First field trial for tracking dachshunds, Volt and Viva. Buster goes Absolute Winner!

It's time to slowly get back to blogging. We try to post information that might be useful for others, but we also post for ourselves as it is a good way of record keeping. This spring has been so busy that the blog got dropped in favor of Facebook, which makes sharing info and pics so easy. The interactive part of Facebook is hard to beat but its searching capabilities are seriously lacking.

Yesterday I got back from dachshund field trials that were held by Western Pennsylvania Dachshund Club at Cowansville, PA. When I was there a year and a half ago I was very impressed with the grounds. This time rabbits were not as bountiful, which made for long days of beating brush in the field. The weather could have been better too. It was hot and humid, and we had thunderstorms on both days.

This was my only trial of the spring trialing season so regardless of the circumstances I still had a lot of fun. It was great to see close friends and their dogs. It was not a great weekend for our own dogs as the only placement we got was Volt's second place on Saturday, but I am really glad I went and got to see Joanne Greer's Viva. Viva is a daughter of our Tommy and Tuesday (Vivica von Moosbach-Zuzelek), and I have not seen her since she left our place in June 2014. She is our Volt's littermate and looks like his better looking twin. She lives in New Hampshire and does not get exposure to cottontails there. Viva placed 1st in open stake on both days, and since she was in heat she could not run for the Absolute. I got goose bumps when I watched her on Sunday as she opened for the first time with a really nice voice. It is great to watch a young dog figuring things out at her first field trial. Thank you Joanne for everything you have done with Viva. I think you will have a lot of fun with her!

 

For comparison these are some of Volt's pictures:

The real highlight of the weekend was seeing Susanne Hamilton's Buster (FC Clown vom Talsdeich) in the field. On June 5 Buster is going to turn 13. On Saturday he was NBQ, and on Sunday he won the FC Dogs' stake, then was best of FCs and Absolute Winner of the trial. All those who stayed for the Absolute run will remember it for a long time. The weather turned really nasty at the end of the day, and we had to leave the field due to the lightning and downpour. Finally when we went back to the field there was a huge rainbow over the sky. I know that Susanne will never forget the day. Huge congratulations to her and Buster! By the way, Buster is Volt and Vivica's great grandsire.

Hedge, a mini longhaired dachshund bred for hunting by Teddy Moritz is a Field Champion now

Readers of this blog are familiar with Teddy Moritz and her mini longhaired dachshunds.

Here is FC Hedge Threader von Moritz, ten months old. She was in four field trials and got four Firsts, three Best Opens and one Absolute. Better yet, she worked under the hawk for the first time today and helped push this rabbit to the bird.

Hedge is tenth generation field champion. Chuck Sprung put the first four field champions on his line, all bitches, and Teddy continued through her bitch line the next six. It does not get better than that!

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!