To buyers of European dachshunds: Dual register your dogs with the AKC

By Jolanta Jeanneney

If you bought a dachshund from Europe, it was probably registered with one of the FCI kennel clubs such as the Deutscher Teckelklub. You bought your European puppy because you admired the hunting desire and the conformation standard that was developed to ensure stamina and agility. Now you wonder whether you should register your puppy with the American Kennel Club. You probably heard how breeders associated with this club breed mainly for the show ring and exaggerated conformation, with disregard for performance and health. And why would you want to register your teckel puppy with the AKC that has a different breed standard and provides no quality control when it comes to selection of breeding stock?  The reasons are practical rather than ideological.

If you live in the United States, you need to register your foreign-born dachshund puppy with an American-based registry. The American Kennel is your best option.

By the way, it should be mentioned that the terms like dachshund, teckel and dackel refer to the same breed. The word “dachshund” is actually of German origin, and it means “badger dog”, as in German “dachs” means badger and “hund” means dog. These days the Americans who work with dachshunds bred out of European lines often refer to them as “teckels”. But make no mistake about it – teckels are dachshunds!

The North American Teckel Club (NATC), which John and I co-founded, is affiliated with the FCI and DTK. It is a small club, which handles 9 teckel breeds that are differentiated according to the size and coat type (standard, mini and kaninchen x wirehaired, longhaired and smooth). In the AKC system dachshunds are registered just as “dachshunds” (one breed). It is obvious that the United States is very different from the European countries. The distances in our homeland are vast by European standards. Field and show events for FCI registered dogs are very infrequent and widely scattered. The NATC holds events once or twice a year.

This post is not intended to criticize NATC, DTK or FCI, but to show what a breeder loses by not registering an imported dachshund with the AKC.

If there is a possibility that you want to breed your foreign-born "Teckel" in the USA according to the FCI regulations, your dog must be approved as suitable for breeding by an FCI judge at a "Zuchtschau" and this may involve driving a thousand miles or more. After the breeding takes place the subsequent litter must be evaluated by a North American Teckel Club breed warden, and there are few of these in the USA. A procedure that makes a lot of sense in densely populated Europe is not very suitable for the USA. Quality control and genetic awareness in breeding are very important, but we must encourage them here through education, not through  the application of rigid regulations that may require traveling long distances.

Teckel breeders in the USA must think ahead. At present, it is possible, if not convenient, to operate within the FCI system, thanks to the presence of the North American Teckel Club. However, it is not certain that the NATC will survive over the long term. The NATC membership of less than 150 has remained static for a decade, and it has not been very successful in recruiting those who use dachshunds for finding wounded big game and hunting. If NATC fails, those who have not registered their FCI dogs with the AKC will have nowhere to go in the United States unless they want to turn to such organizations as the privately owned United Kennel Club, which is  run more for profit than for quality. Most breeders will have to leave the country to qualify their dogs for registration.

We are very fortunate that the DTK/FCI allows their registered dachshunds to be dual registered with the AKC. In this respect it differs from the Verein Deutsch Drahthaar, which  does not allow their registered dogs in North America to have anything to do with the AKC.

The AKC offers a registration system, which provides pedigrees and DNA testing for parentage verification. But it offers more than that. For people who are interested in versatile dachshunds, the AKC offers performance events such as field trials, earth dog tests, human tracking, agility etc.

Last year, seven dogs in the top ten AKC field trial dachshunds in this country were either direct imports from Europe or American-bred descendants from European lines. The all-time best field trial dachshund FC Danika vom Nordlicht was bred in the United States, but her pedigree goes back to dachshunds imported from Europe. Her conformation was judged by an FCI judge as Excellent (Vorzuglich).  Besides her AKC Field Championship Danika has other AKC titles: TD, ME and EE2, which are earned in tracking and earth dog tests. She is a tracker of wounded game as well. This year, so far the number one spot in field trials has gone to Sherry Ruggieri’s Tüsöksori-Ugrasztó Husniya, who was imported from Hungary.

FC Danika vom Nordlicht,V, TD, ME, EE2 was bred in the United States by Larry Gohlke and she is co-owned by Cheri Faust and Larry Gohlke. Danika's ancestors are of European breeding. She is the most successful field trial dachshunds in the history of AKC dachshund field trials. She also tracks wounded deer, and is all-around very versatile dachshund.

Sherry Ruggieri's Niya (FC Tüsöksori-Ugrasztó Husniya, V) was directly imported from Hungary. Even though she is only 2.5 years old she has done extremely well at AKC field trials. The picture shows Niya at a 2013 NATC Zuchtschau, where Niya was Best of Wires and got Excellent rating.

Over the years we have imported more than 10 dachshunds from Germany, France and the Czech Republic, all FCI countries, where dachshunds are bred according to the FCI standard #148. All these dogs were subsequently registered with the AKC and they participated in all kinds of events and tests in the States and Canada: United Blood Trackers and Deer Search blood tracking tests (not associated with any registry), NATC shows and tests, and AKC field trials. The offspring of these dogs are also registered with the AKC so puppy owners can participate in the AKC events and breed their dogs within the American-based registry.

FC Tom vom Linteler-Forst, V, SchwhK, Deer Search certif. was bred in Germany by Dieter Engel. His conformation was rated at an NATC show as Excellent. So far Tommy has sired five litters registered with the AKC and CKC (Canadian Kennel Club). His son FC Vimy Ridge von Lowenherz was #11 at AKC field trials last year. 

If you choose not to register your foreign-born dachshund with the AKC, the puppies you are going to breed will not be eligible for registration with the AKC and offspring of your dog will not be able to participate in AKC events.

So for practical reasons it makes good sense to dual register your imported dachshunds with the AKC. This does not require you to give up the advantages offered by such FCI organizations as DTK, but it does give you maximum flexibility.  You will always have  the possibility of participating in AKC events like field trials, breeding to either FCI or AKC dogs, and finally the assurance that your puppies will have the status of being registered.

Ask yourself a question – what am I going to lose by registering my European dachshund with the AKC (nothing) and what am I going to gain (a lot)?

To register your foreign-born dachshund, you need to send a copy of an FCI export pedigree, two pictures of the dog and fill out the AKC application form http://images.akc.org/pdf/ADIMPT_1112_edit.pdf. The fee is $100. More detailed instructions are listed on page 3 of the form.

John Jeanneney (left) is holding FC Gerte vom Dornenfeld, SwI/1a, who was imported from Germany. Gerte tracked wounded deer and hunted rabbits, and she is one of the foundation bitches of our breeding program. Late Jim Pitcher is holding FC Zuzelek's Gold-digging Gita, who excelled on rabbits.

Ten Bavarian Mountain Bloodhound puppies born by a C-section: pictorial report

Gary Huber is a passionate tracker and dog handler, who co-founded Deer Search of Western New York. He has been tracking for decades and it is hard to find anybody more dedicated to blood tracking with dogs and hunter education. He is also a member of the United Blood Trackers. These days he tracks with two dogs, a Bavarian Mountain Bloodhound "Beya" and wirehaired Dachshund "Kita".

At the age of 6 years Beya had her first litter just four weeks ago. Because of the number of puppies (10!) and her age, whelping was performed by a C-section. Beya and her pups are doing really well, and if you are interested in an excellent prospect for tracking, give Gary a call at 716-648-7417 or e-mail him tracker10253@verizon.net. Pups are available to working homes only!

A big thank you to Gary for excellent pictures showing how a C-section is performed.

Happy Easter! Tuesday's puppies are one week old.

This week has gone by so fast, and, again, I have found myself way behind with posts. Sorry about that as there is a lot to report.  Let's start with Tuesday's puppies, who are now one week old. They have already doubled their weight at birth:

Volt (lime) was 221 gr at birth, now 515 gr

Vincent (blue) was 232, now 470

Viola (pink) was 210, now 465

Vonnie (yellow)was 215, now 460

Vivica (red) was 232, now 470 gr

The first few days were a bit difficult as Tuesday was producing too much milk and puppies could not keep up with her "production".  She was uncomfortable, but this quickly passed and things have normalized.

Tuesday has a good appetite but she has not touched dry food yet. She has been living on raw venison, mixed with rice and egg, plus she drinks goat milk. Occasionally she gets several cubes of cheese. She turned out to be a superb mother, and so far she has been staying with the pups in the whelping box all the time. They are spotless clean. What I like about her that she not too possessive of her pups. She completely trusts us, and even if dogs bark outside my den, she does not get too upset about it

Happy Easter Everybody!

Tuesday and Tommy's puppies: a new litter of wirehaired dachshund trackers

We bred our FC Tuesday von Moosbach-Zuzelek, Sfk, V, to FC Tom vom Linteler-Forst, SchwhK (Prize I/100), Deer Search cert., V, twice, on February 6 and 8. Her pregnancy went smoothly; she had a good appetite and was active. She looked actually full of puppies as this below picture shows. We chose not to X-ray her as we knew she was pregnant, and a question "how many pups" would have its answer soon enough.

A whelping box for Tuesday was set up few days in advance and she stayed in it almost constantly. She really liked it. This was a relief as with first time mothers you never know how things are going to go.

I started to take her temperature twice a day, and on April 9 it went below 99 F and stayed there. Around midnight of April 10, Tuesday started to nest and scratch the bedding in the whelping box. We knew that the whelping was coming closer. But things were not progressing, and at 4 PM I called our vet for advice. We decided to give her more time since her water still did not break.

The water bag finally appeared at 8:15 PM (April 11), and first puppy arrived 45 minutes later.

This little (7.8 oz) boy was born without any difficulties and appeared very dark.

We named him Volt (he latched to a nipple right away), and we are still not sure whether he is a very dark wild boar or black and tan. We will just wait and see.

Puppies arrived in this order:
9:05 PM Volt (lime collar), 7.8 oz
11:50 PM Viola (pink) 7.4 oz
12:04 AM Vonnie (yellow) 7.6 oz
2:45 AM Vincent (blue) 8.2 oz
3:10 AM Vivica (red) 8.8 oz

We gave Tuesday a shot of oxytocin, and as it turned out she carried only 5 puppies. At this number they should not be difficult to raise.

Tuesday is taking a great care of the pups, but she suffers from excessive milk production, a painful condition called galactostasis. According to the Merck Manual: "The affected glands are warm, swollen, and painful to the touch, but the animal is alert and healthy. Warm compresses should be applied to the affected glands 4–6 times daily, and the young should be encouraged to nurse from these glands." So for the last 24 hours I have been doing warm compresses and expressing some of the milk excess. Tuesday had a slightly elevated temperature, and to avoid mastitis, I put her on Clavamox. She is doing very well, and has a good appetite. Puppies have already put some weight.

By the way, all the puppies are spoken for. 

We do not want to monopolize this blog with reports on Tuesday's litter, so from now on we will be posting them on our puppy journal at http://borntotrackpuppies.blogspot.com/

Two more weeks before Tuesday's puppies arrive. Fiona is very pregnant as well.

Tuesday (FC Tuesday von Moosbach-Zuzelek SW) is due to whelp around April 10, and her belly has been growing rapidly. It looks to me like she carries quite a few puppies. So far her pregnancy has been progressing very well. She has a good appetite, and now we started to feed her more frequently, in smaller portions. We have been adding some extra venison and eggs to her dry food.

Even though very often puppies arrive without any problems, you never know in advance how things will go. There is always some anxiety involved. With a lot of puppies, there is an increased risk of uterine inertia, though thankfully females in her pedigree never experienced it in spite of huge litters. Even though Tuesday's dam Paika never had a lot of puppies (two litters of 5 and 4), Tuesday comes from very fertile lines, on both side of the pedigree, where 8-9 puppies/litter were quite common.

We also hear from Benoit Blanchard from Quebec that his Fiona du Petit Bois de la Chapelle is also full of puppies. She was bred to our Sky, and she is due around April 12.

It's a waiting game - pregnant or not?

Too soon to say whether Tuesday (FC Tuesday von Moosbach-Zuzelek) is pregnant as she was bred exactly 4 weeks ago, but I think her sides are a little rounder. We should know for sure in a week. At 17 lbs she is the smallest dachshund we have because even Kunox is now bigger. A sire of Tuesday's upcoming puppies is FC Tom vom Linteler-Forst, V, SchwHk. If Tuesday has puppies, it would be our "V" litter, which means that puppies' names would be starting with "V".

Great weekend spent with trackers from Quebec

This winter is not going to quit! According to the National Weather Service we got 27 inches of snow in the last 36 hours. Of course this was on the top of the snow already on the ground. Crazy!!! When the snow is so deep logistics of managing 11 dogs (two females in heat) is not easy, especially in case of our old Asko and Joeri. John and I managed to shovel some paths for them in our yard, and today we got plowed so now our driveway is clear.

We got to spend last weekend with two trackers from Quebec, Benoit Blanchard and Steve Durocher, who came here to breed Benoit's tracking dachshund Fiona to one of our dogs. Fiona du Petit Bois de la Chapelle, an accomplished blood tracking dachshund from Quebec, has one of the best temperaments I have ever seen. She is not only talented but very good looking too. Fiona was imported from France along with her two sisters Flair, owned by Steve Durocher, and Foxy, owned by Bernard Demers. They were bred by Philippe Rainaud, an experienced blood tracker from France, who writes for Plaisirs de la Chasse.  

It was a good weekend filled with animated conversation mainly in French. Thanks to John and Steve, who speaks some English, I did not feel left out.

We ended up breeding Fiona to our Sky on February 8 and 9, 2014, and are really looking forward to seeing their puppies. Good luck Ben with the pups! By the way, I guess we should also mention that Tuesday was bred to Tommy on February 6 and 8.

Thank you Bernard for this picture showing Ben with Fiona and the buck they recovered.

Benoit Blanchard with Fiona

Our focus on blood tracking dachshunds: writing, breeding and education

I did not mean to abandon the blog but life got really hectic. We are working as fast as we can on the 3rd edition of Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer. The book is selling better than we anticipated, and we are running out of the 2nd edition. We really would prefer not to re-print the 2nd edition but have the 3rd one ready for printing ASAP. The time is running out.

The weather is not helping in staying focused. It just seems that we have a winter storm once a week these days, and temperatures have been staying low. Most of the time it is just too cold for dogs to be in the kennel. I don't know if you can imagine how it is to have a female in heat when all the males have to be in the house. Asko, now 14.5, is being difficult with his vocalization. I have to marvel at this old dog's life force and spirit. He does not get discouraged by any obstacles. Even with a foot of snow on the ground, he just plows through it in search of Tuesday's scent.

Tuesday is going to be bred to Tommy tomorrow, on her 12th day, and we just found out that this weekend another girlfriend is coming for a romantic rendez-vous with Tommy, all the way from Quebec. Oh boy... I hope that the weather cooperates. Today we got at least 11" of snow, and now are "officially" snowed in.

This is Benoit Blanchard from Quebec with his French tracking teckel Fiona du Petit Bois de la Chapelle bred by Phillippe Rainaud. Fiona is 3.5 years old and at a 1000 meter NATC/DTK blood tracking test in 2012 scored I Prize, 92 points. We are going to see her on Saturday. 

Part of my "free" time is spent on the online course I have just started. The course called Basic Population Genetics for Dog Breeders given by The Institute of Canine Biology. Highly recommended! From time to time I will posting some information presented there, and a good article to start is click here.

I promise to post more frequently, but for now I am going to close this with a link to a recent article featuring Adam Hostetter's Moose (Uncas von Moosbach-Zuzelek). Moose was born on May 10, 2013, and is now around 20 lbs. There are some inaccuracies in the article, but it is always difficult to present all the nuances of all issues addressed in a short piece. We are very proud of Moose and so happy that Adam is pleased with him. For the link to article click here.

A long holiday break is over! Books, puppies, and our plans for 2014.

It is very hard to get back to frequent blogging after a long break, and this is my first attempt! Let's start with pictures of showing John and me with our German puppy Kunox. The two pictures were taken just few days ago. We like Kunox a lot, and have high hopes for him.

We had a very nice holiday break that filled us with warmth and good feelings as in the last two weeks we went out or met with various friends just about every other day. It was great to catch up, eat good food, drink nice wine and altogether being able to relax. We wish all our readers and friends a Happy New Year - may it be healthy, peaceful and prosperous.

We love living in the country but winters here in the Helderbergs can be tough. It seems that the current winter started a long time ago even though officially it has been just two weeks.

The three pictures above were taken in the first half of December, and all this snow melted when we hit really high temperatures just before Christmas. In the end we ended up with a very green/brown Christmas Day. This, of course, was not going to last, and now a true winter has arrived. Yesterday we have a foot of snow, and temperature plunged to -7 F (around -22 C). Tonight is supposed to be even colder. This picture was taken this morning:

All dogs have been staying inside, and they have not been complaining. Thrill of  the first snow has been long gone.

This is going to be a very busy year for us. John has been working for a long time on the 3rd edition of Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer, and he should be done soon. When he completes his part, my work is going to start: editing and preparation of the book for production. Also we are planning to do a new, short book on dachshunds. This is the breed that we are most familiar with, and we'd like to pass our experience to new owners, handlers and breeders. And we also are planning to have two litters of puppies. All in all it looks like my photography is going to take a back seat in 2014, and probably we will not make it to too many dog events.

We have eleven dachshunds now, and our oldest is FC Asko von der Drachenburg, who is doing well at 14.5. Knock on the wood, but at present all dogs are fine, except for some minor ailments that our older dogs have.

Having so many dogs puts a lot of restrictions on our life, and especially our ability to travel, but I don't know how else one can have a multi-generational breeding program. Only through multi-generational evaluation and selection a breeder can have a breeding program with specific purpose and direction. The continuity of our breeding can be illustrated by Asko's descendants:
Asko--> Gilda--> Keena--> Paika--> Sky and Tuesday
and
Asko--> Elli--> Billy--> Keena--> Paika--> Sky and Tuesday
Elli goes back through Agata, Kuba to FC Fausto de la Grande Futaie (imported from France in 1990). Gilda goes back through Sabina to FC Gerte vom Dornenfeld (imported from Germany in 1988).

Speaking about puppies, we are swamped with inquiries about puppies, and at this time we are not taking any more reservations. However, Justin Richins from Utah just had  a litter of pups sired by Remi (Remy von Moosbach-Zuzelek), out of our Mielikki's sister - Macaria Raptor. Justin can be reached at jrichins@thehuntingcompany.com. Also Gail Berger from Pennsylvania is expecting any day now puppies out of Bee (a daughter of our Billy), who was bred to our Tommy (FC Tom vom Linteler-Forst). Gail can be contacted at grammyberger@gmail.com.

These two pictures show Bee at the 2013 NATC Zuchtschau, where she received
the excellent rating for her conformation.