Joeri turns two years old

Two days ago Joeri (vom Nonnenschlag) turned two years old so it is a good occasion to reminisce.

Joeri was born in Rödental, which is located in northern Bavaria. His breeder Rosi Bauersachs sent us some very nice pictures of Joeri's siblings (it was a litter of 9 puppies) and his teckel family. I have included three pictures below.

Joeri with his German family

Joeri joined our family on May 24, 2008, when John flew to Germany to pick him and Tommy up. The below picture was taken when the boys settled in Berne, NY two days later. At the time Joeri was 14 weeks old, and Tommy was just 8 weeks. The pups started on the right foot, and have been getting along well since then. Joeri has always been dominant over Tommy, and Tommy seems to have accepted the situation.

Joeri (top) and Tommy at 14 and 8 weeks, respectively.

Joeri proved to be the most precocious puppy that we have worked with. Right away he started to show interest in the scent of rabbits and started to follow them. He opened when he turned four months old. He was also fascinated with our pond and within few weeks started to swim and retrieve. Actually his love of retrieving from the water is matched by very few dogs here.

Joeri passed the gun shyness test on Sept 25, 2008, when he was just 7 months old, and the following day he also passed the NATC Small Game Hunter test. German Judge A. Fichtl rated Joeri's conformation as "very promising".

The following spring Joeri finished his AKC field championship.

We introduced him to woodchucks and were impressed with his game aggressiveness.

Physically Joeri matured very nicely and in spring 2009 his conformation was rated "excellent" by French Judge Agnes de France and he went "Best in Show". This is how he looked like in fall 2009.

Emotionally, Joeri went through a difficult adolescence. He remained a happy friendly young dog but for five months he lost all interest in tracking. But in fall 2009 he proved to be a talented natural blood tracker and found 8 deer. There are many reports of his tracking adventures on this blog. We like his calm, focused working style on tough lines. On a difficult check he stays near his point of loss and does not gamble. He moves forward only when he is sure of the line.



In October 2009 Joeri was reunited with Anne Bauersachs, who stayed with us for two weeks. Anne is Rosi's daughter, and we enjoyed her visit very much. She went with me to the DCA National Field Trial in PA, and had a chance to handle Joeri herself. We had a lot of fun!


So far Joeri has been used for breeding twice. We bred him last year to Emma, and raised a litter of four puppies. This was our "O" litter and there are many pictures of the pups on our puppy blog. The picture shows Joeri with his son Ollie.


Laurel Whistance-Smith bred her FC Diamant Lily von Lowenherz J SE (our Asko's daughter) to Joeri and the two pictures show his offspring "Yoda" and "Lykke" at five months.

Yoda (above) and Lykke (below)

We believe that with Joeri, in spite of his precociousness, the best is still to come. We both are looking forward to working with this talented dog. His desire to please and readiness to bond make the training so much easier. Thank you Rosi for the great teckel!

Joeri's ordeal: disabling disc disease one month from tracking season

It looks like August 27 is not our lucky day. A year ago Tropical Storm Irene messed up our house, and now, a year later to the day, we found ourselves in a difficult situation again.

As most of you know Joeri is a 4 1/2 year old wirehaired dachshund that we imported from Germany. He was a very precocious puppy with a great conformation and nice temperament. He also showed a real talent for field work, especially for natural blood tracking, so for the last couple of years he has been John's number 1 tracking dog. The two are very close. Joeri did not fare as well as a producer, and we stopped using him for breeding two years ago.

On August 20 I noticed that Joeri's gait was a little different and he walked with caution. Not knowing what the reason might be, we crated him and observed. From the way he acted we thought that it might have been Lyme disease or a back problem. Two days later John took him to our regular vet. He tested positive for Lyme and was put on doxycycline, but at the same time he was put on prednisone as he showed some tenderness in his back. He was in some discomfort but not a great deal of pain. He wagged his tail, ate his food. He was put on a strict crate rest.

On Sunday, August 26, Joeri felt much better, but when I put a leash on him for his last bathroom walk, he jumped up, his body twisted a little, and he yelped. I could see that things were worse. He moved very slowly and with difficulty. By Monday morning he had deteriorated. We made a phone call to orthopedic surgeons located 50 minutes from us and got an appointment at 1 PM. This was emergency. Unfortunately John had a personal medical appointment that he could not cancel so I drove Joeri by myself to the Pattersonville clinic and I could see that he was really hurting.

He was examined, and luckily he still had some deep pain perception in his hind legs, but when I left him there he could not use them to walk any more. A CT scan revealed a herniated disc behind his last thoracic vertebra. The ruptured disc material was filling approximately 40% of the spinal canal and there was a severe degree of spinal cord compression.

The sooner a herniated disc is treated surgically the better, and odds for a full recovery decrease with delay. Joeri was operated on Monday evening, and the vet’s report said that “the herniated nucleus pulposus was carefully removed from the spinal cord and the spinal canal to decompress the spinal cord”. According to Joeri’s surgeon, around 80% of dogs recover after this kind of procedure. There are no guarantees that this is not going to happen again. As far as I know Joeri's problem was not caused by any injury, and according to his doctor Joeri’s disc would have ruptured sooner or later.

We picked Joeri up on Wednesday afternoon, and the final bill was $3954. The first couple of days were very challenging. Even though Joeri had been on pain medication and muscle relaxants, you could see that he was in pain, especially in the mornings. As far as medical issues go, I have always believed (and still do) that when a dachshund's back goes down, this is the most traumatic experience that a dog and owner can go through.

John and I have been extremely lucky over the years. When you read statistics that 1 in 5 dachshunds will experience a back problem at one point in life (some very mild that respond to crate rest), our experience has been more like 1 in 50-60. Since we joined our breeding programs 18 years ago we have not owned a dachshund with a back problem (until now), and we probably produced 4-5 that had to be treated (one was put down). But there is no doubt that the dachshund is predisposed to premature aging of spine, and Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD) is  the number 1 health issue in the breed.

We have been selecting against disc disease in our breeding program, and have been trying to stay away from it. It is not easy as not much is known about heritability (genetic control) of the disease. However, there is hope and progress is being made. It looks like Scandinavian countries are leaders in this field, and I will write more about it in another post. Another complicating factor is that since our breeding is based on imported dogs, there is usually limited information available to start with. Joeri’s breeder responded to the bad news by writing “We are surprised to hear bad news. The feeling of surprise is intensified through our breeding experience (more than 30 years) – our own dogs showed no back problems”.

Joeri’s recovery has been going really well. He could take small steps on Wednesday evening when he got home.  Now, three days later, he can come out of his crate on his own and can walk to the main entry door. He has a long way to full recovery but so far his progress is quite remarkable. One thing is certain – he is not going to track this fall. We are fortunate that Tommy will be able to assume the role of John’s main tracker.

Joeri, 60 hours after surgery, was not feeling great. This was Thursday morning, and he was much better in the afternoon.

Joeri on Thursday morning.

I am going to write more about IVDD in dachshunds in the near future. This post is dedicated just to Joeri and his surgery. We'll keep you updated on his progress. For those who’d like to read more about disc disease in dogs a good presentation of basic facts is given here. The most comprehensive website about IVDD in dachshunds is at http://www.dodgerslist.com/, where you can order a DVD for just $3.00.

Joeri discovers himself as a blood tracker

Yesterday was a great day for Joeri, who discovered himself as a blood tracker. It was a great day for us too as this young dog is everything we have ever looked for in a working dachshund. Had we had a bottle of champagne in the house we would have opened it and celebrated. Well, we were too tired to do it anyway, but we both agreed - Joeri is the best dachshund that we have ever imported.

John does not like to brag about our dogs so reluctantly he wrote this short report:

"Joeri began his day in the Albany Pine Bush, a preserve of undeveloped land that runs east to west through the heart of the suburban Capital District. The deer had been hit late the previous afternoon, and the hunter was not sure of his shot placement; he had lost the blood trail quickly. It was a challenging line that had 100 yards stretches without visible blood. Joeri, with Jolanta handling, was right on for almost a half mile as occasional drops of blood confirmed. In thick cover Joeri jumped the deer, which seemed to be fine. We walked back along a suburban street to our parked cars. The hunter was relieved to know that the deer is going to be fine.

Jolanta, Joeri and Jason (hunter)

The afternoon track was a bit more exciting. Joeri had done so well in the morning that there seemed to be no need for Billy as a back-up dog this time. I went alone with Joeri to meet the hunter on his 300 acre forest property in nearby Westerlo. This was not suburbia! Now we were working a very sparse, seven hour line blood line. The hunter had done an exceptional job that morning, eye-tracking more than a quarter of a mile, but he had lost the trail where the buck had crossed a creek onto an island.

From the hit site Joeri worked the unmarked trail smoothly, even though the blood was dried up now and very difficult for us to see on the red spotted maple leaves; the real challenge began at the point of loss on the bank opposite the island. Beyond that point we could find absolutely no blood. Joeri crossed the creek to the island, worked across it to the other side and then crossed water again. He tracked down along the far bank and finally hooked back onto the island at its lower end. The cover was thick here, but when Joeri’s nose went straight up in the air, I knew we had the deer. He was a big, nine point buck, dead but still warm. Joeri was very proud, but I was even prouder."

Joeri on the top of the 9 pointer he recovered.

Joeri's road to recovery: 10 days after surgery

We received some inquiries from people asking how Joeri is doing so this is an update on his condition. As you recall Joeri underwent a surgery to repair his herniated disc 10 days ago. Details about what happened are given here.

Joeri is doing really well, but I have to admit that we had a couple of days that were very tough on him and on us. When he came home on Wednesday afternoon (August 29), he started to improve steadily. But when on Saturday evening we removed a back patch with pain medication as instructed by Joeri's surgeon, he regressed. On Sunday and Monday he was in a lot of pain even though he was getting pain killers orally. He did not want drink or eat, just stayed in his crate. He could move but you could see that he did not want to. So far these two days have been the most difficult, maybe because we did not expect such a sudden setback.

On Tuesday, after the Labor Day holiday, we called the vet to report his slightly elevated temperature, the lack of appetite and general malaise. Dr. Fitzpatrick reassured us that Joeri is going to get better and there was no need to bring him in. We were told to take him off Tramadol (oral pain medication) as probably it was suppressing his appetite. I have to say that I was very sceptical, yet on Tuesday afternoon Joeri indeed started to improve quite dramatically.

Joeri on Tuesday afternoon resting on the blanket in my den.

On Tuesday afternoon Joeri's appetite came back.

His eyes were bright, and he started to feel much better.

When you look at this picture carefully you won't be able to see Joeri's tail. The tail was wagging so fast that it is just a blurr. Joeri spends part of the day, when the weather is right, outside in a small pen. His interest in his surroundings is back.

Day #10 post-surgery. I took a leash off  Joeri to take this picture, but he walks only on the leash now. We are afraid that if he saw a rabbit he could try to go after it. He does a lot of ground sniffing and territory marking. And he started to lift his leg to do it.

Looking pretty scruffy early in the morning. He is overdue for grooming but for now we are not going to worry about it.

On Monday, September 10, Joeri is going back to Pattersonville clinic to have his stitches removed. Hopefully from now on he is going to improve steadily.

Many, many thanks and deep gratitude go to our good friends who provided a much needed support. I don't think we could do it without you!

A blood trail that ended with a gut pile

Yesterday we drove to Delanson, NY to track a buck for a hunter who hunted on the property, which is familiar to us. This is where Sabina recovered a wounded deer three years ago. The place is loaded with coyotes, and we have noticed three or four of them in the field on our way there.

We were greeted by Chuck (hunter) and his friend Don. It was a beautiful day - sunny, warm with the temperature in the low 60s.

Chuck and Don followed a very sparse blood trail for 1/4 mile. The hunter thought that the buck was liver hit, and we decided to use both dogs Billy and Joeri.

This time I decided to use our GPS and brought along a camera as well. The cover was incredibly thick with shrubs and wild grapevine, difficult to penetrate, and we put dogs on the last blood that hunters could find the night before. It was a difficult start and dogs made two small loops without finding more blood. Joeri was searching very well, and I decided to re-start him. This time he veered a bit to the right where we found "new" blood! I asked Don who was behind me to mark it with orange biodegradable tape. Joeri started to pull strongly, and I knew that now he was locked on the deer. John and I decided that I and Joeri should proceed in the lead. We tracked at a steady pace for almost two hours. We knew that we were tracking the right deer as occasional drops of blood confirmed the trail. This was not a liver hit deer. The blood was bright red, and we also found quite a few smears on a waist-high grass. This deer never bedded and was not getting any weaker. Finally after 1.6 miles (according to the GPS) Don and I decided to terminate the track.

Joeri did an incredible job on this 15 hour old trail. He checked himself two or three times but basically he was on the blood line for its entire length. He is very easy to handle as he does not pull too strongly. He is also easy to read when he loses the trail and frantically wants to recover it. He also proved to be very responsive. There were times that we had to crawl on our knees and elbows, and at one time I dropped the leash. Joeri was moving ahead, but when I called him, he stopped and waited for me to catch up.

It was a difficult decision to terminate the track because Joeri was still tracking the deer and we were seeing occasional droplets. He really wanted to continue, and when I stopped him he whined with frustration. I tried to reassure him that he did a great job but we tracked "enough". Little we knew what was waiting ahead.

The pictures show blood droplets on the leaves when we terminated the track.

Don and I were a long way from our cars, and we had to find our way back. Chuck and John with Billy decided not to follow us half-way through as the cover was so thick and Joeri was doing a great tracking job by himself. No more than 30 yards from where I had picked Joeri up, we stumbled upon a gut pile. Could it have been from the deer that we tracked? Possibly but not likely. The pile was not hot fresh, probably several hours old, and Joeri was not that interested in it. We felt that we were pushing "our" deer ahead.

Anyway, Joeri and I had a great time tracking, and hunters were very appreciative of what we have done. Their deer either is going to live or it ended up shot by another hunter. We will never know for sure.

Jolanta with Joeri

Joeri's family of German "vom Nonnenschlag" teckels

A week ago or so I received a very nice e-mail from Anne and Rosi Bauersachs with an update about their dogs. Rosi is a breeder of our FC Joeri vom Nonnenschlag. Joeri is now two and a half years old and never looked better.

FC Joeri vom Nonnenschlag in October 2010.

Anne wrote:

Last week my mother went to the Schweißprüfung (blood tracking test). Unfortunately, the weather was really bad. It was a very rainy week. It was a special Schweißprüfung (20 hours), she had to go with Jette on her own. The judges showed her only the starting point. They had 90 minutes to find the deer. They arrived there after 85 minutes and felt really relieved. Roswitha also participated with Isidor in the 40-hour-Schweißprüfung. Altogether five teckel participated. But only two dogs passed the Schweißprüfung - Jette and Isidor. Isidor was the winner of the 40-hours-part and Jette the winner of the 20-hours-part! After the tracking everyone had to change the complete clothes because rain was so heavy. Enclosed you find the report of the day.

Anne, many thanks for the pictures and report. And congratulations on the "vom Nonnenschlag" dogs great performance in the difficult conditions. We are familiar with the blood tracking test "without a judge" and wrote about on our blog. For more info on the test without judge click here.

By the way, Isidor vom Nonnenschlag (Fw: V LZ: BSS 2007, GS 2009, , Sfk, Sp, SchwhK, SchwhK/F, SchwhK/40, SchwhN, Vp, BhFK95, BhFN, Wa.-T, InterVp, SchwPoR, BHP-G) is Joeri's uncle, and he is owned by Roswitha Eckstein. Roswitha handled Isidor in 2007 at the Blood Tracking Championship in Chorin, where he got a very prestigious title of Bundessuchensieger with the Prize I, 100 point performance.

Isidor, Joeri's uncle, won a 40-hour blood tracking test on Sept. 25. He was handled by Roswitha Eckstein. 

   

Justus, Joeri's brother, and Isidor, Joeri's uncle

Jette vom Nonnenschlag, Joeri's sister, won a 20-hour blood tracking test on Sept. 25. She was handled by Rosi Bauersachs.


Rosi Bauersachs repeated the mating that in 2008 produced Joeri, Jette and Justus twice in subsequent years. In 2009 Ilena had a "K" litter and in 2010 the same combination produced a "L" litter. The next two pictures show Lenz, who is Joeri's younger brother.

Lenz vom Nonnenschlag

No deer at the trail end but a good learning experience for Joeri

We took this deer call last Tuesday, on October 20. Dick F. shot a six point buck on Monday morning and spent all day following and marking a sparse blood trail. He called us on Monday afternoon but John was already out on his second call of the day. Unfortunately there was nobody else available. It was a long drive for us as West Sand Lake is 50 miles from where we live.

By the time we got there the blood trail was 26 hours old; the day was dry and cloudy, around 50F. The hunter managed to track the deer for around 1000 yards. He thought that the deer was chest shot.

John took Joeri on this call, and I went with them to take some pictures. Below is a pictorial report documenting the track.



Above - when walking up to the hit site Joeri is always on a regular leash. The tracking collar and leash are put on the dog when he is supposed to start tracking.

Above - the tree stand from which Dick arrowed the buck.

Below - the ground in these hardwoods was covered with dry leaves and spotting blood on the red speckled leaves was a challenge.

Below - Dick did absolutely an outstanding job when he marked the trail with orange biodegradable tape.

Above - at the hit site John puts a tracking collar on Joeri.

Joeri followed the marked trail very well, and we could see some blood throughout the trail. The blood was dry as this trail was old.

Joeri is a careful tracker whose tracking speed is just right - not too fast and not too slow. This was a very difficult track for him, and we could see it by watching his body language.

There were several spots with more blood as shown on the picture below.

It took Joeri 45 minutes to get through first 1000 yards of the trail that was marked. This was a good training experience for Joeri. When the blood stopped, Joeri took us down the hill across the road onto a new property whose owners Dick did not know.

When we picked up Joeri 200 yards after the last blood, we did not know whether Joeri was on the right trail or not as we could not verify it. There was no blood, no beds and no other sign of the wounded buck.

It took us at least 30 minutes to get back to Dick's cabin. It is always disappointing when a wounded deer is not recovered. John wrote on his tracking report: "I doubt that a mortally wounded, chest-shot deer could have gone this far".

We enjoyed the time we spent with Dick, who is a very interesting person (and a very conscientious hunter). This is always an extra bonus when you track for other hunters. You get to meet people from all walks of life, and there is an element of adventure involved.