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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Importance of functional conformation in a working dachshund; NATC events - part 2

On Sunday, June 12, the North American Teckel Club held a Zuchtschau at Rockaway, NJ. A big thank you to Teddy and Carl Moritz who hosted the show at Winnebago Scout Reservation.

Zuchtschau is a conformation show where each dog is evaluated according to the FCI dachshund breed standard #148, and each dog receives a written evaluation from an FCI judge. This year the Zuchtachau was judged by  Mme Agnès de France, President of the French Teckel Club (Club des Ameteurs de Teckels). She judged for the NATC before, exactly two years ago.

What is the FCI and what is the FCI dachshund standard? The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is an international federation of kennel clubs, and currently it has 86 members countries, with one member per country. You can see which countries follow the FCI rules by clicking here or here. Perhaps you will notice that the USA, Canada, UK and South Africa are not on the list...unfortunately. You can read more about the FCI on its website. The wikipedia states that "the aims of the F.C.I. are to encourage and promote breeding and use of purebred dogs whose functional health and physical features meet the standard set for each respective breed and which are capable of working and accomplishing functions in accordance with the specific characteristics of their breed; to protect the use, keeping and breeding of dogs in the member countries."

The North American Teckel Club is part of the DTK (Deutscher Teckelklub), which is in charge of the FCI standard of the dachshund breed as Germany is the country of the breed origin. The NATC holds two conformation shows per year and you can read about them on the NATC website.

Even though on paper the AKC and FCI standards of conformation are not that different, in reality as John says "the American show judges decided, in their wisdom, that if the original dachshund from Germany was a comparatively short-legged, long dog, then the ideal “improvement” would be to exaggerate these characteristics. Check out the big show winners in dog magazines to observe what passes for the most desirable show dachshund today. The exaggerations are most extreme in the smooth-coated  dachshunds. Perhaps they are fine lawn cruisers, but with less than two inches of ground clearance, they would be in big trouble if they had to hoist their long heavy body over a 12 inch fallen long." To download the text of the FCI standard for dachshund and commentary providing additional information go here.

The bottom line is that a hunting dachshund should be athletic and his built should be "especially suited for hunting game below ground, for beating the bush in search of game, and for trailing". So when you are thinking about acquiring your first dachshund for blood tracking, don't think about just his nose, tracking desire, intelligence and other hunting qualities, but pay attention to the parents' conformation too.

When I started to breed wirehaired dachshunds my first litter was a cross between a French working teckel (FC Fausto de la Grande Futaie) and American show dachshund (FC Rivendells Ruby Tuesday). Even though Ruby had a lot of hunt, her conformation was not extreme, and all the following generations of breeding involved FCI working dachshunds only, it was very difficult to get rid off the large- sized, low-stationed, long-bodied, deep-chested American show phenotype. When it comes to breeding, this type seems to be dominant over the lighter and more agile type with  better ground clearance and shorter body.

This picture shows Hansi (Teuffel von Moosbach-Zuzelek), who was Ruby and Fausto's grandson and was born in June 1995. He grew up to be 35 lbs, and he had extremely exaggerated conformation. Of course, we did not use him for breeding. This is not the conformation type you want in a working dachshund...or any dachshund. However, this is the type that you see very often an American show ring.

Hansi is an example of "wrong" conformation for a working dachshund. He was too large, too long and too low to the ground.
There is a reason why I am addressing this issue in my post. Recently I have realized that a number of American show wires have been imported to Europe, and to my surprise, in spite of the long and low stationed conformation, they have done very well in a show ring there. Some of them have done well in blood tracking tests too. Now American show breeders are starting to sell their pups to blood tracking homes. All I can say - do you research first and be an educated puppy buyer. Let's hope that the conformation of these dogs is going to withstand physical demands of blood tracking.

After this long introduction to conformation let's turn to the NATC Zuchtschau. The pictures are telling a story how a dachshund is evaluated according to the FCI standard.

Patt Nance with Viljo, who was rated "excellent".
First a dachshund is put on a scale and his weight is recorded. According to the FCI standard dachshunds come in three sizes. Standard Dachshund has circumference of chest 35 cm or more and its ideal upper weight limit is about 9 kg. Miniature Dachshund has circumference of chest from 30 to 35 cm measured when at least 15 months old. Rabbit Dachshund has chest circumference up to 30 cm measured when at least 15 months. Dachshunds weighing in at more than 10 kilos may not be awarded the “Excellent”.
Stephanie Marcoux is handling Whiskey, who received the "excellent" rating.
Mme Agnès de France is measuring this wirehaired dachshund's chest. As it turned out even though he was out of mini parents, his chest measurement above 35 cm determined that he is of a standard size.
Dog's bite is checked thoroughly.
And all his teeth are counted.
Mme Agnès de France showed us these drawing illustrating dachshund's teeth and jaw. The FCI standard considers absence of one or more canines and absence of one or more incisors as eliminating faults.The same goes for the lack of other premolars or molars with exceptions : the two PM1, one PM2 without consideration of M3.
A tail is checked for kinks. This was embarrassing, but as it turned out Quenotte has a kink at the very base of her tail. I have never noticed it as I was checking the tail further down. A kinky tail is an eliminating fault.

Once a dog is checked on the table, a judge observes how the dog moves.
 

Movement should be ground covering, flowing and energetic, with far reaching front strides without much lift, and strong rear drive movement should produce slightly springy transmission to top line. Tail should be carried in harmonious continuation of top line, slightly sloping. Front and hind legs have parallel movement.

Teddy Moritz with her longhaired mini Garmin who received "excellent" rating.
A dog's temperament is tested by observing his reaction to the loud noise.
All dogs are rated, and possible ratings are: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Sufficient, Disqualified and Without Evaluation. At the end of the show the best dog in each coat is selected, and the show closes with the selection of the best dog in show.

MmeAgnès de France Alexandra whose red mini longhaired Jesse James von Reblick was "Best in Show". CONGRATULATIONS to Alexandra and Jessie James!

For pictures from the NATC Zuchtschau click here




7 comments:

Gentian Shero said...

Nice post Jolanta! Very descriptive and a great educational resource. I understand and agree that when buying a dog, breeding and the right breeder are very important factors to consider. The question that arises in my mind is: Can you have both an athlete, say a weight lifter, a boxer, a runner or you name it, and can you have that athlete be a model that will present the Ralph Lauren winter collection after the match? I have not seen many athletes that are models, and vice versa. Consecutively, it is very hard to get both, the looks and the working ability on a dog. Sometimes we have to sacrifice and make decisions. Because not all dogs are of breeding quality and with great conformation we have to choose either the athlete or the model dog. In my case I will chose the athlete.

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

Genti,
I don't think it is a black and white issue, but I agree it is a matter of priorities. I would have a hard time compromising on the FUNCTIONAL conformation though, which is necessary for a canine athlete to function.

Not all aspects of the DTK evaluation and standard are directly related to the dachshund's function (s). You might have a good hunting dog, who is missing a tooth. Is it ideal? No, it is not, but it really does not interfere with the dog's function. Should/could the dog like this be bred? According to the DTK it depends on which tooth is missing. The policy might be too restrictive, but on the other hand at AKC shows judges just check a bite and don't count teeth at all. Maybe this is too lenient.

In the US there is really just a handful of breeders who follow DTK breeding regulations. In some cases they may have to choose to breed TO a very average dog that does not have major conformation faults and passes a Zuchtschau. This is not ideal at all. There are so many factors to consider when one decides to breed - health, temperament, working abilities, functional conformation, ability to reproduce. The list goes on and on, and one has to prioritize.

I found DTK's breeding policies too restrictive, especially the one that eliminates shorthaired dachshunds out of wirehaired parents.

But I learned a lot by attending Zuchtschaus and now know much more about dachshund's structure and movement. I am still learning.

Gentian Shero said...

Agreed. Will like to add here that there is no way to predict the development of a puppy conformation wise with 100% certainty. Don't let it bother you if your dog doesn't get a good rating or is disqualified, unless you plan on breeding. It is all about priorities and the relationship you have together.

Claire said...

Wonderful article Jolanta! I wish more people would speak up like this.

I just learned from a breeder in Europe that the German hunters are starting to complain that the size limits on the dogs are making them too small to handle larger game and the DTK is possibly going to create a larger size group of Dachshund. !!! Isn't this interesting?

Stan said...

Thanks for taking the time to further explain this, Jolanta. This further illustrates what you were teaching us at Trackfest. The more you explain the functional aspects of conformation, the more it makes sense.

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

Claire,
Thank you for bringing it up! I read about the proposal in the last issue of Teckel Talk. IMO the creation of the 4th size would be a complete disaster as it would fragment the dachshund gene pool even further. This new, over 10 kg breed, would be established out of oversized individuals that are not related, but then the stud book would be closed. I hope that it does not come to it!

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

Stan,
Thanks! I remember how hard it was to get information when I was starting. Actually John was just about the only source of info on the European dachshunds back then, in the early 90s. I have learned a lot in the last 20 years, and I really value opportunities to share our experience with others who are just starting.