DCA President Carl Holder, John Willmore, Diane Webb, and Olive!

We're back from the Dachshund Club of America National Specialty --

48 dachshunds qualified in at least one DCA 2014 field or companion event (field, earthdog, agility, obedience, or rally) and 7 qualified in two events.  Probably around 100 or more dachshunds participated in these events.

Only three dachshunds qualified in 3 events and were Triathlon qualifiers -- our three girls!

-- Olive, who received 16 points from earthdog, agility and obedience.
-- Bossa, who earned 16 points in field, earthdog, and agility.
-- Asti, who earned 10 points in field, agility, and rally.

Olive received one more point than Bossa in Triathlon Conformation to finish with 19 points and is the DCA Triathlon Dog of 2014!

To recap our DCA --

We started with field trials in January.  Bossa won the Open All Age Bitch stake and Best Open, and finished her Field Championship (5 triathlon points).  Asti was awarded an Award of Merit from the Field Champion Bitch stake (6 points).  And Olive was robbed. ;-)

Olive had to qualify in Junior Earthdog the next day to keep her Triathlon hopes alive, and she did (3 pts).  Bossa easily qualified in Junior Earthdog as well (3 pts.)

Olive needed to earn top points in both agility and obedience at DCA last week, and she did.  She qualified in first place in both Masters Preferred Standard and Jumpers with Weaves (9 pts), earning both Preferred High in Trial awards and her PAX (Preferred Agility Excellent) title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXmT0CZ1QM4

Then, Olive earned a score of 188 in Veteran Novice obedience (4 pts) on Thursday -- conditions were tough (hot and sunny on grass with goose poop) and this was the best score earned by any dachshund in obedience.

Bossa earned her Novice JWW agility title on April 25 and we gambled by moving her up to Open JWW for DCA.  She came through in style, qualifying in first place (8 pts) and earning the JWW High in Trial. Bossa's not quite ready for rally or obedience. ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46kiJm-GTAo

Asti needed to qualify in agility and rally, events in which she has solid skills but hasn't done in several years.  She had a great performance in Novice FAST Preferred (2 pts) on Monday and fought her nerves enough to qualify with a 78 in Advanced Rally (2 pts) on Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSqWx6gio-4

I won't dwell on Triathlon Conformation (the final event on Friday) which once again was a bit of a debacle.  In the end, Olive got 3 points and Bossa 2 points, making Olive the Triathlon winner.  Asti also got 2 points and finished in third place with 12 points.

We are extremely proud of all of them!  It is the accomplishment of a lifetime for Olive, who has now qualified in three Triathlons over five years.  Bossa almost won at just over two years old and continues to show great promise.  And Asti showed what a talented girl she really is.

-- Diane & John

Carl Holder, John, Diane, Bossa, and Olive!

This was Olive's first field trial on jack rabbits [hare], and Asti's first in many years. We went to give Bossa a chance to work jacks. Sadly, the Golden Gate Dachshund Club moved from the ampitheater setting of Lagoon Valley park to the flat lands of Centennial Park just east on the 80.  Bossa didn't get a chance to see a jack before running her brace, and seemed more interested in the tilled earth than the hare that had just been flushed.  I took her out again later, and held her in my arms as the gallery beat. Eventually she saw a jack rabbit crossing the field, and then another and another - she had learned to look in the direction of the "tally ho."  The judges were profligate with the rabbits - only taking ones they saw.  So when a rabbit broke in front of us and Bossa saw it run toward the road, I waited a while and then let her work the line.  On that front, the weekend was a success.

Lunch was back at Lagoon Valley. We decided to stay at Centennial, having been assured that we'd go from there.  Well when lunch ended, Pat and Gerry Price drove by to say we had to move over to another parking lot to continue.  That meant packing up the van and moving, and by the time we arrived the gallery was long gone.  Asti and I headed out to find them. Asti was in the third brace, Olive was in the eighth. Asti was acting like every step on the grass was stepping on broken glass.  I thought I would find the gallery, put her down on the line and release her and that would be all for us.  But as we got closer, Asti could hear the gallery beating and started to pull.

Her first rabbit was a long 100 yard run with a few gentle right bends.  Asti left her bracemate in the dust and followed the line as far as the judges could have seen it. She then worked the far end of the field searching for the rabbit. There was a fire lane plowed in the field, and Asti was working back and forth along that when I picked her up 150+ yards from the gallery.

Olive's first check was less that 15 feet from the start. When Olive indicated that she had the line, I released her.  She made the check nicely and carried the line with her bracemate following her.  

Asti was called back second, Olive was called back third.  The dog sitting fourth had been defeated in first series by the dog called back high. (Olive's first series bracemate  was NBQ.)

I had Asti in my arms when tally was in second series. Unfortunately, she saw the rabbit.  We released both dogs on the line and they both curled left well short of where the dogs expected the trail.  Asti was 100 yards away again in the direction of the sight line as the dog sitting high pottered and eventually sat waiting for her handler to pick her up.  Asti kept working... and the judges took a long time to call "pick them up."  By the time they did, I hadn't seen Asti for at least a minute.  It took quite a while to find her. She kept bumping jacks and the gallery kept hearing her on chases. I figured Olive was on the clock, but they were actually waiting for me to get back and get her.

Olive and her bracemate were put down on a long left arc starting from a form.  Unfortunately, on the way there, Olive picked up some other scent and when I released her she doubled back.  The other dog was convinced Olive was right and her handler never released. I got Olive and we went further down the line for a second release.  Olive again doubled back, but this time the other dog found the line and got a clear win.

That was a trial.

Absolute was my first time running in a trio.  Three long hairs - one tiny mini B&T, one bigger B&T, and Asti.  The judges had just a general idea of the start and wanted us to let the dogs show the way.  Asti took the lead and drove down the line, but she seemed surprised to have two fast little dogs barrel past her.  All three in the trio worked like a great team, harking in on each other as they tried to find the line.  Asti was the first to carry across the plowed lane, which is probably why she didn't win.  The other two kept working the near side.  The Open Dog ended up with Absolute, but honestly it was a fantastic hunt and I was very proud of Asti.  She worked great with the two strange dogs and they covered a TON of field.

Thanks for the awesome bloodlines! Sorry the picture isn't so great.  It was cold at the end of a long day. - John Willmore & Diane Webb, CA

Diane asked me on the drive home whether I thought Olive or Asti had a better weekend.  It was an interesting question.  I think Olive's second series run yesterday was probably the most impressive run of the two days, with Asti's first series today a close second and Asti's fourth series run in third.  I'm not sure either was clearly better than the other - I think both girls are really talented, Asti more naturally and Olive more skilled.  I love running them both, although I probably favor Asti slightly from the bond we formed over our years of hunting together.  I wouldn't trade either for the world!