Puppies

[Theiggy]

Aww great job Smoke! You are super cute too.


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[TheHolleys87]

What a wonderful dog, and a great trainer as well! Congratulations!

 

[DaveNV]

That is a very happy dog. Almost as happy as her owner.

Congratulations on a great day! (And think - if Smoke is this good at this age, how far can she go? She could be amazing at this.)

Dave

 

[heathpack]

OMG WHAT A DAY!

Smoke was stung by a wasp in two places, on her paw and her groin, at her field trial. That darn wasp was stinging her the whole time I was whisking her away from the wasp nest, and she was screaming. Had to give her Benadryl and carry a very sad puppy with her head slumped onto my shoulder. Eventually she would walk three legged lame. Then, just lame.

But when her turn came to run, she got it done. After the first round, she was in third place. By the time we were done, she’d worked herself into FIRST PLACE out of 14 open (aka non-field-champion) bitches (girl dogs)! She now has 34.5 of the 35 points she needs to earn her field championship. Boom! She has two first places and one second place. I am amazed. I know it probably sounds easy because she’s breezing right along, but there’s 10 year old dogs out in the field still trying to finish their field championship!

Not to be outdone, her mama Phoenix took first place out of 20 Field Champions today! That meant at the end of the day, mother and daughter and the winner of the open dogs (aka non-field-champion boy dogs) had to compete for ABSOLUTE aka High in Trial. Mama won that handily, which is an achievement unto itself. Many successful field champions never win Absolute. This win will bring Mama into the National rankings, likely somewhere in the top 20 field dachshunds nationally.

Love my girls, it was a great day in the field. We finished after dark so we didn’t even get ribbon pics. Maybe I can get some tomorrow.

 

[DaveNV]

Absolutely fantastic news! Congratulations!!

I can't even imagine how proud you are of your girls. Heck, *I'M* proud of them, and I don't even know them.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

WOW! I'm impressed with your girls! Little Snickers is 100% in housebreaking, No accidents for several weeks. She has some behavior difficulties- She lunges/bites at clothes/hands, but the walking on leash is better. I guess that if you subscribe to the '7 dog-years-to-a-human-year', she, at 3 1/2 months is a toddler in the 'terrible twos' trying everything, and everything goes in the mouth.
She seems to favor the Golden side and seems to want to bring back everything we toss. Oftentimes she keeps the 'tossed treasure' and we have to play 'keep away'.
Puppies are soooo much fun. Sometimes.

 

[heathpack]

Puppies are soooo much fun. Sometimes.

I can totally relate!

 

[Passepartout]

I can totally relate!

We have nicknamed her 'Attilla, the red headed thief'. She'll dash into the bedroom and have a slipper or sock in a microsecond then dash off. She isn't destructive, but relocates EVERYTHING.

 

[heathpack]

We have nicknamed her 'Attilla, the red headed thief'. She'll dash into the bedroom and have a slipper or sock in a microsecond then dash off. She isn't destructive, but relocates EVERYTHING.

I am forever wearing mismatched slippers nowadays. One of them is always dragged off, it seems, so I grab some random nearby slipper to make a pair. I have given up caring whether I wear matched or mismatched slippers. Whatever. As long as my feet are covered.

 

[heathpack]

Wow, y’all, what an incredible weekend. Smoke finished her field championship yesterday with another 1st place out of 14 open bitches! It’s very very uncommon to finish at such a young age (seven months)! We are so proud of her- it takes a lot of moxie as such a young dog to go out from your own and work off leash in a wild place. Most dogs don’t finish their field championship until they’re a little older, because they need to be a little more mature and self confident to be successful.

When you bred your dog in hopes that the puppy will be able to do something very specific, it’s a really great moment when you realize they can do that thing very well!

She finished her FC with three wins and a second place in three weekends. Tally ho!

As I mentioned previously, Mama Phoenix took 1st in the Field Champion class Saturday, and also Absolute. Auntie Ash took 2nd in the Field Champion class on Sunday. We came home with a pile of ribbons.

 

[DaveNV]

I'm beaming with happiness for all of you! That is a remarkable achievement, especially at such a young age. Way to go, Smoke!!

Am I correct that Ash still needs to finish? No pressure, Ash.

What comes next? You've done so well with Smoke so far, where do things go from here?

Dave

 

[heathpack]

I'm beaming with happiness for all of you! That is a remarkable achievement, especially at such a young age. Way to go, Smoke!!

Am I correct that Ash still needs to finish? No pressure, Ash.

What comes next? You've done so well with Smoke so far, where do things go from here?

Dave

No, Ash finished at the end of last season. We have three field champions in our household now. That makes Ash’s second place yesterday all the more awesome- she is a timid dog and now has to compete against the other field champions, who are generally speaking very self confident dogs. She can really psych herself out, worrying about the other dog. She is a good little rabbit dog though, she just needs to lose herself in the task and forget about everything else. She did exactly that yesterday. What a huge confidence boost for her! Just what the doctor ordered.

Smoke has three days of conformation shows this weekend. I’d like to put a conformation championship on her too, so that she’s a dual champion. We’re planning on three days of shows this coming weekend in Costa Mesa, then a big three day show in Palm Springs in early Jan and a two day show in Ventura in late Jan. Then we’ll reassess and plan from there. Conformation is new to me, and I’m the worlds most awkward handler. But she’s a pretty puppy and I think the dual championship is very realistic.

The weekend after next, she has two Hunt Tests. This is a pass/fail test of hunting ability. I’d like her to get the most advanced title in that discipline, Senior Hunting Hound. However there’s very few Hunt Tests each year, and the SHH title takes 9 passes to achieve. So that’s definitely a multi year process.

In the Field Trials, getting an Absolute would be nice. Phoenix and Ash each have one. I might even consider bringing her to the east coast to run some FTs there. I’ve gotten a lot of help from a woman in Virginia who is a FT judge and breeder. She breeds actual hunting dachshunds, mostly for use in falconry. She has 40 fenced acres stocked with cottontail and she just founded a new Dachshund field club. They will be offering FTs and Hunt Tests once they figure out logistics- ie in the next 12-18 months. So we’ve already discussed me coming to Virginia with my dogs to work rabbits with her, and to compete in some of their trials or tests.

The national ranking system for field dachshunds is somewhat corrupt (there’s a group in the Midwest and Texas that runs a lot of trials, they hire their own judges and mostly only give top placements to dogs in their group. This means dogs in that corrupt group gather huge numbers of points for the national rankings and makes it pointless to try too hard for that- if you wind up nationally ranked, fine. But it’s stupid to make it a goal unless you want to be part of that corrupt world. Ugh. No thanks.)

tl/dr there’s still lots to do with her!

 

[Ty1on]

My dog does her business outside, as long as she expects a treat for it. She's a grand champion of going outside.

I've always admired working dogs, and especially the time and dedication their human cohorts put into training and showing them.

 

[DaveNV]

The national ranking system for field dachshunds is somewhat corrupt

tl/dr there’s still lots to do with her!

I understand completely. My sister in law breeds Parson Russell Terriers and the newer Russell Terriers. She's told me many stories about how judging can be such a biased situation. I couldn't handle the potential for favoritism and corruption.

I sincerely hope all three of your girls reach the goals you have for them. You've done very, very well, and you deserve your own ribbon.

Dave

 

[heathpack]

I understand completely. My sister in law breeds Parson Russell Terriers and the newer Russell Terriers. She's told me many stories about how judging can be such a biased situation. I couldn't handle the potential for favoritism and corruption.

I sincerely hope all three of your girls reach the goals you have for them. You've done very, very well, and you deserve your own ribbon.

Dave

Yes, I have been warned that as an owner-handler, I will be at a disadvantage in the conformation world, as judges tend to award professional handlers if it’s close, in order to support folks who make a living from the sport.

But then again, I’m also told that judges love dogs in the “bred-by” class- this is the one in which the person showing the dog is also the breeder. The judges favor those dogs supposedly because they are typically also breeders who at one time handled their own dogs.

I am starting Smoke out in the Puppy classes in conformation because she still acts and looks like a puppy. Once she matures a little more, we’ll move into the Bred By class. Hopefully that will give us a little leg up. However in our area there’s a very successful pro handler who is also a wire dachshund breeder. If Smoke and I have to go up against her and one of her dogs, we’ll be very lucky to win that day!

 

[DaveNV]

Yes, I have been warned that as an owner-handler, I will be at a disadvantage in the conformation world, as judges tend to award professional handlers if it’s close, in order to support folks who make a living from the sport.

Way back when, I knew a woman who bred and showed Collies. She was pretty successful at it, because, as she described, when she found out who was judging which show, she'd know whether to wear a skirt or pants. She said sometimes the handler is judged more acutely than the dog. I commented on how wearing a skirt seemed rather deceiving. She replied that it was a show where the contestants were judged on appearance. So why NOT increase her odds of doing well? She said it worked quite well for her. We chuckled over that situation.

Wishing you and the girls all success, going forward.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

Snickers just came home from the groomer, has had dinner, and been outside to relieve herself. She's a happy puppy. She will be 4 months on Friday. 100% housetrained. Now to calm her down a bit.

 

[DaveNV]

Snickers just came home from the groomer, has had dinner, and been outside to relieve herself. She's a happy puppy. She will be 4 months on Friday. 100% housetrained. Now to calm her down a bit.

View attachment 43688

This is one cute doggo.

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

 

[heathpack]

Smoke ran her first Hunt Test today. She did great, passed with flying colors and high marks from both judges in all categories! I ran her in the brace stake, meaning two dogs run together. Both dogs have to pass for the dogs to get the “Q” aka qualifying score. She ran with her mama Phoenix. Such nice work. One of the judges told me afterward that she was super impressed with Smoke, given she is only 8 months old. Today’s Q gives her the 1st of 3 legs she needs to earn her Hunting Hound title.

Auntie Ash passed her brace stake too, also with Phoenix. That earned her her Hunting Hound title. So proud of her!

Mama Phoenix also passed her solo stake today, to earn her first (of 3) legs towards her Master Hunting Hound title.

So: great day for us in the field, beautiful work from my girls. They flushed 7 rabbits in about an hour total out there in the field.

More tests tomorrow.

 

[DaveNV]

Congratulations on another great day! I know you have a pretty happy household right now. Great work!

Is there "value" for the dog to have these hunting and nosework titles? Other than personal pride and bragging rights, I mean. Having a dog be a conformation Champion adds value to stud fees and litter prices. Do these awesome groundwork titles add anything like that?

Really impressed with your girls. I know about the only thing my Doxies would be good at is barking when the doorbell rings (or when they think it did), and maybe eating. Oh wait - they will poop and/or pee on command. Small victories. LOL!

Dave

 

[heathpack]

Congratulations on another great day! I know you have a pretty happy household right now. Great work!

Is there "value" for the dog to have these hunting and nosework titles? Other than personal pride and bragging rights, I mean. Having a dog be a conformation Champion adds value to stud fees and litter prices. Do these awesome groundwork titles add anything like that?

Really impressed with your girls. I know about the only thing my Doxies would be good at is barking when the doorbell rings (or when they think it did), and maybe eating. Oh wait - they will poop and/or pee on command. Small victories. LOL!

Dave

The idea behind these performance titles is the same as conformation titles- you are taking your dog to an objective third party for evaluation to help you determine who is your breeding stock. As a breeder, you might want at a minimum to be breeding only dual champions for example- the conformation titles are “proof” that the dog is the physical “type” it’s supposed to be and the performance titles are “proof” that the dog is functionally capable of doing what the breed was developed to do.

But for me, really, I just like to watch them do this amazing complex 90% instinctual behavior. It amazes me that such behavior could be genetically based. It makes me think about whether I could breed more of it. Etc. Plus I like spending a lot of time with my dogs.

For me, there’s definitely no monetary value in it. I will likely produce very few puppies ever. Spending money trialing them would eat into any $ you might get out of it with more valuable puppies!

 

[TheHolleys87]

Smoke ran her first Hunt Test today. She did great, passed with flying colors and high marks from both judges in all categories! I ran her in the brace stake, meaning two dogs run together. Both dogs have to pass for the dogs to get the “Q” aka qualifying score. She ran with her mama Phoenix. Such nice work. One of the judges told me afterward that she was super impressed with Smoke, given she is only 8 months old. Today’s Q gives her the 1st of 3 legs she needs to earn her Hunting Hound title.

Auntie Ash passed her brace stake too, also with Phoenix. That earned her her Hunting Hound title. So proud of her!

Mama Phoenix also passed her solo stake today, to earn her first (of 3) legs towards her Master Hunting Hound title.

So: great day for us in the field, beautiful work from my girls. They flushed 7 rabbits in about an hour total out there in the field.

More tests tomorrow.

View attachment 43901

What adorable faces! So who’s who, left to right?

 

[DaveNV]

The idea behind these performance titles is the same as conformation titles- you are taking your dog to an objective third party for evaluation to help you determine who is your breeding stock. As a breeder, you might want at a minimum to be breeding only dual champions for example- the conformation titles are “proof” that the dog is the physical “type” it’s supposed to be and the performance titles are “proof” that the dog is functionally capable of doing what the breed was developed to do.

But for me, really, I just like to watch them do this amazing complex 90% instinctual behavior. It amazes me that such behavior could be genetically based. It makes me think about whether I could breed more of it. Etc. Plus I like spending a lot of time with my dogs.

For me, there’s definitely no monetary value in it. I will likely produce very few puppies ever. Spending money trialing them would eat into any $ you might get out of it with more valuable puppies!

And that makes the most sense. You'd never get back the time investment for all the training and effort you've put in. I agree it's amazing they do this because their instincts tell them to. The hunting titles are quite hard to get, as you've explained, so having a beautiful dog physically (that conformation thing) with the addition of the string of hunting titles certainly speaks to the quality of the animal and its breeding.

It's all an amazing hobby with the benefit of improving the quality of life for a dog who otherwise would be laying on the couch all day. You're a great dog Mom.

Dave

 

[heathpack]

What adorable faces! So who’s who, left to right?

Phoenix—- Ash—- Smoke