Kunox von der Dohlmühle finishes his AKC Field Championship

Last weekend Kunox and I attended field trials in New Jersey. On Saturday there were 12 entries in the Open All-Age Stake, and Kunox placed first. This fulfilled AKC requirements for awarding him an AKC Field Champion" title. On his journey to the title he got four 1st placements, three Absolute wins and 45 points. Way to go Kunox! 

We owe many thanks to Annelie Grauer of "von der Dohlmühle" kennel for this talented puppy!

FC Kunox von der Dohlmühle held by Jolanta Jeanneney next to Alice Moyer (Judge).

Four field trials and four Absolute wins

These days it is not easy for us to get away to attend field trials so it was a real treat when Emillie, John's daughter, agreed to come and stay with our dogs two weeks ago. John and I took Kunox, Tuesday, Mielikki and Tommy to field trials held at Niagara River Beagle Club in Alexander, NY, where beaglers running the club feel like our own family.

There were 9 entries in the Open All-Age stake and our Kunox von der Dohlmühle placed first. He also was Best of Open and then to went win the Absolute run over the best Field Champion of the day, Laurel Whistance-Smith's FC Lykke von Lowenherz SE, who is our Joeri's daughter. It was a great day for Laurel's dogs as her FC Diamant Lily von Lowenherz ME placed 2nd in the Field Champion stake of 31 (Lily is our Asko's daughter) and FC Stanze von Lowenherz SE was NBQ.

The picture me with Kunox was taken with John Merriman and Alice Moyer, who were the judges of the Absolute run. 

John and Kunox celebrating a good day.

Lykke bred and owned by Laurel Whistance-Smith was a winner of the Field Champion stake.

On Sunday, September 14, Kunox was not called back for the second series, but Tuesday was called back high (she had a very good run against Sherry Ruggieri's Niya) and she held on to the first place. She won The Absolute run, just like Kunox did a day before. Our Tommy placed 4th.

This picture shows John and me with Tuesday and Phil Kirby (left) and Bob Patterson (right), the judges of the Absolute run. Thank you!

This past weekend I made a trip to New Jersey by myself and took with me Kunox, Tuesday and Mielikki. Entries were similar to those two weeks ago. on Saturday at Bay Colony Dachshund Club field trial there were 9 open dogs, 9 open bitches, and 29 field champions. On Sunday at Dachshund Association of Long Island trial we had 9 open dogs, 10 open bitches and 27 field champions. 

On Saturday Kunox placed 3rd in the open stake, and Tuesday was called back 3rd for the second series. She had some great runs and ended up first and then winning the Absolute run.

From the left Barbie Wills with Veela (place #4), Sherry Ruggieri with Niya (place #3), Christina Wahl with Mischa (place #2)  and Jolanta Jeanneney with Tuesday (place #1. All these wires are out European bloodlines: Veela was imported from Germany, Niya from Hungary and Mischa from Slovakia. Tuesday was bred by John and me and she is out of European lines as well.

Lorraine Simmons and Carrie Hamilton were judges of the Field Champion stake.

On Sunday Tuesday ended up 2nd in the Field Champion stake, and she impressed me a lot with her performance and consistency. Kunox suffered a total mental block in the first series and acted like he did not know what he was in the field for. Is this a sign of adolescence (he is 14.5 months)? I was totally embarrassed but then on our way back to the car we came across a cottontail sitting in the lane. Kunox saw it and then recognized the scent. It was like "Oh, yeah, there are rabbits here!" Luckily he was called back as a bye dog and had another chance to run. He did much better in subsequent runs and ended up winning the trial.

The picture shows Kunox with all his first placements and Absolute wins he got so far, and it was taken for his breeder Annelie Grauer from Germany. Thank you Annelie for this talented dog! This was Kunox's third Absolute win. Unfortunately, even though so far he has gotten 3 first places and several other placements he is not a field champion yet as open stakes on the east coast are pretty small these days. Well, he does not care what stake he runs in, that's for sure.

I'd like to share some other pictures from the last weekend.

Anna Cook is only eight years old but she handled her mini wire Dillan like a pro. Kunox ran against Dillan twice and I admired Anna's poise as a handler.

Teddy Moritz's young mini longhair bitch Hedge was 1st in the open bitch stake on both days. She did great and her quickness and drive are going to be hard to beat.

Great weekend at dachshund field trials in Pennsylvania and Michigan

The weekend of May 3 and 4 marked my first field trials this season, and possibly the last ones. Things are pretty hectic here this spring, and this is one of the reasons why you do not see frequent blog updates. Anyway, I was really looking forward to spending two days in the field with my dogs, in company of good friends, watching dachshunds trail rabbits.

These were new grounds for dachshund field trials so we did not know what to expect at Woyming Valley Beagle Club in Hunlock Creek, PA. The drive was easy, and it took me only 3.5 hours to get there. As it turned out the grounds were terrific with abundant rabbits and good visibility. Beaglers provided excellent food and support.  And it was great to see good friends after a long off-season.

On Saturday, May 3, Darren Doran from New Jersey ran his Theo von Moosbach-Zuzelek in the open stake for dogs. Theo had some great runs, was called back in the first place and held on to it. Since he needed only 2 points, this win finished him as Field Champion. Huge congratulations go to Darren and Theo on this new title! What a terrific season this team has had - a win at the Deer Search blood tracking competition and now a title of AKC Field Champion! It does not get better than that.

On Saturday it was the first field trial for our almost-ten-month-old Kunox von der Dohlmmühle. I have been working with Kunox for a month or so on rabbits in our enclosure. I know that he has a lot of hunt, can follow rabbits pretty well, and he will get better with experience, maturity and age, so the emphasis of our training was on partnership. We worked with a release cord and put emphasis on communication and recall. I was really proud of Kunox as all this work has paid off. Most of the time he was easy to recall, even from a long distance. I was very pleased. On Saturday he placed 3rd in the open stake of 10.

On Sunday, I was not impressed with open dogs' runs in the first series, Judges were very generous in putting them on multiple rabbits but it looked like very few dogs could recognize a rabbit scent line at all. Kunox was given two rabbits and did not smell them but managed to get on rabbits that he found on his own. I did not think that he would be called back at all. But two braces were called back for the second series, and he was called in the 4th place. In the second and subsequent series things got better. Kunox won all his runs and in the end won the stake. Since the first place in open stake for bitches was witheld, he did not have to run for the best of open. In his Absolute run he faced a 9.5-year-old standard smooth male "Donder" owned by Sandy and Joan Horskin. FC Harmony Hill Donder had some terrific runs in the FC stake and was a much more experienced opponent. The dogs were released to thick brush, Kunox first, Donder second, and both of them opened right away. They worked in the brush and Kunox took the scent line out of the brush first, with Donder close behind him. Donder was at disadvantage - because of his larger size he had a harder time moving through the brush. The judges, Alice Moyer and Phil Kirby, said "picked them up" and awarded the Absolute win to Kunox. Good boy Kunox!

One of the highlights of this weekend was watching Susanne Hamilton's almost-12-year-old Buster working rabbits on Saturday. The competition was tight (35 field champions) and Buster's runs were superb. He placed first in his stake, and after defeating a winner of open stakes went  Absolute Winner of the trial.

Buster (FC Clown vom Talsdeich) is one of the most accomplished tracking/hunting dachshunds in the States and it was a thrill to watch him in action. By the way, three weeks ago we bred our FC Mielikki Raptor to Buster and we are very much looking forward to having Buster's puppies.

While we were having fun in Pennsylvania, things were also happening in Michigan at Wolverine Dachshund Club trials. Cheri Faust's Danika (FC Danika vom Nordlicht) was Absolute Winner of the trial on Saturday. Danika is Buster's daughter and the most accomplished dachshund in the history of field trials. On Sunday the Absolute win went to FC Strolch von Lowenherz bred and owned by Laurel Whistance-Smith, our Tommy's son. Danika and Sky's puppies, Copper and Halo, placed 1st and 2nd on Sunday, Copper was also 2nd on Saturday. Sherry Ruggieri's dogs, Niya and Dixie placed well as well.

So all in all it was a GREAT weekend for dachshunds out of European hunting lines, who won 4 Absolutes at 4 trials!

I'd like to end this report with more pics taken in Pennsylvania.

Susanne Hamilton and Teddy Moritz engaged in conversation.

Linda Snyder and her mini wire Hopi (DC Rellih's Hopi Cachina Spirit), who was number 1 field trial dachshund in 2013.

The two pictures below show Joan and Sandy Horskin's Donder, who gave a super performance on Sunday.

At dachshund field trials you get to see all kinds of dachshunds. This brace included two black and tan standards, a longhaired and smooth.

The grounds of Wyoming Valley Dachshund Club were well maintained and provided good visibility. We hope to be back!

Gwendoline von der Dohlmühle, the best working dachshund in 2013 in the DTK Wiesbaden-Mainz Gruppe

Great news from Germany: Gwendoline von der Dohlmühle, Kunox's dam, got a diploma as the best working dachshund of the DTK Wiesbaden-Mainz Gruppe in 2013. She also received a challenge trophy, a bronze wild boar. Congratulations go to Annelie Grauer on Gwendoline's accomplishment! Gwendoline's dam, owned by the Grauers, Elsbeere von der Bismarck-Eiche out of Stefan Fuß's breeding was 3rd (she was 1st five years ago). We feel so fortunate to have Kunox!

Kunox - our new dachshund puppy from Germany

It was a week ago, on Wednesday, when John and I drove to Newark International Airport to pick up our new puppy from Germany - Kunox der von der Dohlmühle. Kunox  arrived in the United States, all happy and wiggly, not showing any sign of stress.

Interestingly, we did not plan to get a new puppy this fall, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself and cannot be denied. It was almost four weeks ago when Stefan Fuß of "von der Bismarck-Eiche" kennel in Germany posted some information on Facebook about a male "von der Dohlmühle" puppy looking for a hunting home due to some unexpected circumstances. When I (Jolanta) saw the pup's picture and outstanding pedigree, I knew that we must have him. More about his pedigree and family later.

So many, many thanks go to Stefan who made it all possible and to Annelie Grauer, Kunox's breeder, who trusted us with her puppy.

John has already started to work with Kunox and this is what he wrote: As Jolanta points out, we were lucky to get a puppy with such an outstanding pedigree for  blood tracking. Fortunately little Kunox doesn't know about the pedigree and how  good he is supposed to be. He is a nice, relaxed dog with good social skills around humans and canines. He departed from Lufthansa at Newark Airport totally relaxed and ready to sleep on my lap all the way home.

Of course the Old Man was especially interested in Kunox's desire and ability for tracking. The second day after his arrival in Berne we tried the first liver drag of 20 yards. No problem, but he learned what it was all about and had a fine chew on the deer liver at the end of the drag. The next day Kunox had a liver drag twice as long. Clearly it was too easy, but he liked the liver. On day three the liver drag was nearly 100 yards and an hour old. It was windy but Kunox got his nose down in the grass and  held to the scent line. Now he was ready for something more challenging.

Day four: This time I laid out a line with droplets of deer blood through  the labyrinth of paths in our running enclosure. There were many right angles to overshoot, and I let it age for  four hours. The line was only about 150 yards long, but there were many complicated turns. Kunox marched through it with ease, never overshooting a turn by more than five feet before checking and correcting himself. At the deer skin he approached with caution, but after my assurances he grabbed on. The prey drive was there! He actually preferred shaking the deer hide to eating the deer heart treats.

I kind of like this puppy!

This puppy loves his food, even home-grown kale. We need to take just a little bit of weight off him.

He is a low-key pup that can just relax and sleep while we go about our daily routine.

Kunox has met most of our dogs and proved to have good social skills. Mielikki is a good playmate as she is patient and gentle with him...up to the point. She set some boundaries by now for Kunox and one of them is that he is not allowed to hump her (he tried).

 

Kunox has been accepted by his new family; the picture shows Paika and Sky

Kunox licking Billy's face

Kunox has a very good switch: he is on in the field...

...and off in the house. Don't you love a puppy that you can take a nap with?

 

Kunox's dam is Gwendoline der von der Dohlmühle, who just three days ago won the International Vp test in Italy with maximum number of points of 280. Gwennie's mother Elsebeere von der Bismarck-Eiche got 268 points. Both got their CACIT (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International de Travail) and became International Working Champions.

When we were in Germany in 1999 we visited Manfred Siekmann of von Rominten kennel. He is an extremely knowledgeable and accomplished breeder and handler, and we learned from him a lot. At the time his male Nurmi von Rominten was flying high as a blood tracker. I think he won Chorin Suche blood tracking championship twice. We loved the dog, and we saw him again on subsequent trips. He got to live to be 15. We always wanted a puppy sired by him but it has never worked out. The sire of Kunox is IACh GS BSS Doktor von Rominten, who is linebred tightly on Nurmi, and is an outstanding dog in his own right.