I am happy to report that Viljo has all 42 permanent teeth completely in or coming in. I have been looking at his teeth regularly, both for my own information and for giving him experience with really thorough bite examination.

Vijo's father has complete dentition; his mother is missing one 1st premolar (not considered a fault).

It's funny (not ha, ha) that until a few years ago, while I knew what correct and incorrect bites looked like, I had never counted teeth or even knew how many teeth a dog should have. "Should have" is the key note on this topic. Since my involvement with the Deutscher Teckelklub, I have learned that not all dogs have complete dentition and that there is a genetic component to missing teeth. It was in 2000, and my first experience with a German judge, that I first saw any judge open dogs mouths wide and study teeth, and I'd been going to shows and observing judges off and on for 32 years.

Following are statements from the FCI Standard for the Dachshund regarding teeth.

Faults: M3 (Molar 3) are not to be considered when judging. Lack of 2PM1 (Premolar 1) is not to be penalized. The absence of PM2 should be regarded as a fault, if other than M3, no other teeth are missing, also a departure from the correctly closing scissor bite.

Serious Faults: The absence of teeth other than those described among faults or eliminating faults.

Eliminating Faults: Lack of other premolars or molars. Exceptions : The two PM1, one PM2 without consideration of M3, as mentioned under Faults.

What this means is that a dog may be missing one or two 1st premolars (the teeth just behind the canines), and one or both 3rd molars (found only on the lower jaw), without fault.

Missing a 2nd premolar is a fault.

Missing any incisor, any canine, any 3rd premolar, any 4th premolar, any 1st molar, or any 2nd molar is a disqualifying fault. Missing a 2nd premolar plus any other tooth (except 3rd molars) is also a disqualifying fault. Missing more than two 1st premolars is a disqualifying fault.

So now I pay attention, not just to the alignment of incisors and canines, but to the presence of all the teeth.  

Above left: This is a good canine dental chart. Click on the diagram for a full-size view.

Above right: The bite of a 5-6 month old puppy is in transition. During this transition, puppies go from 28 teeth to 42. This photo shows adult incisors, two erupting adult premolars, and a puppy canine with no evidence yet of the permanent tooth.   

An excellent photo of a quail-retrieving dachshund was published early this year in the "Club Outdoors Minnesota" column of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Axel Odin von Dorndorf, six years old, is family companion and deer tracker for Stan & Alecia Wenner in North Carolina. Alecia sent me new photos of Odin today. I have included them (the bottom two) on a new photo page featuring Odin. Alecia, thank you!

FC Audi Oslo von Dorndorf, owned and handled by Stan Knoll, placed 4th in the class of 16 Field Champion Dogs! This was at the Bayou Dachshund Club of New Orleans field trial today in Pricedale, Mississippi. The Knolls did not attend the Saturday trial. Stan says they got home late Saturday from spending Thanksgiving with relatives, went to bed at 12:30 Saturday night, and got up at 4am Sunday to go to this trial! Congratulations, Stan and Oslo!

FC Autumn Olive von Dorndorf TD RA OA NAJ Wa-T BHP-G, owned by John Willmore & Diane Webb, had an excellent day at the Orange Empire Dog Club's agility trial. She qualified in Open Standard (already has the title) AND won the Open Jumpers With Weaves class for her first Open Jumpers leg! Congratulations to Olive, John (handling), and Diane!

Olive ran a full seven seconds under course time in the Jumpers class! Here is a video of that performance.

Julie Stock and I attended an awesome performance of Handel's Messiah, many thanks to Jennifer Fry and Jennifer's family. The fabulous nearly three hour program by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Columbus Symphony Chorus was preceded by an enjoyable, informative one hour lecture by WOSU's Christopher Purdy.

Jennifer Fry is a member of the Columbus Symphony Chorus. I know they practiced many, many hours for this huge two-performance production which garnered great reviews! I was awestruck by both the music and the Ohio Theatre!

The Ohio Theatre is a performing arts center in downtown Columbus. It was built in 1928 and is known as the "Official Theatre of the State of Ohio". In 1969, a local development company wanted to put an office tower on the site! The Ohio Theatre was saved from demolition by members of the community and completely restored. In 1977, it was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Often during the performance, I looked around at the majestic theater and thought, my God, they wanted to tear this down for offices??

There is a story on the Outdoor Life site about a lab that retrieved a dead buck from the middle of a lake! The story isn't new but it is new to me. The photos are great! I admire dogs like this.

Nexus, Viljo, and I were out on our usual walk in the field this morning. The wind was blowing but it wasn't cold and we were enjoying ourselves.

Nexus suddenly pounced on a dirt spot in the grass and began digging. Viljo joined him and the dirt flew. I stood and watched. They have played this game before. Next thing I knew, a mole appeared in the excavated earth behind Nexus, mere inches from Viljo's nose. Viljo snatched it and shook it like crazy. He did that for quite awhile. Nexus, intent as he was in his digging, did not know Viljo had the mole until we started back to the house!

I got my Flip and made a little video of Viljo and his prize. After 40 minutes or so, Viljo began looking for a place to hide it. I nixed his request to bring it into the house. My tolerance for the game of Mole! has limits.

Got moles? Get a dachshund!

FC Audi Oslo von Dorndorf, owned and handled by Stan Knoll, placed 2nd in the class of 18 FC Dogs at the Buckeye Dachshund Club field trial! What a great weekend for Oslo and Stan! Congratulations!

FC Audi Oslo von Dorndorf was WINNER of the Buckeye Invitational field trial today! WAY TO GO, Stan and Oslo!!! 20 of the best Field Champions in the country were competing, and this turned out to be a *nine* series field trial! Judges were Bill Dyer from Ohio, Jolanta Jeanneney from New York, Shawn Nies from Missouri, and Robert Schwalbe from Georgia. The trial was held on the grounds of the Buckeye Beagle Club in Dundee, Ohio.

Oslo went undefeated the first three series.

He sustained his first defeat in the 4th series, braced with Bob Page's b/t mini smooth male Ruckus. The Buckeye Invitational is conducted in a different format than regular AKC field trials. In the Invitational, it's two defeats and you're out. Dogs with one or no defeats continue in competition...

Oslo defeated his 5th series bracemate...

Oslo defeated his 6th series bracemate...

Oslo defeated his 7th series bracemate who was Bob Page's Ruckus. This was the first defeat of the day for Ruckus.

At the end of seven series, there were three dachshunds 'still standing'. They were Oslo from Mississippi, Ruckus from Texas, and Carmen from New Jersey, a red mini wire bitch owned by John Merriman. All three dogs had sustained one defeat...

Oslo was the only one that had not been a bye dog yet, so Oslo was bye dog in the 8th series...

Ruckus defeated his 8th series bracemate Carmen...

The 9th and final series, then, was Oslo running with Ruckus. Ruckus was the only dog who had defeated Oslo all day. Oslo was the only dog who had defeated Ruckus all day.

You already know the result!

C@NGRATULATI@NS to Stan & Oslo, Bob & Ruckus, and John & Carmen on your marvelous, persevering performances!!! Many thanks to Jolanta Jeanneney for the photos.

Seiko v Dorndorf L, now 14 months old, is with Laura Knoll and Jennifer Fry. They will meet up with Stan Knoll, Babe, and Oslo, who are on their way from Mississippi to Ohio to compete in the Buckeye field trials this weekend.

Seiko was the pup I chose out of the three females by FC Audi Oslo von Dorndorf x DC Nadja v Dorndorf L SE. Tina Knoll had leased Nadja to me for this litter but Nadja stayed in Mississippi where the Knolls whelped and raised her three puppies. I brought the pups to Ohio in October, 2009. Sage went to live with Maxine Brinker in Ilinois, then Sonic went to Michigan with hunter Mike Suchodolski. Seiko stayed with me. I'd waited and strived a long time to obtain my next female and Seiko was just what I wanted.

However, in January of this year when Seiko was five months old, I began noticing that something was not quite right with her rear stance and movement. Her hocks looked like they were bowing out some. I watched and watched, and waited and waited, hoping this was a stage she would come out of...

It wasn't. Eventually, with some assist from orthopedic specialist Dr. Matthew Barnhart at Med Vet in Columbus, I learned more about Pes Varus than I ever wanted to know. And I realized that, although I've never seen it in my own dogs, I'd seen bowed legs like this in other dachshunds. I just hadn't known what it was.

Pes Varus is also known as Angular Hock Deformity. It is a developmental problem caused by uneven closure of the growth plate at the far (distal) end of the tibia. It often becomes noticeable when puppies are five to six months old. Here are two definitions.

"Pes Verus is a distal tibia deformity described in dachshunds and associated with asymmetric closure of the distal physis."

"Pes varus is a distal tibial deformity seen in Dachshunds. With this condition there is shortening of the medial tibia with maximum curve and rotation at the distal metaphysis."

There isn't a whole lot of information out there about Pes Varus but I learned as much as I could. I found that it is likely an autosomal recessive trait which meant that Seiko was NOT a future candidate for breeding. You can imagine how very disappointing this was.

Ironically, her excellent rear structure as a young puppy was one of the reasons I chose Seiko over her sisters. Sonic and Sage are unaffected by this condition.

Fortunately, Seiko has a mild form of it. She shows no lameness whatsoever and RUNS with the best of them. In fact, I've long said that Seiko loves to run more than any dog I've ever owned. She darts and zooms and circles in the yard as fast as she can go, whether anyone is chasing her or not!

Last month, I began to talk of finding another home for Seiko. Tina Knoll announced that she wanted her to come back to Mississippi. Tina wants to track and field trial her. Seiko displays an affinity for tracking, (she was certified by a tracking judge at nine months), and will likely display a lot of talent on rabbits.

So it is a win-win situation for everybody. Except Viljo. Seiko was his wrestling buddy. And of course I will - eventually - be on the hunt again for a female.

Seiko, you be a good girl.

Laura Knoll is visiting Jennifer Fry in Columbus this week. Today, Jennifer, Laura, and I had the pleasure of spending the evening with "The Best Damn Band in the Land!" The OSU Marching Band, aka "Pride of the Buckeyes", numbers 225 college students, 196 of whom perform at any one time. We sat while they practiced for about an hour in the great band room they have. Then we followed them out and watched them practice for a couple of hours on the practice field. They were really terrific!

These young adults practice 2-3 hours a day, four or five days every week, and less than 20% of them are even music majors! Even so, there is very strong competition both in determining who will become band members and in which members will play from performance to performance.

Jonathan Waters, Assistant Director of the OSU Marching Band for eight years, is a friend of Jennifer's through her work in the music industry. He introduced Laura to the entire band as a future prospective band member! He gave her a CD and a t-shirt and gave us permission to go up the three-story open viewing tower at the practice field. It was a beautiful November evening and we enjoyed a GREAT view!

Jon Woods has been OSUMB Director for 26 years after being assistant director for 10. Mr. Woods came over and introduced himself to Laura. He asked her a few questions about herself, and he recommended the baritone as an instrument she might like to play. He had no idea that Laura's mother Tina played baritone in high school!

Many thanks to Jennifer and Jonathan for making possible this super fun evening with TBDBITL!

Here's the Ohio State University Marching Band practicing their fabulous "Script Ohio."

FC Ray Bob's Gretel von Knobydox JE CG BHP-1placed 3rd in the class of 14 Field Champion Bitches at the Dachshund Club of St Louis field trial! The trial was held in Troy, Missouri, on the grounds of the Eastern Missouri Beagle Club. Congratulations to Gretel's owner Jennifer Fry and her handler Laura Knoll! Gretel is a daughter of DC Nadja v Dorndorf L SE.

Viljo and I spent the day in Columbus yesterday. First, we visited Jennifer Fry and her standard longhair Griffin. (Gretel is still on the field trial circuit with the Knolls.) Jennifer has taken some weight off Griffin and he is looking and feeling good! Now 13.5 years old, he was downright frisky during our little nail cutting and paw grooming session.

From Jennifer's, we went to the OSU equine sciences facility to watch Julie Stock ride her thoroughbred mare Callie in a jumping lesson. It's the second time Viljo has visited "the barn", he likes it there. Before, during, and after the horse agility, Viljo gets to play in the dirt, snatch an old horse turd now and again, and vacuum for bits of sweet feed along the stall doors. He is not intimidated by the horses.

Julie rode for about 90 minutes. She and Callie did a nice job! Viljo and I assisted Christian in moving the jump standards and poles in and out of the building. Made me really appreciate the size and weight of dog agility equipment!

Afterward, we went back to the Stock's house. We watched the ESPN broadcast of six year old thoroughbred super horse Zenyatta in her last race. She lost her second Breeders' Cup Classic by a head. We were not happy. 

After dinner, Julie and Christian and I stayed at the table and discussed options of who to breed their bitch Pie to early next year. Unfortunately, the options are very few in number. We will check out one or two possibilities for stud dogs that we need more familiarity with...and we need to do it soon. Pie, Owl's daughter and out of the Stock's last litter, will be five years old in April.

Viljo  was very playful with the Stock's dogs - and especially the cats. He turned himself inside out trying to get those cats, Zoe and Nike, to play with him! For brief moments, he actually succeeded. (By the way, the two year old cats are the two reasons why Owl is no longer a welcome guest in the Stock household! Owl is obsessed when it comes to cats - and he does NOT want to play.) I am fairly sure that there was at least one cat in the house when Viljo was a very young puppy.

Other than a few drowsy lifts of his head, Viljo slept all the way home.

Back to the horse race, I find it rather astounding that "Blame" is the name of the only horse ever to beat Zenyatta! It is exactly the same ironic coincidence as "Upset" being the only horse ever to defeat Man o' War! It also happened to a record crowd that came to see Triple Crown Champion Secretariat at Saratoga: "Onion left 'em crying by upsetting Secretariat in the Whitney."

As one article about Secretariat noted, "It’s a funny thing about horses who can’t lose. Sometimes they do."

I am, however, with the multitudes who consider Zenyatta's last race not a blemish but a beauty mark.

The Boston Herald has a well-written article about Zenyatta - and Blame - yesterday .

At the Kennel Club of Palm Springs agility trial today, Olive (left) finished the Open Agility course 20 seconds under standard course time, won the class, and earned her Open Agility (OA) title! Sister Asti qualified with a 3rd place in Excellent B Jumpers! Way to go Asti and Olive!! They are owned by John Willmore & Diane Webb. Congratulations!

Driving home from work very late last night, I was listening to Dr Laura Schlessinger on the radio station out of Detroit. A woman called in asking Dr Laura's opinion on whether she should pursue having her five month old become a child model. Dr Laura said, "No." She asked the caller if she was familiar with what happened so often to child actors and models and told this mother to give her child a normal life. She commented that a child shouldn't grow up thinking that all he has to do to succeed in this world is pose and smile.

She went on to say she will not even do this with her dog! Told her listeners that her wonderful Rhodesian Ridgeback was bred by a breeder who shows her dogs in conformation and wins prizes. Dr Laura said she refuses to have her dog shown in the show ring. "No way. I do not want my dog getting ribbons for looking good. That's just crazy!"

That's an interesting observation. Food for thought.