The video is not new but we just found out about it. The Chicago Boat, RV and Outdoors Show is held annually in January in Chicago, Illinois. This year, the show included a DockDogs competition for the first time.

From a DockDogs official press release following the event: "After a 4-year run in the suburbs of Chicago, DockDogs® stretched its legs and jumped into 2010 by going through the heart of Downtown Chicago and hosting it's first Midwest National competition at the Chicago Boat, RV and Outdoors Show. With over 75 dogs competing in sixteen (16) BIG AIR Waves, three (3) SPEED RETRIEVE Heats, one (1) EXTREME VERTICAL competition and four (4) separate FINALS at the historic McCormick Place, the 2010 DockDogs® National tour continued to raise the bar with more passion, excitement and intensity than ever before."

It was further reported that the dock dogs were a huge hit with the public.

The website for the Chicago Boat, RV and Outdoors Show features three video highlights from the 2010 event. The middle video, "Dock Dog in Action" shows two of the 75-plus canine competitors. One of them is Nutmeg!

Nutmeg's owner Maxine Brinker says the water was very cold. Some dogs refused to enter the water but not so Nutmeg! I've said it before and it is true: Maxine and Nutmeg have been wonderful ambassadors for dachshunds in an arena where dachshunds are very seldom seen. GO, Nutmeg!

All the dogs except Kasi went for a walk this afternoon. Later, near sunset, I took seven months old Viljo out by himself. I shot some video of him with my Flip camera. The video was very bouncy, though, because I'd walked up and down hill in snow. So I pulled stills from the video and made a slide show instead. The quality of the photos isn't great but you can see something of the qualities of Viljo!

The temperature was 25 degrees, the air was still, and we were out for about 40 minutes. When the sun went down and the moon came up, we called it a walk and headed for home.

In some of the photos, it is obvious that Viljo is following (old) deer tracks. It is not a habit that I encourage. I just keep walking and pretty soon he breaks off and comes with me. Viljo is very responsive to my whereabouts in the field. In part, this is due to his age, then again it is a habit that I fully encourage!

FC Autumn Olive von Dorndorf TD CD RE OA NAJ Wa-T BHP-G, won her Open Jumpers class today by half a second over a corgi, seven seconds under Standard Course Time! This was at the Kennel Club of Palm Springs AKC agility trial in Walnut, California.

Congratulations to her owners John Willmore (handling) and Diane Webb!

I drove three hours up to the Crown Classic show at the IX Center in Cleveland today - just so Viljo could see 160 breeds of dogs! The International Exposition Center is an enormous place. Over 3000 dogs were competing in conformation, obedience, agility, and rally - in one room - so there was a lot to see and hear. It was a really far cry from anything Viljo has seen and heard here on the Ponderosa!

One of the few downers of living in the sticks is that it takes much more effort to socialize puppies.

Well, let's see. First, I accustomed Viljo to all the noise and commotion by leaving him in his crate so he could acclimate. After that, we took short walks through the place followed by longer walks. Viljo took it all in and became very comfortable. Then he became playful.

It was really cute when we watched some agility and Viljo saw dogs 'disappear' into the tunnel by us. He tilted his head and craned his neck looking for the dogs that disappeared. Ha, ha. And while we were wandering the many booths, a guy who sells dog treats went under a table to dig around in a box for something and Viljo went under there to help him. He got a treat for that. Either it was payment for helping, or payment to stop helping, could've been either one.

Many dog lovers from the general public attend these shows and Viljo got a lot of attention. He is not really an affectionate dog with people (not with me, either) because he is too busy to be affectionate. He always has things to do! In the spirit of keeping busy and doing things, however, Viljo likes to shake hands. Children, especially, thought that was fun.  

Thanks to their agreeable owners, Viljo said Hi! to a springer spaniel, wanted to play with a beagle, was turned off by a pushy Belgian sheepdog, was turned on by a big and hairy but gentle 22 months old Otterhound (he pulled her hair a couple of times like he pulls my pant leg to greet me), played duck, duck, goose with a Bull terrier puppy, was held by kids, hugged by adults, had his picture taken a few times, chased wisps of dog hair floating on the floor, and scarfed a couple liver treats thrown by handlers in the group rings.

We were there for six hours so it was a fairly long day. Viljo didn't have to drive so rested up on the way home. After we got home, he capped his eventful day by separating wicker from the new wicker basket. It's the first thing he's ever torn up. I should've seen it coming. I thought it would be a good place to put the dog toys that are scattered all over. Viljo thought it was a toy and scattered wicker all over!

It was a great day for Viljo!

Addendum: We enjoyed the otterhound so much that I have done a little research on the breed. The otterhound has an interesting heritage and is quite uncommon. I read that only about half a dozen litters are born in the US and Canada each year.

I also learned that in lineage and vocation, Otterhounds are true hounds. Here you can read an old descriptive article, An Otter Hunt in North Wales .

And here you can hear the voice of an otterhound at only five months old!

Diane Webb sent this photo of Olive during the  Long Sit exercise on Friday, Dec 10. This was at the all-breed trial where she qualified for the 3rd and final leg of her CD obedience title. Again, Great Job, Olive! (Those who may think this is easy should try it!)

FC Bob's Babe von Knobydox, daughter of DC Nadja v Dorndorf L SE, was called back 3rd and when the dust settled after several series, Babe finished 3rd amongst top competitors in Ladonia, Texas! Congratulations to Babe, her breeder/owner Tina Knoll, and handler Stan Knoll!

FC Audi Oslo von Dorndorf, owned and handled by Stan Knoll, had an excellent day at the Saturday field trial of the Dallas-Fort Worth Dachshund Club! Congratulations to Stan and Oslo!

FC Annie Ochre von Dorndorf, owned and handled by 13 year old Laura Knoll from Mississippi, was called back 2nd and finished 3rd in a combined Field Champion stake of 36 dachshunds from all over the country! ("Combined" means that male and female Field Champions competed together in the same class.) This was for the Friday trial of the Dallas-Fort Worth Dachshund Club, Ladonia, Texas; the running of the trial actually concluded this, Saturday, morning.

Congratulations to Laura and Ochre!! Way to go!

I will let her happy owner Diane Webb tell the story:  "I'm very proud to report that Olive earned her Rally Excellent (RE) and Novice Obedience (CD) titles today at the Shoreline Dog Fanciers Association trial in Costa Mesa CA.  I can't get the smile off my face.

The conditions were not wonderful (loud, crowded and smelly building, with clumps of dog hair wafting through) and Olive was not very sharp. But she persevered and earned an 81 and second place in Rally Excellent A.  We got off to a very rocky start but Olive settled down and finished the course with a nice backup at heel and a good Honor down.  That was Olive's third qualifying score in Rally Excellent and her RE title!

Then we waited a few hours for Novice B obedience.  I wasn't feeling very optimistic, particularly when I learned we would be between a
rather nervous Terv and a Newfoundland for group stays.  We had some problems with the individual exercises (no sit on the first halt, off to sniff a spot that nailed almost every dog on the Heel Free "Slow", and an auto finish on the recall) but also some very nice moments.  The judge told us that we were qualifying but I knew those groups were coming up.

We did some warmup long sits since Olive has a tendency to lie down on sit stays.  Those went well, but when we were lining up for the Group Stays I could tell that Olive was not happy.  The Terv was absent for stays, so we were between two Newfies.  Olive wouldn't look at me and when we got into position for the sit, Olive once again refused to sit. The judge told me to "physically sit the dachshund" and I did.  And the rest is history!  The two dogs that got up during the Long Sit were at the other end of the line and the Newfies, while gigantic, were good. Olive held her Sit, went into a Down with no problem, and held the Down. I was ecstatic when the judge called "87, the dachshund" as a qualifier!

We got our trademark 3rd place with a 176.  There were 4 qualifiers out of 14 entries with 11 dogs actually competing.  Best of all, that was Olive's third Novice obedience leg and her CD title!

We are done, done, done with all-breed group stays.  I am very grateful to Olive for doing the two all-breed stays and I'm not going to push our luck any further.  I've got a few dachshund specialty trials on my list for 2011 and we'll start working hard on Open and Utility skills.  We will also be honing Olive's rally skills for RAE.

Given that we got Olive in January, I am very pleased with what we've been able to accomplish.  Olive is 6.5 and I'm really looking forward to continuing to work with her.  Thank you, Patt -- both for suggesting that we take Olive and for giving her such good foundation skills.

Our judges today were James Ham (rally) and Sharon Ann Redmer (obedience).  I thought both were excellent, very pleasant judges.  I
also learned that you can physically put a dog into a sit or down for the stays, with a deduction.  I had seen in the rules that you could do
this for the Down but I wasn't sure about the Sit.

I'll be floating on Cloud Nine the rest of the weekend.

-- Diane and FC Autumn Olive von Dorndorf TD CD RE OA NAJ Wa-T BHP-G"

What John and Diane "have been able to accomplish" since first meeting Olive in January is CD in Obedience; RN, RA, and RE in Rally; and NA, OA, NAJ, one OAJ leg so far in Agility!

That's some kind of Awesome! Congratulations to all of you!

At two o'clock this morning, home after a late night at work, I was out walking Nexus and Viljo. In 17° temp, 10 mph winds, and light snow, I was actually enjoying myself because the dogs were having a great time in the snow. Then Nexus peed on the little branch I call a peach tree...and Viljo lined up behind him. Ah, I said to myself, Viljo is about to lift his leg for the second time today. And he did. He lifted his leg high and it teetered a bit the whole time but didn't fall down. I stood there kind of awed by instinct.  Viljo will be seven months old tomorrow.  All of his life he has squatted to urinate. Today, something in his physiology has told him to do it differently.

Here is a definition from Wikipedia (emphasis mine):

"Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular behavior. The fixed action patterns are unlearned and inherited.

Instinctual actions - in contrast to actions based on learning - have no learning curve, they are hard-wired and ready to use without learning. Some instinctual behaviors depend on maturational processes to appear."

Viljo's processes are maturing.  :  )

Marie Gadolin is back home today in Sweden from a judging assignment in Russia. She judged the dachshund specialty held in conjunction with the Saint Petersburg Club of Working Breeds. Marie sent me this email:

"Hi! Just a quick mail to tell you that to my great surprise the BOB standard longhair in St Petersburg was Örnbergets Amber, a great grand daughter of Nick! She is a daughter of Fagermons Lemke, his father being Fagermons Isidor... She was gorgeous! Could have a bit more reach and drive, but had star quality nevertheless! Generally the smooth standards and miniatures were the absolutely best varieties, but I think that is a global thing right now. I was very well taken care of but I had a lot of dogs (116) and the schedule was tight but all in all a very positive experience."

Nick is SVCH Nick v Dorndorf L. Marie imported him in 2002 when he was five months old. She still owns Nick  though he lives with another family in Sweden. He has winning progeny throughout Scandinavia and elsewhere.

Marianne Fredriksson, Fagermons Standard  Longhairs in Sweden, used Nick in 2003 to produce SU(v)CH Fagermons Isidor.

Isidor produced SU(v)CH Fagermons Lemke in 2006.

Elisabeth Rhodin, Örnbergets Standard Longhairs, also in Sweden, used Lemke in 2008 to produce Örnbergets Amber who went to Russia.

Russian Champion, Russian Junior Champion Örngergets Amber is owned by Marie Zenova, Kennel Sky Spirit.

There are several excellent photos of Amber on Elisabeth Rhodin's website.

Marie, many thanks for the news! Glad you had a safe trip.

MACH2 Nutmeg v Dorndorf L CD RN CG and her owner/handler Maxine Brinker Qualified in 5 of the 6 Excellent B agility classes over three days of agility trials last weekend!

I received this from Maxine this morning: "Nutmeg had a good weekend at Illiana Collie Fanciers in Merriville, Indiana. She got a Double Q [qualified in both classes] on Friday but didn't run as fast as she usually does, she seemed tired. Saturday she had fun running [off course] in one tunnel  and another so didn't qualify in that one but then came back and qualified in Jumpers. Sunday she was up to par, ran in Standard and got a Q and 19 points and then in Jumpers and got 13 points. You just don't know what she is going to do. She keeps me on my toes but she is fun to run no matter what. She is always out there trying even if it is her way sometimes. Love my girl."

Dogs accumulate MACH points by how many seconds under Standard Course time they are. Which means that on Sunday, Nutmeg ran 19 seconds under SCT in the Excellent B Standard class, and 13 seconds under SCT in the Jumpers class! WOW!!

Congratulations, Maxine and Nutmeg!

Thanks to Jennifer Fry, Julie Stock and I returned to the Ohio Theatre today for the 27th annual Holiday Pops performance by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Chorus. Jennifer is a soprano with the Symphony Chorus. The music was wonderful!

I never liked orchestra music. I used to call it, rather disparagingly, "elevator music." I certainly never thought I would go to orchestra performances or enjoy them! Well, you know what they say. Never say "never." Not only did I thoroughly enjoy those I've attended in the past two weeks, I also discovered that I love the Ohio Theatre. It is truly a magnificent building and now one of my favorite places.

Before today, I didn't know what Pops meant. I guess I had some vague idea that old folks played the instruments. Or that mostly old people attended the concerts. But there were many children in the audience today. Julie told me that Pops simply means popular pieces. Oh. Well, that was easy!

Julie and I agreed afterward that Twelve Days of Christmas was our favorite one. A genius of a composer who lives in Dublin, Ohio, wrote the music which put each of the twelve days in a different musical era. The first day of Christmas was monks chanting, the second day was Renaissance music, then came (not in order) Wagner, Strauss, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and others, and the 12th day was John Phillips Sousa! It was so great! The conductor told us that this composition of the song has become very popular and is being played by world-renowned orchestras all over the country.

It was all great. Jennifer, thank you!

FC Autumn Olive von Dorndorf TD RA OA NAJ Wa-T BHP-G was handled by her owner Diane Webb to First Place in the Rally Excellent A class for her 2nd Rally Excellent leg! This was at the Los Encinos Kennel Club event in Long Beach, California. Hey Olive, you are doing some super stuff out there in southern California! Congratulations to you, Diane, and John!

Someone posted this video clip from yesteryear to one of the lists. The wonderful man and actor Jimmy Stewart is on the Johnny Carson show and he reads a poignant poem he wrote after the death of his dog Beau.

Caution: You may want to have a Kleenex on hand.

FC Autumn Olive von Dorndorf TD RA OA NAJ Wa-T BHP-G, owned by Diane Webb (handling) & John Willmore, earned her second Novice obedience leg today with a 185 and 3rd place at the Los Encinos Kennel Club trial in Long Beach, California! Olive was one of 7 qualifiers out of 13 entries at this all-breed trial preceding the National Obedience Invitational this weekend. Congratulations! Way to go!

Diane wrote: "After the Long Sit, the judge told me I should be really proud of my little girl, and I told her that I WAS!!

I'd be proud in any case, but watch this video of the Long Sit and you'll see why I'm REALLY PROUD of her!"

I'm up at o' dark early for a meeting at work this morning. When I went out with the dogs, we found a quarter inch of snow covering the wooden porch. Viljo ran around and around on the porch, snuffling the snow, sliding in it like a ball player stealing third, tasting it. I swear he was grinning. He enjoyed his first experience with snow so much that I laughed out loud. This is while I'm standing there in pjs in 32 degrees, 20 mph winds, with windchill of 22.  "Hey Viljo," I said to him, "You should see how much snow they have in Finland!"