this spring, but why not bring him along every once and a while.

So we were up at 5:30 this morning to get ready and get on the road up to the show. It started at 9am and we had to be checked in before it started. As I am NOT a morning person, I stopped the night before to grab a Starbuck's to go and a Red Bull since 2 hours of driving while the sun is coming up is not especially fun for me.

Anyhow, my normal "show friends" weren't there, but that was ok! Some of my facebook friends came over to say hello and chat. :)

Anyhow, there were 25 standard wirehairs at the show today and they were fairly evenly split into male and female. Baxter was in a class of 4 males and Iita in a class of 8 females. I am very, very happy with the results:

Baxter: Excellent, CK, Champion Class Concurrence (CHKK) 2, Best male 2
Iita: Excellent, CK, Jakt Class Concurrence (JKK) 2, Best female 3
(with res-CERT if not for her earning the CH)

With these results, Iita was awarded her Swedish Show Championship! Both dogs performed beautifully and I was the one at fault since I didn't bring enough treats! Thanks go out to my friend Elisabeth that saved the day with more goodies.

Now we are all tired and enjoying some snuggle time on the couch.

My new Project

So where did summer go? Here it is, already the beginning of autumn and this year is just flying by...

I have been keeping myself nice and busy with work, visits from friends, and, of course, hanging out with my 4 leggers. Liina and I attended a couple of shows in the past month and although the results have not been spectacular, one exciting thing did happen. Liina is now officially registered as a miniature wirehaired dachshund. She has been finally measured to 34 cm at just shy of 17 months old, but even I think that is a bit big as she had previously been measured 32 & 33 cm. In any case, the little princess is indeed that...

Liina and I in Kjugekull this past May

Well, last weekend Salla came into town and brought with her a new friend for me...

Everyone, meet Baxter's sister Barbwired Bella Bambina "Iita"

A few months back, Markku wrote to ask if I would mind "hosting" Iita and doing some training and tracking with her while Liina was with them in Finland. I, being crazy, said "of course" and so Salla and Iita flew in for the Copenhagen Winner show (Iita was Ex2 in her class). Salla and I spent the weekend hanging out and enjoying Skåne's bizarre weather... snow/hail in the morning, then blue skies, then heavy wind and rain- all in a matter of hours. 

Then on Monday I did the crazy think and signed Iita and I up for an anlagsprov/aptitude test tracking exam. The weather was perfect, a little damp, but not raining and we were in a wooded area with a lot of moss and grass. I was nervous as I realized as soon as we started the exam that I had NO IDEA what language the dog was used to tracking in! Her owner Marja told me that she had been speaking English with Iita during tracking, but I wasn't sure. Luckily Iita knew exactly what she was doing and I just had to read her. She was a bit quick and overshot a couple areas, but came back with little time wasted. She did NOT seem to understand why there was an unknown woman following her though! She came back a couple times just seeming to ask me "Why is this woman out here with us?" before touching her nose to my leg and moving on. After 13 minutes we were finished with the exam and passed with very nice marks from judge Jessica. Yay! Iita was now qualified for Swedish working class at show and we could move onto Open class tracks.

Godkänd anlagsprov!

The very next day was a super busy one. After speaking with Marja the night before, I had learned a new and important Finnish work "Jälki," which was Iita's motivational word for "track". Admittedly, I tried English and German on her with piss poor results. With our anlagsprov passed, we could move onto open class and the exam that I had optimistically booked at the beginning of the month could happen. Before that though, we had to take Salla and Liina to the airport. Liina would be spending the next 3 months in Finland for shows, training, and maybe taking the PIKA trial for mini dachshunds. So I sadly said goodbye not only to my good friend, but to my tiny little girl. 

Liina the traveler en route to Helsinki

Immediately after dropping the girls in Copenhagen, I raced back over the bridge to Sweden in just shit weather conditions. It was pouring rain, windy, and cold. I was not enjoying the drive and I knew I would like the tracking even less. I also knew that with the weather we would arrive late to Görel so I sent an SMS apologizing and hoping that she wouldn't be too pissed at my tardiness. When I arrived, Görel was kind,  but I of course was a bit frazzled, tired from driving, and just ready to go. I of course apologized profusely for being late, but she shrugged it off in a kind, Swedish manner. We then went to the woods and I immediately got nervous. These were the woods where a year earlier Baxter had failed with Simon. I knew there were a lot of animals in there and the brush would be thick, so it would be a challenge. We started and I remembered that Iita had never been taught the Swedish "starting box," but at least today I had her motivation word! I told her to track and she did. She worked well despite the thick brush and was relatively easy to read when she was off. All was going well and then all of a sudden, her head was super alert and up, the body was tense and she took off like a shot. I lost hold of the line and my saving grace was that she zig-zagged and was wrapped around a tree. I didn't see the animal, but Iita certainly was after it! I immediately ran to grab the leash and told the judge I would take my 1 call back. It took longer than expected to untie Iita and the judge double checked that I did indeed request a call back and I confirmed. We came back and she was very proud of me for reading the dog and situation and call for the callback so quickly (even if it took me a few minutes to get back). Whatever the animal was (I think it was a Roe deer or maybe a small Red deer) it decided to sit and watch us for a while. Iita was a bit more wide in her tracking after that, but she immediately picked the track back up and followed it with relative ease to the end. All-in-all a good track in tough terrain, but my quick thinking I believe secured our 1st prize. :) 

With that result Iita now qualified for her Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Welt Union Teckel Championships. 

The new Champion playing at home

We have taken a short break from tracking as I had a work conference, but Iita is a natural. She loops a bit more than I like, checking and double checking corners, leading to me working hard to keep a long, loose line, but she is a good tracking partner. We will do a few more tests and a show before she heads home at the end of the month. She has been a very good houseguest and is basically a female Baxter. She wants to be with me and be my shadow and has decided that I am her person. It is rare to find dogs that are so calm and adaptable as these two. Feed them and give them love and they can be almost anywhere and with anyone. Baxter is a little jealous though that his sister wants to be my lapdog, but he just squeezes himself on there as well.

17 Beauty and work titles between these siblings

Tracking training and trials will start again this week. I decided I wanted extra practices with Iita so that I can learn to read her a bit better. Baxter will be so mad that he is AGAIN not going tracking, but your time will come Bax, we will train again next year, but maybe for Denmark, Finland, or Norway and their tests. ;)

And what of little Liina? She is enjoying time with her family at Barbwired in Finalnd. She is playing with Mom and uncle Ollie. Dad is a bit of a bother and she would like Grandma to play, but at 10, Iiris is starting to show her age. She tolerates the little girl well, but wants to be left to herself. 

3 generations in 1 basket! Here you can really see Liina's size difference.
 Grandma(Iiris) in on the bottom, Mom (Aura) on the left, and Liina on the right.

So my new project is off to a great start and I really hope that Iita will go home with a working title, but only the next few weeks will show for certain...