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



Joeri's love to swim and retrieve provides a good opportunity for hot shots!

Before we post about the NATC Zuchtschau, I am going to include justt few pictures of Joeri swimming and retrieving in our pond. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

North American Teckel Club events - part 1

North American Teckel Club held its Zuchtschau and other events (blood tracking tests, obedience tests, training sessions etc) on May 9-12 at Rockaway, NJ. For us the results were disappointing.

On Thursday the lines were laid for the first test in 95 degree heat. Then it rained hard, and the next day only Andy Bensing's Eibe was able to work this line. She took two hours to painstaking track what was left of deer foot and blood scent. Her focused attention never wavered. John was one of the three judges who gave her a prize I (92 points), and he thinks that Eibe is an extraordinary dog. Huge congratulations to Andy and Eibe!

On Friday there was another tracking shoe test for three more dogs, Steve Durocher's two teckels from Canada and our Joeri. None of these dogs could do anything with the line, which had been rained out by another torrential downpour. All three dogs failed. John withdrew Joeri after 20 minutes and about 250 meters in order to avoid wasting the judges' time.

The tracking shoe test, with its natural deer scent from the interdigital glands of the hoofs, seems to motivate dogs better than straight blood. However, the drawback is that the tracking shoe test line holds up less well
under heavy rain.

In other events, such as the Companion Dog Test (Begleithundpruefung) Joeri did very well. He was the only dog who did the exercises off-lead. The water retrieval tests with a dummy and a dead duck fascinated him. After passing these tests himself, he delighted in retrieving the dummy and duck for the other less enthusiastic dogs who left the retrieval object out in the water. This was all very fine, but we would have preferred to have a good score on the blood tracking test.

Since we don't have any pictures from the performance events, I have included pictures from today's John and Joeri's obedience training session. It included healing off-leash, down and stay, and retrieve.

Pictures from the Batavia field trials

Pictures (148) from the field trials in Batavia are posted here.

Christina and Mischa - a new team to beat at field trials

We wrote about Mischa before. We liked Mischa a lot, but for a variety of reasons we decided last fall not to use her in our breeding program. We did not actively look for a new home for her, but in the middle of November an interesting e-mail came Christina Wahl from Ithaca, NY. Christina was looking for a wirehaired dachshund puppy out of European bloodlines. She and her husband used to own smooth dachshunds and were familiar with the breed. She also met some nice wires in Germany and decided that this is the breed and type she would like to own. While we did not have a puppy for Christina, we wrote to her about Mischa. A week later Christina and her husband Ellis picked Mischa up. It was a good match!

I was really happy to see Christina and Mischa at field trials in Batavia on May 28-30. Mischa went to a number of field trials while she lived with us, and she needed just few points to finish her field championship. This was a first trial for Christina, and she seemed to enjoy the whole experience. Conditions were tough as part of the grounds were flooded and we had to go multiple times through some thick mud and pretty deep water.

On Saturday Mischa placed 1st in an open stake of 18 females, and this way she became a Field Champion. Next day she was entered for the first time a a field champion stake. And on Monday she won the stake of 31 field champions, and then went to win the Absolute run too. What a great weekend it was for Mischa and her handler/owner Christina!

Saturday results - Mischa was 1st in the OAAB stake, and she was also Best of Open stakes.

At the Batavia trials - Christina Wahl with Mischa

Mischa was unstoppable on Monday.

Mischa won the FC stake on May 30 and she was also the Absolute Winner of the trial.

Christina and Mischa collected their ribbons at the end of the trial. Laurel Whistance-Smith and Sherry Ruggieri were the judges of the brace for the Absolute win.

On Tuesday we got a nice e-mail from Christina: "I cannot thank you enough for the fun you have given me by letting me take Mischa home. Not only is she affectionate and easygoing, but look how well she did at those trials, even with me as handler!! Wow. I enjoyed tromping around outside with a bunch of strangers (except for the mud and swamp, I wasn't prepared for that part)."

But there was more to come. Now I should say that Christina Wahl is an Associate Professor of Biology at Wells College and the field trials gave her some food for thought. Christina, thank you for sharing them with us!

"Hi Jolanta,
As you know, I went to the St. Lawrence this weekend to tend my garden and my bees. Turns out, I caught a swarm in my "bait hive" and because it was so big I had to immediately hive it, so not much gardening happened, since I had to prepare hive bodies and frames for the new bees...

But on another topic, you might enjoy this story. My Mom and I were in the garden chatting, where I had let Mischa off-leash for a bit of fun, since there is a small wood near us where she enjoys running around looking for critturs. I was bragging about Mischa's amazing field trial day, when she yipped and we knew she'd found a rabbit. Sure enough, the rabbit came barreling out of the woods, right past us, with Mischa in hot pursuit. The rabbit made a sudden left check...Mischa was about 15 feet behind it...the rabbit was in plain view when it turned...and Mischa KEPT GOING straight ahead for another 20 yards, totally missing that rabbit!! We laughed and laughed. So much for keen nose and disciplined dog!
 
Now my Ph.D. is in sensory physiology, and I have been doing a lot of thinking since the field trials. I was so impressed with the way the dogs are able to scent rabbits based on the faintest of molecular trails, even to the extent of knowing which direction the animal was moving in. Mischa did one spectacular run on Monday where she raced at top speed and made a flawless check without even a pause, exactly where that rabbit had turned. How is that possible? The dog has to breathe in and out, and it is only on the intake that it can sense olfactory cues.
 
That means if it is breathing out as it passes a check on a dead run, it will miss it. Mischa got lucky there...she must have breathed in at exactly the right second.
 
Linda Buck and Richard Axel won the Nobel Prize a few years ago for figuring out that for every odorant there is just one olfactory neuron. That's great work towards understanding the sensory aspects of olfaction, but it doesn't tell us how olfactory PERCEPTION works.
 
Every animal has a set of sensory modalities, these senses allow the brain to perceive the environment. We know a few things about perception:
1. For a given sense, perception is usually better than predicted given the known parameters of the sensory system;
2. Most animals use more than one sense at a time to locate objects in their surroundings;
3. Input from one sense can distract/overwhelm input from another sense to the extent that the animal fails to utilize that information (and then makes mistakes).
4. Alertness and focus make a big difference to perception and thus, performance. Drive (motivation) is also important.

Because you spent time with Mischa, she had developed an interest in following rabbit trails, and her natural drive (instinct) to hunt kicked in. Then, for some reason, during the field trials her motivation was elevated and she became highly alert and focused. That situation, plus luck (breathing in at the right moment) allowed her to excel.

So, in addition to the drive you trained her for (she thanks you!) she had to be motivated, alert, and focused. Since we don't really understand how the senses work together, we have to try to keep the dogs from being distracted so that they optimize their mental ability to use the inputs from several senses at once. I suppose in the wild they are able to do that because their survival depends on it...surely that is THE great motivator! Living with humans, there will always be another meal, so they need to get their motivation from another source. I think Mischa wanted to beat the other dogs and that gave her an edge. What gave her that desire to beat them, I don't know."

I am sure that we will be writing more about Christina and Mischa's adventures in the field. I am looking very much forward to seeing them at field trials this fall.

Virginia hunters need to act now!

Virgina residents have a chance to change the current law and legalize the use of tracking dogs to track injured deer. Read the article in the Roanoke Times written by Mark Taylor.

As the article says:

Last winter, the General Assembly passed legislation that allows the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to lift the prohibition on using leashed tracking dogs to assist in the recovery of big game.

At a meeting in Richmond last week, the DGIF board took the next step, approving for public comment the change. The public comment period opened Friday and runs through June 24. The board will vote on the proposal at its next meeting, on July 12.

Written comments can be emailed to regcomments@dgif.virginia.gov or mailed to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Attn. Policy Analyst and Regulatory Coordinator, 4016 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23230.

Another option -- the one most residents take when commenting on proposed regulations changes -- is to use the DGIF's proposal comment online forum.

----------

4 VAC 15-90-260


Game: Deer: Hunting with dogs prohibited in certain counties or areas

Summary:

The proposal is to make it lawful to use leashed tracking dogs to find wounded or dead deer during the deer archery season(s), muzzleloading deer season(s), and the general firearms deer season(s) in certain counties or areas of Virginia.

Proposed language of amendment:

4 VAC 15-90-260. Hunting with dogs prohibited in certain counties and areas.

A. Generally. It shall be unlawful to hunt deer with dogs in the counties of Amherst (west of U.S. Route 29), Bedford, Campbell (west of Norfolk Southern Railroad, and in the City of Lynchburg), Fairfax, Franklin, Henry, Loudoun, Nelson (west of Route 151), Northampton, Patrick and Pittsylvania (west of Norfolk Southern Railroad); and on the Amelia, Chester F. Phelps, G. Richard Thompson and Pettigrew Wildlife Management Areas, except that tracking dogs as defined in §29.1-516.1 may be used.

B. Special provision for Greene and Madison counties. It shall be unlawful to hunt deer with dogs during the first 12 hunting days in the counties of Greene and Madison, except that deer tracking dogs as defined in §29.1-516.1 may be used.

Rationale:

During the 2011 General Assembly session, a bill was passed (HB 1889) making it legal to use tracking dogs that are maintained and controlled on a lead to find and retrieve wounded or dead bear and deer in Virginia. This legislation allows for such retrieval anywhere in Virginia during the archery, muzzleloader, and firearms hunting season for these species provided that those who are involved in the retrieval effort have permission to hunt on or to access the land being searched and do not have any weapons in their possession. This proposal will bring the Department’s current regulation prohibiting the use of dogs while hunting deer in line with the Code of Virginia.


VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- 2011 SESSION CHAPTER 459

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-516.1, relating to tracking dogs.

[H 1889]

Approved March 24, 2011

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 29.1-516.1 as follows:

§ 29.1-516.1. Using tracking dogs to retrieve bears or deer.

Tracking dogs maintained and controlled on a lead may be used to find a wounded or dead bear or deer statewide during any archery, muzzleloader, or firearm bear or deer hunting season, or within 24 hours of the end of such season, provided that those who are involved in the retrieval effort have permission to hunt on or to access the land being searched and do not have any weapons in their possession.

Joeri visits a farm with free roaming livestock

This week the blog will be catching up with all the overdue posts. There is so much to write about - field trials, Trackfest and NATC events, which took place on June 9-12. Actually, on the way home from the NATC events in New Jersey, John and Joeri stopped off to visit his son Paul near Liberty, New York. Paul and his partner Marilyn have an “educational” farm for city folks, who come to the Catskills in summer. The farm is stocked with all kinds of free roaming livestock from horses to cattle to sheep to turkeys. Joeri took all this in stride, and did not get upset when a kid goat sniffed his backside as a dog might do. As you can see from these photos, he was keeping close watch on John for guidance in case the crazy farm menagerie turned hostile.

Beaverwood Farm is a dream come true for a photographer. This picture was taken a year and a half ago around Thanksgiving.

Billy's fantastic weekend at field trials

On the Memorial Day weekend, just two days after we had come back home from Trackfest, I was scheduled to judge open stakes at dachshund field trials in Batavia, NY. The plan was to take Quenotte (she just needed few points to finish her field championship), Tommy and Paika. But Paika came in heat so she could not go as a field champion stake was combined (when females and males are run together females in heat are not eligible to participate).

I could not decide which dog instead of Paika to take with me until the very last moment. Bernie or Billy? I run Bernie on rabbits quite often, and he is very good. And it has been a very long time since Billy ran in field trials as we have been using him mainly for blood tracking. I really could not decide. I even printed entry forms for both, Bernie and Billy, and when John asked whom I was going to take, my response was that I would not know until the very last minute. I was leaning towards Bernie, but John thought that Billy was a better choice. When I finished packing my car and put Quenotte and Tommy in their crates, my choice became clear - it was going to be Billy.

There were three trials, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and a field champion stake was large - 34 entries on Sat and Sun, and 31 on Monday. Thanks (not!) to the luck of draw on Saturday Billy ran in the first brace. I prefer not to be in an early brace, but I was really impressed with his run and thought that he had a chance to be called back in the second series. In the end he was called back 4th and climbed all the way to the first place.  Then he went to win the Absolute run (equivalent of High in Trial)!

On Sunday Billy did very well again, was called back second in the second series and ended up first and the Absolute Winner again. His line control and check work were very good. On Monday he had a great run in the first series as he brought the rabbit back to the gallery, but he was called back only 6th. He ended up NBQ, which is equivalent to the 5th place.

This was a pleasantly surprising weekend. Many years ago as a young dog Billy finished his field championship very quickly with three first places, but we almost did not run him at all as a field champion. With as many dogs as we own, we have to make some tough decisions who is going to be used for blood tracking mainly and who will be run at field trials. Billy is seven years old now, and his main field experience comes from blood tracking, which I am sure really sharpened his skills of working a scent line.

Billy is a great companion; he is easy going and has a heart of gold. He travels extremely well, and we had a lot of fun together. The weekend in Batavia provided an excellent bonding experience, and I am sure he will be coming with me to more field trials in the fall.



More about Batavia field trials in the next post.

New generation of blood trackers is born

Congratulations to Mae von Munterkeit and her owners Beth and Gentian Shero! This morning Mae delivered three puppies, two boys and one girl, and everybody is doing fine. You can actually see a livestream video of the whelping box at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/7947920. Our Tommy, a sire of this litter, is very proud, but it is Mae who is going to do all the work raising the pups. Not fair!

Beth and Mae

Pictures from Trackfest 2011

I took over 600 pictures at Trackfest and found that only half of them were worth posting. The pictures are posted in two galleries:

• The first gallery contains 131 pictures and to access it click here.
• The second gallery has 171 pictures and can be accessed here. 

It is up to you how you would like to view them (you can adjust format by going to styles in the upper right corner). These pictures are protected by copyright.

What dog breeds were present at Trackfest?

Before I start writing about all the actyivities we had at Trackfest, it might be interesting to mention what dog breeds were present there. According to my count there were twelve standard wirehaired dachshunds on the grounds, five Bavarian Mountain Bloodhounds, three Labrador retrievers, two Blue Lacys, one Wachtelhund, one mix breed Corgi/German shepherd, two Grand Bleu de Gascogne Hounds. here they are:

Gus is a young wirehaired dachshund owned by Brian Reisner from Michigan

Rilla is also a wirehaired dachshund; she is one year old and she is owned by Stan Kite from New Jersey

Scout, a chocolate Labrador retriever, is a very experienced tracker owned by Al Wade from Alabama

Mirko, a young Bavarian Mountain Bloodhound imported from Germany, is owned by Ken Parker from Georgia

A four-month-old Grand Bleu De Gascogne is owned by John Meister and Kari Goza from Tennessee

A super achiever Rosie (yellow Lab) is owned by JJ Scarborough from Georgia

Caliber is a Wachtelhund and he is owned by Dr. Brady Hensington from Missouri

Lucie owned by Earl (Pat) Patterson from Louisiana is a corgi/shepherd mix

Lucy, a Blue Lacy, is owned by Mike Lopez from Idaho

Another Blue Lacy - Oak - is owned by Chris Morris from Michigan

United Blood Trackers Trackfest 2011 - part 1

This year the 2,600 acre Buck Hollow Ranch owned by Tom and Ronda Baker was the site of United Blood Trackers’ annual “Trackfest”, a training workshop for dogs of all breeds and their handlers. We had an attendance of 38 people and 25 dogs.

The site was ideal for the purpose, and hospitality extended by Tom, Ronda and their Ranch Manager Keith Futrell was unmatched. We are so grateful for everything that they have done for us!

Tom and Ronda Baker are owners of the Buck Hollow Ranch in Pocahontas, Arkansas. They were incredibly gracious and generous hosts.

Mongo (Keith Futrell) is a ranch manager. He is also a member of the Pocahontas City Council. Keith was a great help and he contributed a great deal to Trackfest's success.

We had a very good representation of Bavarian Mountain Bloodhounds due in part to a presentation on May 20 by Jim Smyth, a “Germanized” retired military man who handled and judged Bavarians in Germany for many years. He described the German club’s system for testing tracking ability on artificial and natural lines. The Germans have developed this to a very high level!

Jim Smyth

The Bavarian Mountain Bloodhound is a breed developed specifically for blood tracking, and the German breed club’s regulations for testing and breeding are very strict. The demand for Bavarians as tracking dogs over here is very strong, but there is a waiting period to acquire one through “official” channels. Some Bavarians are being imported from sources outside the breed club (Klub für Bayerische Gebirgsschweißhunde), and this has created a certain tension between owners in the two camps.

A classroom session on the Bavarians.

A three-year-old Triton is owned by AJ and Debbie Minns from Hunt, TX

Mirko is owned by Ken Parker from Georgia. He is a young German import.



From the left: Larry Shepard (MI), Ken Parker (GA), AJ Minns (TX), Wesley McConnell (IL) and Randy Vick (GA)



Randy Vick with Little Brown