SUvCH NUvCH SvCH FC Hound's Kashmir Born 5-23-1997 By  IntNordUvCH NordV85 Nuits Sirocco x  IntNordUvCH Hound's Headline       In 2000, Kaye Middler of Tudox dachshunds in Michigan emailed me with the website of a breeder in Sweden whose dogs Kaye thought I might like. She was right! The kennel was Hound's, and the breeder's name Marie Gadolin. Especially intrigued by the photos of a dog named Hound's Kashmir and his mother Hound's Headline, I wrote to Marie whose English is, thankfully, excellent. We corresponded off and on for two years. Marie readily answered my questions and occasionally sent news or photos of her dogs and their ancestors. Interestingly, I learned that Nuit's Sirocco was 13 years old when he produced the litter of  Kashmir and Karma and that Marie had used him to preserve some of the best old longhaired hunting lines in Scandanavia. Then, in the spring of 2002, Marie wrote and asked if I would be interested in having Kashmir, just turned five years old. Yes, I would!       My N litter, born in March, 2002, had produced a male puppy Marie was interested in, too, and at the end of July, after all the immunizations, incubation periods, and paperwork were completed, "Nick" flew to Denmark from New Jersey on the same day that "Kasi" arrived from Sweden. Two people, one on each side of the Atlantic, helped a lot with this exchange. Kellye Slatton, who at the time lived 30 minutes from Newark International Airport, very graciously offered to let me stay with her human and dachshund family during my adventure of sending and receiving dogs overseas. The other person was Finn Dupont, a friend of Marie's and longhaired dachshund breeder in Denmark who agreed to house Nick in Denmark for the requisite 6-months quarantine before Nick could go to Sweden. It all worked out and the exchange has been beneficial beyond what I had hoped Kasi is an enigma to me. On one hand, he is energetic, enthusiastic, and vocal. On the other hand, he is patient, calm, and quiet. I refer to him as my 'farm shepherd' dachshund. He is the most naturally obedient dog I have ever had, with no agenda of his own. He has the run of my acreage and he takes his responsibilities seriously. He patrols around the house as faithfully as a soldier and will lie on the porch for hours, head up and watching, quiet but alert. He instantly runs deer off the lawn into the field and woods but does not chase them further. The first time I witnessed this, I was aghast. What kind of respectable dachshund does not chase deer? Now I understand this behavior and I appreciate it. Kasi only goes into the woods when I go into the woods. I like that! He finished his Field Champion title in four trials with two wins and two Best Open awards. I do not run him in the Field Champion class as I have three Field Champion males with more competitive natures. One of these is Owl, Kasi's son, from the only litter Kasi has sired here in the States. I consider Owl to be one of the best dogs that I have bred, with many thanks to Kasi, my red-headed Swede.