FC Nexus v Dorndorf L TD JE RN VC Wa-T BHP-G LH              Born March 2, 2002      By CH Walmar's Luke v Dorndorf L  x FC Marta v Dorndorf L JE       Nexus was born in the one litter that I bred for other people and from which I had no intention of keeping a puppy. Well, the other folks wanted girls and you know what they say about intentions! Several youngsters in this litter had the look, mentality and attitude that won my attention and affection early on and a jaunty light red male led the pack.   Later on, it became apparent that the best of both parents had come through in this (my N) litter, the stuff breeders’ dreams are made of! But I could not know when they were babies whether these kids would voice on game trails. Marta is strongly spurlaut but Luke is mute on game. Voice in their offspring was a wait and see proposition.   The names of three of the puppies were chosen by their new owners and the other names came easily to me except, for some reason, the name of the male pup I’d decided to keep.  I searched for days for the right name until I found it in the dictionary. “Nexus” means connection, bridge, or link. Hmmm, I thought. Luke, the sire of this litter, has four crosses in four generations to CH Boondox Panama Jack and the best American conformation lines. And mother Marta has five crosses in four generations to DC Grampus von Harbor Park and the best American field trial performers. I chose Nexus as the name for my puppy.   Nexus and I spent a lot of time tracking together when he was a baby. He showed excellent aptitude for the activity, both blood and footstep tracking, and loved to carry his prize – a deer tail – afterward.   Nexus started and finished his Field Champion title when he was seven months old! More importantly, he proved at that tender age to be spurlaut (as are his brothers and sisters!) and to have an outstanding balance of passion for trailing game with self-control in the pursuit.   When he was eight months old we entered and passed his first tracking test. On an 18 degree morning in Kentucky on December 1, 2002, we drew the first track, the one closest to headquarters, and everyone came out of the heated barn into the cold to watch the dachshund work. It had been a long hiatus from AKC tracking for me. I hadn’t entered an AKC tracking test since Nexus’ great-grandmother Grissel and Grissel’s brother Galen both earned their TDs in Dayton, Ohio, on April 16, 1989. But as Nexus began tracking, I was only cold, not nervous, for I had a lot of confidence in his ability. He passed the test in short order, to much applause, and carried his glove off the field toward the appreciative audience. A couple of men came up and congratulated us and asked me if we had ever done any tracking in a closed environment. Um, would you repeat that? “Have you ever done any tracking in a closed environment?”  These guys were members of a northern Kentucky search and rescue group and explained that they thought that a long, low dog like Nexus could be particularly useful in cave searches!   Nexus was first shown and won his first conformation points when he was nine months old. I showed him a number of times between nine and 13 months of age because I wanted Nexus to beat my friend Lois Ballard’s miniature wirehair Owen as the (then) youngest Dual Champion dachshund. Along the way, Nexus won one major but was Reserve to two more, including Reserve Winners to a 5 point specialty major at the Central Ohio Dachshund Club show where his father had won 5 points a few years before. So we’d come close but no cigar and when his 13th month birthday came and went, my motivation to continue showing Nexus left along with it. I regret that now, because he could and should have been finished in the show ring a long time ago. But he is only six years old so there is plenty of time yet! He currently has 16 points with one major.   We went up to Michigan to the earthdog tests of the Motor Cities Fox Terrier Club in August, 2003 where Nexus became a Junior Earthdog. This also completed requirements for the Dachshund Club of America Versatility Certificate which, at 17 months of age, made Nexus the youngest VC title holder since DCA instituted the program in 1982.   At the North American Teckel Club’s zuchtschau (breed show), September 2003, Nexus earned a V rating and high praise from German judge Wolfgang Trumpfheller. Herr Trumpfheller said of him "Absolutely correct", then noted however that, at 22 pounds, Nexus was at the very top weight allowed for a V rating. Nexus also passed the DTK gun shyness test that year . [Note: The Deutscher Teckelklub recognizes the importance of correct size in a dog whose various field talents include the task of going to ground. As of September 2005, all standard dachshunds are weighed at shows in Germany. 20 pounds is the ideal maximum weight for a standard dachshund and two pounds over that is allowed. A dachshund weighing more than 22 pounds cannot be awarded a V (Vorzuglich/Excellent) conformation rating. In contrast, many standard longhaired males winning in the States weigh 30 pounds and more.]   In September, 2004, Nexus earned Preis 1 with six perfect scores and a total of 108 points in the DTK BHP 1 test.   In June, 2005, he earned Preis 2 with eight perfect scores in the 10 exercises of the BHP 1, 2, and 3 tests. Passing all 10 exercises and all 3 tests in one day earned him the title BHP-G.     In 2005 and again in 2006, Nexus passed the water (duck retrieve) test hosted by the North American Teckel Club. He loves to retrieve from deep water and is staunch and steady in close proximity to gunfire.     In 2006, Nexus ranked 4th of all field trial dachshunds in the nation via the DCA Field Trial Merit Point Program. He has an impressive number of wins and placements in Field Champion classes and has been awarded Absolute Winner three times.   In 2007, Nexus earned the “Novice Hunter” (Small Game) and “Loud Hunter” (Spurlaut) certificates under judges Robert Osterwalder of Switzerland and Carrie Hamilton and Andy Bensing of the US. Of 16 dachshunds entered in this first NATC small game/spurlaut test, three standard longs and two standard wires passed. The three longhairs were Nexus, Nexus’ mother Marta, and Marta’s son from her other litter, Oslo. (The two wires were owned by Laurel Whistance-Smith of Canada.)                               Nexus has been examined by three veterinary ophthalmologists to date with eyes noted “Normal” each time. In response to an inquiry from another breeder, Nexus also had a semen evaluation with excellent results by canine reproductive specialist Dr. Robert Hutchison of Animal Clinic Northview in North Ridgeville, Ohio.   In terms of temperament, conformation, workability, biddability, size, and spurlaut, I have high hopes for Nexus' first litter, due here on July 4!