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).

Reflection on the EDS

Maybe I am a bit old fashioned... but shouldn't European style dogs that conform to the FCI standard win at the European Dog Show?

One would think. 

When I saw the online results for standard wirehaired dachshunds yesterday I was a bit shattered for a number of reasons:

1.) A very small showing of Standard wires... only 48 and some were absent. There are clubshows in Sweden that regularly have larger entries. The miniature AND kaninchen wires had more entries. I find that crazy. Was it due to the judge? Are people starting to shy away from the big shows? It has been a lot about faces and handlers in the past years...

2.) I expected to see some of the bigger name kennels... but many were seemingly absent. I don't know the reason for this, but I can say that I know I was not familiar with many of the judges names that I saw on dachshunds at EDS. Often, the international shows are opting out of breed specialists and trying to stretch their money by instead bringing in all-arounders. It is a sad reality and often the dogs that represent the standard best are overlooked, whether it be by handling,  "flashy-ness", or face.

3.) NONE of the winning dogs at the EDS this year were of full European blood. I actually did a double take when I saw the names of the winners... American and Brazilian lines and kennels dominated. 

As a lover of the old European style and firm believer that a dachshund isn't a dachshund without hunt, these results made me extremely sad. Admittedly, I do find myself ooo-ing and ahhh-ing sometimes over a dog with similar bloodlines to the winners, but the reality is, that is not what I strive for in my future breeding. I want a dog that will go to ground, track blood, and willingly and vocally chase hares and deer. Do I have the perfect dogs? No, far from it. They are excellent dogs in their own rights and I wish I could mix and match them all. Take the hunting drive from Fred, the looks from Bax, and the grace and movement from Liina. Who knows, years down the line I may have the opportunity to realize this dream. Do I strive for a World Winner Dog? Sure, who doesn't. The reality is that I want to stay true to my breed, whether or not they are the most beautiful dog in the world. I want a dog that hunts and, specifically, can maintain the courage and ability to hunt under ground and remains functional, without exaggerations. 

I fear that the dachshund may go the way of so many other dogs... labrador, german shepards, etc... and be ruined by the show ring. We don't need "show" dachshunds and "working" dachshunds. 

They should be one in the same.

*Note: The comments and posts are my personal opinion.*

Fingers crossed for small hunting puppies in October!

Late last week Freddie had a visitor. Frk-Fröjd's Freja came down to be mated. She is a very social girl with every bit the dachshund personality and great hunting instinct to boot. Both she and Freddie are crazy about the fox and badger. Additionally, her family uses her in practical hunting here in Sweden and she has received 1st prize in Swedish den test (grytprov) and blood tracking.

The matings seemed successful (and Freddie a natural) and now we will wait to see if there will be the pitter-patter of tiny paws up in Gävle area this October.

The COI for this mating is 0% and there are hunting dogs on both sides of the pedigree. Freddie is out of CIT CIB CH Kobeddus Effendi and Canaille de la Meute a Cheops and his pedigree is filled with German, French and international working champions. Freja has strong hunting lines stemming from the well known "Marieberg's" kennel in Sweden and also has several hunting champions in her pedigree. We expect these pups to have a lot of hunting drive in them, so active owners are encouraged.

This will be Freja's final litter and we hope it will be a good one! 

If interested in this combination you can contact me or visit Skogsvetten's page. The kennel page is only in Swedish, but I can assure you that the owner speaks excellent English. :)

Exciting news!

Just a brief update for everyone...

There will likely be pups from Freddie (CH Kobeddus Effendi x Canaille de la Meute a Cheops) AND Baxter (MultiCh/Winner Apollo della Val Vezzeno x MultiCh/winner Taxette's Isla Margarita) this autumn. <3

Both boys have "dates" coming up and we will keep you all posted regarding if, indeed, there will be the patter of puppy paws in the future. These would be the first litters for both of them.

Both boys have Ex1-CAC rating on show.

• Baxter is a MultiCh, Swedish Blood tracking Champion, and has additional working trials in Germany (Sfk, SP, BHP-G), Italy (SchwhK/40) and Switzerland (WaT). 
• Freddie is a Swedish blood tracking champion and amazing underground dog with working trials in Germany (Sfk, Sp, BhFK/95, BHP1&2), Italy (SchwhK, SchwhK/40 (CACT), Fbja (100pts-ResCACT), and BhfK95-100pts), and Sweden (GRYTPROV Kval1, Grytapportering godkänd/approved, Gryteftersök godkänd/approved) and hunts hare and deer (drev)

What I can say is that both females have outstanding pedigrees and the inbreeding coefficient (COI) in both cases will be virtually 0%.

 

Needless to say, we are proud and excited for our boys!

Working hard

Pretty dogs can work too! Here is Baxter coming out to greet me after working hard an a gryt apportering training. It took Bax a while to realize that the fox staring him in the face was dead, but once he had, he started moving it. The fox used was FAR too heavy (about 2x heavier than it should have been), but regardless, Bax got it about 1.5m down the tube before I called him out. The fox was so large it was getting caught in the tunnel. He was tired and the training was a huge positive as he kept returning to the tunnel to work, even when I hadn't asked him.

I am so very proud of this boy. 

Liina also did a great job in anlagsprov training. She is still not convinced that the tunnels are so fun to enter, but she is working the badger in an excellent way. Maybe it is hormones as her heat should start soon or maybe she is just tired from a lot of travel, but it's ok. She is still a relatively young dog and just the fact that she is so good working the badger and that she *will* move in the tunnels is enough for me right now.

The negative of all these trainings, is that they are few and far between. It is hard to practice well with a dog if you only go once every 2 weeks. Plus, training is now finished for the summer... already. I'm super disappointed. Ah well, there is always next year.

A Year

Sometimes it is very difficult to judge what you accomplish in a year. In my work, *maybe* a paper is published or you can flip through a lab book, but with the dogs it is sometimes a bit easier.

The above picture are some of the results that Liina earned since March 2015. 

Now I need to figure out a nice way to display her prizes. :)

I'm very excited to see what the upcoming years will bring for my little dogs.

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. :)