Experience makes a difference: tracking dachshunds at 5

This was just a pure coincidence. In the last week I have had a short e-mail exchange with two handlers of blood tracking dachshunds, and they both marveled over the superb performance of their dachshunds who are five years old now.

Gary Kata wrote about Buster: "Buster is doing great, he will be 5 years old in May. This tracking season I really noticed his maturity level and concentration improve. He did really well on some tough tracks, my confidence in him and myself really grew. I have always thought he has done well but this year it was different, the change in him was very obvious."

And Christian Elwell said: "I had an incredible tracking season this past year. Josy is unreal in what she can do. It's so fun to see the difference now that she is around 5. She just puts her head down and works- and she is a blood thirsty killer. I'm trying to work on some articles about a few of the tracks from this last year, I'll share them with you once they are finished."

By the way, we are not breeders of these dogs: Gary got Buster (who was sired by our Billy) from Carl Eisenhard, and Josy was bred by Laurel Whistance-Smith. But here you have it - the dachshunds got into their prime at the age of 5. Be patient; don't expect your puppy or an adolescent young dog to perform at this level!