Tuesday, November 12, 2013

What a month!

So the past month has been a whirlwind in our household as you may have realized from the flurry of posts. Every weekend we have had a dog event. Although this is not the most ideal for our personal life, it has been extremely fruitful for us as dog owners!

Just to summarize it all:

Baxter successfully completed 3 tests- BHP-G (BHP Tagessieger), Schwhk/40 (Tracking), Sp (Finding Hares)

Best of all, for his BHP-G exam he achieved 1st prize and best of the day (Tagessieger) and 92pts and 1st prize on his blood tracking exam. Spurlaut could have been a bit better, but we can live with 3rd prize and can work on getting him a higher prize later on.

Furthermore, for his first exhibition as an adult (sniff, our little puppy is now officially too old for junior class... they grow so fast!) he received V1 CAC towards his German championship (Karlsruhe).

Plus our little guy has developed into a very handsome dachshund if I do say so myself!


Fred amazed us with his continued great work! For the first time in over a year he ventured back into the fox den and earned 2x 100pts, 1st prize in trials and furthermore, 1 second reserve CAC (RRCAC). Plus he did amazing in the rather tough BhFK in Italy where the dog must work the fox up a chimney. He only needs to work on being a little bit faster...
Additionally, Fred did amazing work on his tracking exam, earning him 100 pts and a CAC towards his Italian working championship. I guess we will have to plan at least 1 more trip down to Italy to try for the remaining CACs and get the brown dog a show rating (Fred's Hat-trick).
Finally and the biggest surprise of the month was Freddie's rating at the IRAs. As I mentioned, we took Fred in order to get him a rating in a catalog show because who knows what we'd like him to do in the future. In working dog class Fred received the rating V1 CAC (Karlsruhe)! He is a great mover, but the ring is not his style and he was far happier in his kennel or on my lap, so he'll remain our "little" hunter for now.

So good job boys! 


Finally, I have one more big announcement... 2014 will begin a new chapter for us and the dachshund as we are planning for a move to Sweden! Simon has officially accepted a postdoc position in Lund (~60 km from Copenhagen) and so we are all excited to continue with our new and exciting adventure. Of course we will miss Switzerland, but Basel is only a 12 hour drive away. It's amazing to me how small Europe is. :)

So get ready all! New tests, new shows, new environment will all be coming in 2014! Now I'm off to practice my Svenska. Hej då!



Monday, November 11, 2013

Italian trip 2013

This year we decided to make our trip to Italy slightly earlier this year to ensure that we would be able to get in some tracking trials. We signed Freddie up for tracking as well as fox trials and with Baxter we focused on tracking.
We went down a few days earlier this year in order to do a Saupr. practice as well as try our little dog on the fox. We couldn't have picked a prettier day to drive down. Please enjoy some of Switzerland's gorgeous views. :)
Driving through the Vierwaldstättersee in Central Switzerland 
Simon is from this area and I have to say, I'm jealous I didn't have this view growing up

A view of the Alps 


Our last sunny view before the Gotthard tunnel
  
Ticino was cloudy, but the hanging clouds are beautiful


Getting closer!
This region of Italy is often quite foggy
A little sun to end the day



We were extremely happy with the extra private practice at the Palladini's house. Antonio and Barbara are really some of the nicest people that I have met. Antonio was more than willing and happy to allow us to try Baxter in the artificial fox den and pit both dogs against the boars. Success in both practices and maybe we will try the small one on these trials in another year or so, but we didn't want to overwhelm him this time.





The boys were ready to go! Freddie spent much of the time in the front seat "driving" the car while we were waiting for our start times. Baxter occasionally jumped to the front, but preferred sitting on top on the wine that we picked up.
Waiting for our tracking trial
My team


Success! Great track guys!
Picking up our awards for tracking

All I can say is success! Freddie is really coming into his own as a hunter and I really need to get my hunting license ASAP so I can continue with this talented dog. Not only did he ace his 40 hr tracking trial with 100 pts and a CAC (a certificate towards an Italian working certificate), but he once again was a maniac on fox. In both trials offered (BHFK95 and FBJA) he received 100 pts, 1st prize and 1 RRCAC(2nd reserve) in FBJA. The Fbja competition came down to how quickly the dogs made it to the fox. Amazingly, there was a standard long that was amazingly fast at 15 sec from the entry to the fox. Just for reference, the fastest kanninchen dachshund in an earlier trial made the trek in 9 secs, so this longhair was quick! Fred took what seemed like the longest path possible (which included a dip/incline) and took 26 sec, putting him in 3rd place of the 4 top dogs. For the BHFK95 he did amazing and pushed the fox like a champ, but did the trial in 4 min 13 sec and he would have needed to complete it in 4 min for the CAC. Oh well, no worries! Still a great job!


Atta boy Fred!
Our haul





Additionally, Baxter did amazing on his tracking exam. Both Simon and the judge were amazed at how meticulous and focused the small dog was on the trail. He just needs a bit more practice on corners as he tends to overshoot, then back track and start again. We are planning to continue with tracking practice this autumn since it is great exercise for the dogs and for me! Hopefully we can continue to get better and better. Next year's goals include finishing Freddie's Italian working championship, tracking and hunting tests in Germany with the boys, and hopefully partaking in working trials in the Nordic countries. Of course at least one of these goals require me to follow up in my goal to complete my hunting license/exam! Let's see what next year brings!

IRA in Karlsruhe

We spent the weekend in Karlsruhe for Baxter's first round of shows in the more "adult" classes. In addition, Freddie came along to receive an adult rating (his only other shows were at 15 months in Jugend class). We wanted to get Fred a rating in a Katalog show since Simon would like to try and put a Gebrauchssieger title on him eventually and a rating of at least SG/sehr gut is required. The exhibition hall in Karlsruhe was large and bright and airy, though a bit cold today, and it was nice to see old show friends. Overall, it was a very successful trip. Both boys received an Excellent 1 rating and VDH-CAC on Saturday in their respective classes (intermediate and working) and we were elated. This means that Baxter has "started" his German VDH championship (he needs 5 VDH-CACs) and the minimum amount of time to the title is in 1 year. Freddie was a complete shock as he is not a show dog, as I have mentioned in the past. What we didn't know is that the judge on Saturday has a soft spot for brown wires. :)

All in all, a nice weekend.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Dear Readers

Dear Readers of this page...

I am troubled that some people seem to need to feel superior. I would like to state that everything written on this page is MY experience and MY opinion. 

The simple facts are these: I love my dogs. I want to work with my dogs. I want them to be the best that they can be.

If certain groups feel the need to kick out a very active member simply because I express my opinions, then so be it. I hope those people feel proud of what they have done.

Monday, November 4, 2013

A marathon Spurlaut exam

When I checked the weather for Altenheim on Sunday, I kept it to myself- 10˚C max temp and a 80% chance of rain all day. Yup, just what I wanted to see for a Spurlaut test... ugh. The thought of being drenched and wandering through muddy fields in search of hares did not make me very happy, but it was our last opportunity until March/April to perform the exam. Baxter had showed promise at our practice in Grünstadt (which I still need to write about) and the concept of hares + chasing + trailing + barking, seemed to finally switch on in his, sometimes thick, head. With trailing he is excellent. His nose is fantastic and he has been beautifully trailing hares since he was ~ 1 year old, but the sound wasn't coming. On the last few practices he actually saw the hares and I think that triggered something. Those few sichthase (sight hares) were a blessing and since the end of September we knew he was Spurlaut.

This pleased us and also his breeders. In the nordic countries, Spurlaut isn't a requirement for any tests and, thus, many don't know if the trait is retained. From their first litter, only their own bitch from their 1st litter, Baxter's 1/2 sister Barbwired Austria, was tested for Sp when they were living in Switzerland. Aura did a phenomenal job and earn 100 pts and tagessieger in Austria for her work. Baxter's mom Iiris (at age ~5 years) had also been tried on Sp, but by this time she was accustom to blood tracking and fox work and was quiet while trailing the hares. Maybe with sichthase, this would have been different and triggered her voice a bit, but as I've mentioned before, hares in Switzerland are not plentiful and even Germany can be a gamble. We knew from the Palladini's that Baxter's dad Apollo was spurlaut, so we hoped that Baxter retrained this trait. Once we knew that he was Spurlaut, even if he still needed practice, we figured that we would take the gamble and sign up for the last test of the year in our region in an attempt for him to earn the achievement: Sp. 

On Sunday the conditions were not the greatest for this exam, but they were better (rain-wise) than the forecast had predicted. A foreboding sky that looked ready to storm at any moment, standing water on many fields, still many fields covered in left over wheat and corn, and winds that reminded me of tornadoes made this an interesting exam. Furthermore, in order for all the dogs to have at least 2 hares (and for 2 dogs to have 3) we walked 3 different sets of fields from 10am until 3pm, making for a rather exhausting day and likely about 10-15 km worth of field walking...which I am feeling today!

Of the 5 dogs that were examined, Freddie and Baxter were the only dogs to pass.  Since Freddie had a score of 2nd place last year in Nordbaden, he was eligible to take the test again for a chance at 1st place. This was advantageous as we were in need of 1 more dog to partake in the exam in order for it to happen. In the end there was a late entry and Freddie wasn't needed, but he loves running hares on the field, so we thought we'd give him a shot. It was also an experience for me as it was my first time participating with a dog in the exam (I was handling Fred). Freddie's first hare was a rückwards hase (backwards hare) the jumped up from behind and ran where we just walked. I didn't see the trail of the hare as I was trying to calm Freddie down because a deer had jumped right in front of us and of course he saw it and wanted to chase it. So, all in all, it was a bit of a disaster. He tried to follow the hare, made some progress, but with the commotion, the scent of 10 people and dogs, etc... he just didn't do it. It would have been great if he did, but even the judges agreed that it was a difficult situation.Fred's second hare was much nicer. It jumped about 20 feet in front of me while we were waiting on another dog. Fred did a great job trailing it, but the wind was strong and I could tell in the end he was struggling to find the scent line, which by that time was likely dust in the wind. Regardless, he performed and was the best of the day with a 2nd place rating.

Baxter was our wild card. We knew he was Spurlaut, but he was still rather inexperienced since he had run about 3 "proper" hares in practice not as sichthase. His first hare was a good one, the judges had to jump it from it's sitting place, it ran straight and over the road, but I think Bax, as the 1st dog of the test, didn't quite know what was going on and started doing more "Stöber" type work on the field. He failed this hare horribly, but we knew he at least got another chance. The second hare jumped on his own, ran a weaving pattern and disappeared over a hill and onto a grassy field. Bax was loud on the hare all across the first field until he broke the hill and then Bax was quietly searching for the scent. By this time the wind was getting extremely strong and though he searched, the little dog didn't pick up the line again. The judges felt that this work warranted a 3rd bunny to see if the 1st one was just a fluke. On his 3rd and final hare, it jumped, ran a straight line over the road and into the corn. Bax found the line, took off like a rocket and barked his little heart out. He searched the road for the scent and with a little coaxing, found it again and trailed it through the corn. We didn't hear much more due to the wind, but Simon had to retrieve him, still trailing, 2 fields over. Baxter found his voice, but still needs more practice to be very confident in trailing the hares, especially in hard situations like over roads. Regardless, the judges said, Yes, this dog is definitely spurlaut and has the desire to follow the game and awarded him a 3rd prize. Now we can continue on with more work with the small dog, such as fox and Stöber. We are all exhausted, but happy with the results.