Viljo the fire truck dog
John Willmore, Taya, Viljo, Teo, Diane Webb
Photo of fireman taking photo of Viljo!
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After running errands, I attempted to take a short nap this evening. Since I hadn't fed the dogs yet, it didn't work too well. I noticed the after-the-storm light through the window was interesting. So I got up from the couch and one at a time invited the dogs to take my place for an impromptu photo shoot. Didn't have to twist their paws, Owl and Taya had been trying to sleep on me on the couch anyway! First photo is Owl, next two are Taya, then Nexus, and Viljo. They are good dogs, good friends really, and I very much enjoy them all.  Owl, 10, smiling. It is a typical Owl expression these days.  Taya, 2, looking very serious as she often does.  Taya managed to get Owl's ball. Whatever Owl has, Taya wants!  Nexus, 12, resigned and saying please just take the photo so I can eat.  Viljo, 4, intently watching Taya. They love to romp and wrestle. I didn't know how much V needed a dog who would really play until we got Taya. For the first years after I'd begun feeding Kiki the (formerly) stray cat, I really regretted it. Mostly because of Owl's obsession with ending her life but also because she uses wood posts on my porch to file her nails and she sometimes poops in the lily bed. BUT, there is nothing like a good farm cat to keep the rodent population under control. I see Kiki with mice and voles often enough to be reminded of it. I was reminded again this morning when I took the dogs out and she was having a chipmunk for breakfast on the porch. We startled her and she dropped it and hightailed it under the porch. Viljo snatched the awesome snack and boy did he enjoy it. Lip-smacking good, he said! Thought I would post this 15 second video of Viljo at about 5.5 months the morning he caught a vole. He was as happy as a piggy with turnips!  Viljo. Photo by Laura Mei-Lin Knoll. Happy Memorial Day!
Taya's puppies were due on this date but we ARE celebrating a birthday here. Four years ago today, Viljo was born in Finland. Searching the web for photos of his father Svante, a dog I'd seen, liked very much, and 'lost' again, I finally found him. Lo and behold, I ALSO found that Svante had fathered a litter just three days previously. I emailed Svante's owner, Tia Eskelinen, we began Taya's puppies were due on this date but we ARE celebrating a birthday here. Four years ago today, Viljo was born in Finland. Searching the web for photos of his father Svante, a dog I'd seen, liked very much, and 'lost' again, I finally found him. Lo and behold, I ALSO found that Svante had fathered a litter just three days previously. I emailed Svante's owner, Tia Eskelinen, we began corresponding, and I kept staring at the photos of the smaller, dark male. The staring turned in to traveling to Finland in August. It was an awesome two weeks which included various standard longhairs in fox practices in two different areas and an entire day of badger hunting, also puppy testing, track laying, attending shows, an all-night ferry trip to Sweden, and it all ended with 12 weeks old Viljo coming back on the plane with me! He is an intelligent and devoted CHARACTER and I am so glad to have him! With many thanks, especially to Tia, and also to Jarkko Eskelinen, Leeni Leinonen, Tero Ratinen, Pauliina Sjöholm, Ilse Kokkonen, and Marina Nilsson. Happy Birthday, Viljo! Nice to have a warm day off and work on a couple of projects! Tonight, I looked through more photos I took earlier this month. This one is Taya and Viljo on the road muddied by melting snow. 
Opened my eyes this morning, saw sunshine in the window and couldn't get out of bed fast enough! Now I am waiting for the sun to move up over the evergreens and shine on all those iced up trees!!! In the meantime, these are photos of my dogs that I took on our walk early evening yesterday. I DID figure out how to walk four dogs and carry my camera, too. And I felt safe carrying it with me on the icy road because I had on my Yaktrax. If not for the Yaktrax, I would not have been able to walk the road. Played around a bit and had some fun with effects, too. I haven't quite figured out how to tone down the reds. It shows up pretty dark and brilliant in snow. But then, they are brilliant. : )       This afternoon, Viljo and Taya were playing hard and Taya dashed under the dining table. She was effectively surrounded by table legs and chair legs and rungs. She was daring Viljo to come in after her. Queen of the Fort, a version of King of the Hill. As I watched, Viljo picked up what is left of some stuffed toy they have demolished and tossed it in the air. Taya watched it hit the carpet while Viljo watched Taya. He was using it to entice her to come out into the open! Taya wanted that thing and tensed as if to go after it, but in the end, she didn't fall for it. But I thought it was quite clever of V to do this!
Viljo has so many facets of character that I don't really just want to say that he is funny. But he IS funny. He reminds me of Karl in that respect. Like some people, I guess, Viljo strikes me as humorous and makes me laugh whether he intends to or not. He is FUN and I love having him around. Here is a small album of Viljo from today. There might have been a few more photos. But as Viljo said in the last one below, I am wondering if you would be so good as to put that camera away now. And so I have. At least for today! In this weather, my dogs are getting more chew time than usual. After lunch, I gave them American-made rawhide to chew for 30 minutes so that I could get some stuff done. They started in on their rawhides, I watched 'em for a minute and decided to take photos. There went my 30 minutes! The photos are interesting from a lighting perspective. All of them were taken in the same room. As I have said before, the coloration of red dogs is an evolving, revolving light show anyway, and different lighting makes the red tones even more interesting. The 1st and 3rd photos, the older Owl and Nexus, have more artificial lighting, because Owl claimed the couch and Nexus the dog bed which are further from the patio door. 2nd and 4th photos, Taya and Viljo, were taken on the carpet nearer the natural lighting from the glass door. Natural light is really beautiful, isn't it. Svante is father of Viljo. Another recovered deer for Svante! It was quick job in freezing weather, -17 degrees. But luckily it was a good shot and deer was close so we did not freeze. It was hunter's first deer so he was so happy Svante found it. - Tia Eskelinen, Finland Congratulations to all of you!
[-17 Celsius = 1 degree Fahrenheit] Svante recovered a wounded deer today. It was hit by a car yesterday and we followed it 4,5 km [2 miles] and 1,5 hours. My super boy. Now we are wet and tired and happy and both of us will be in sauna very soon. - Tia Eskelinen, Finland Congratulations, Tia and Svante!
Multi-Champion Red Top's Klatjofs (left) is pictured going Best Male at the Helsinki Winner show this past Friday, December 13. Father to my Viljo, 5.5 year old "Svante" is owned and handled by Tia Eskelinen, Kennel Cadium, Finland. This win earned Svante the title Helsinki Winner 2013! Congratulations to Tia and Svante! Thank you, Tia, for sending the very nice photo today. Speaking of very nice photos, a wonderful album of Svante photos can be found on Tia's website. 
Judge is Erica Pettersson, a standard smooth breeder in Finland. Photo taken by Tina's friend Mira Holm.
Ornberget's Jubilee (right) was Best Female and Best of Breed at this show. Owned and handled by Jill Rhodin of Sweden, this makes Jubilee also "Helsinki Winner 2013."
Incidentally, Jubilee is great-great granddaughter of Nick v Dorndorf L. Imported to Sweden by Marie Gadolin in 2002, he lives with Linda Mellberg. Nick produced just five litters, but he is in the pedigrees of many longhairs in that part of the world.  "Demand is the death knell of friendship." This sentence in a book that I am reading catches my deeper attention. I want to think about that. With elbows on desk and head in hands, I focus in on the statement. Moments later, a couple of sharp, loud barks sound to the left of my chair. Viljo. While I am considering demand vs friendship, is my friend V "demanding" dinner? Bright smiling eyes and a thump of hairy tail say otherwise. Nope, this is just a friendly reminder!
Viljo is funny. I had leftover chili for lunch, in the same plastic container that it had been stored in. After eating, I sometimes put the container (now trash) down for the dogs to lick. I have learned to keep my hand on it so all the dogs can get some. And all four do, very nicely. The split second I take my hand away in these situations, Viljo picks the thing up and walks away from the others as if I had handed it to specifically to him. His royal majesty.
This morning was the second time in less than a week that I woke to toilet paper strung through the bathroom and into the bedroom. The first time, I didn't know if the main culprit was Viljo or Taya; they were both in there. This morning the mystery unraveled. Taya still slept. Viljo was in the bathroom playing snow machine again.
Viljo was not entered in earthdog this time. I am pretty sure he will be next time around! 
Where do you think you are going with that rat box? - Viljo THANKS to Laura Mei-Lin Knoll for taking the photo.
Awesome weather we're having after rain and heavy winds last night! And if I have had a tree that needed to come down, it is multiple blessings that: 1. The wind did it for me 2. It blew over from ground level 3. It fell directly away from the house 4. My neighbor came over and said he would like to cut it up for his wood stove! Taya and Viljo were checking out the downed tree when Viljo saw me and dropped everything. It is the same thing he has been doing in field trials, either "There's Patt!" or "Where's Patt?!" and he comes running. Other than when Ilsa first started, it is not a 'problem' that I am used to having!
Meanwhile, Taya continued following her nose while simultaneously following me with her eyes. Dogs can be at once so similar to each other and so blatantly dissimilar! [Viljo is FC Cadium Aurinkosoturi, 2 years old male, bred in Finland by Tia Eskelinen, owned by Patricia Nance.] Today, Viljo placed 4th in the class of 15 Field Champion Dogs at the Badger Dachshund Club field trial in northern Illinois. He is pictured with judges Larry Gohlke of Wisconsin and Pam Bethke of South Dakota. Larry commented on Viljo's actions in the field, "I told Pam that that's the dog I would take home. He was really using his nose to show us the line. He is wired right." Thank you, Larry. It is a fact that Viljo inherently has an excellent head for the basics. He is not yet getting enough done to generate more call backs and placements - but with more rabbit experience he will.  Next photo is Viljo minutes after the above photo was taken.  [Nexus is ABS6 DC Nexus v Dorndorf L CD TD JE RN NA VC Wa-T BHP-G LH, 11 years old.] [Owl is ABS5 FC Alpine Owl von Dorndorf TD JE NA OAJ SchwhK SchwhKF Wa-T BHP-G LH, 8.5 years old.] [Viljo is FC Cadium Aurinkosoturi, 2 years old.] There were 16 Field Champion Dogs in competition on the grounds of the Flint River Beagle Club in Hampton, Georgia today. In second series, Nexus came back High and Owl 4th. When judging concluded, Nexus was the winner, Owl placed 3rd, and Viljo was named NBQ. What a weekend we had! Congratulations to all our talented guys! They are pictured below with judge Michael Nothstein. None of them were particularly happy to be having their photo taken. They were hungry and while waiting for photos, I'd been feeding them pieces of muffins left over from breakfast. Nexus is struggling to get down and back to 'em, Owl has a pained "oh if I have to" expression and Viljo is not taking his eyes off the muffins which are on the table to his right. Like if he blinks, they might disappear, ha ha! "Photos? Who cares? You know, Patt, that it is not nice to keep a dachshund from his appointed appetizer."    In yesterday's post, I mentioned the Dachshund Club of America magazine. It is a quarterly publication of the national breed club. Lynne Dahlen of Wisconsin is the talented editor. The most recent issue, Winter 2012, has a very nice write-up by Shawn Nies about the Harvest Moon Classic field trials (eight trials) held in Roscoe, Illinois over 10 days this past October. Shawn listed all the states exhibitors came from (15 plus Canada) and all the beagle men who helped us. She mentioned weather conditions (extremely dry), extra-curricular tracking practice and certifications managed by Lois Ballard (Viljo and Taya were both certified by Lois during the week), the earthdog test, and the numbers of entries - 724 total for the week when all was said and done! Honorable mentions include the "wild thing" dinner, the bonfire, and the raffle which earned $1000 to be given to the Northern Illinois Beagle Club for grounds maintenance. And the report noted a huge, well-deserved thank you to Cheri Faust and Larry Gohlke. Cheri and Larry organized the 1st annual Harvest Moon Classic and worked very hard to make it all a great success. Shawn's article included some new Field Champions, of which Viljo was one: Jeff Boehne, who is one of several new people to field trial at this event, finished his red standard wire GCH DC Hundeleben Zis Und Zat of Brownwood SW (Ziggy), on Friday at the DCGL field trail and then Ziggy got NBQ at the MADC FT during his first time to run with "the big dogs." Patt Nance finished her red, standard long, FC Cadium Aurinkosoturi (Viljo) on Friday at the DCGL FT and he took first place in the FCD class at the MADC FT on Saturday! Sherry Ruggieri finished her 7 month old wild boar standard wire bitch, FC Tusoksori-Ugraszto Husniya (Niya) and she came back to earn a third place in the field champion bitch class. Pamala Hopkins finished her wild boar miniature smooth boy, FC Hoppledachs's Keokut ME CGC (Keo) and he came back in the field champion dog class with a fourth place. There are definitely some very competitive new dogs in the Field Champion classes and I will look forward to seeing more of them. Shawn, I look forward to it, too!
Thank you for the excellent article and photos. [Viljo is FC Cadium Aurinkosoturi, 2 years old. He was bred by Tia Eskelinen in Finland.] I have posted before that Viljo is a thinking dog. He has shown this since he was a young puppy. Tonight, Viljo has gotten his paws on Owl's favorite ball. It is a treat dispenser and I have put a few pieces of kibble inside. This puzzle is new to Viljo and here he is thinking about how best to go about it! V uses his paws more like hands than any dog I have ever had. He opens crate doors that are completely, even snuggly closed, as long as they're not latched. (Give him time on the latch part!) And, as I have also written before, Viljo has excellent spatial awareness and body control. In other words, he may also be the most sure-footed dog I have ever had. Thank you, Tia, for such a nice dog. I really enjoy him. ps Viljo quickly learned that this is an action puzzle and rolling the ball is the key to it!  [Viljo is FC Cadium Aurinkosoturi, 2 years, bred by Tia Eskelinen in Finland.] I took these four photos tonight within about 60 seconds. I have captioned them, not that I really had to. Who says dogs cannot talk!     Note: I have set the photos up to be viewed as a slide show.
 Because she is a puppy, I have been weighing Taya every week.
Today, since it has been quite a while that I weighed the males, I weighed all four dogs. Nexus, 10.5 years old male, weighs 20.2 lbs / 9.1 kg Owl, 8 years old male, weighs 18.2 lbs / 8.2 kg Viljo, 2.5 years old male, weighs 20.2 lbs / 9.1 kg Taya, 6 months old female, weighs 15.8 lbs / 7.1 kg From the AKC Standard as revised in 1992 - Weight of the standard size is usually between 16 and 32 pounds. From the FCI Standard - SIZE AND WEIGHT/ IMPORTANT MEASUREMENTS: Weight: Standard Dachshund up to about 9 kg. Photo is Nexus who was V rated by DTK judge Wolfgang Trumpfheller. Not ALL American-bred Standard longhairs are giants!  Viljo's breeder Tia Eskelinen in Finland asked if I would scan and send Viljo's Field Champion certificate to her. Tia said she wanted to forward it to the Finnish Kennel Club and ask that they add the title in their database. The Finns have a wonderfully detailed and user-friendly pedigree database! Having received the certificate from AKC last week, I was able to scan it for Tia. I sent it to her yesterday.
The very next day, US FTVA is included on Viljo's page on the Finnish Kennel Club website! US of course for United States. FT for Field Trial. VA for Valio which Tia told me today is the Finnish word for Champion. Viljo. Valio. How appropriate. Viljo. Valio. There's a strong connection between the two in my book! : )  Viljo's mother Zingarese Zarzuela and his father FI SE EE LV LT BALT CH SvCH EEJW-09 EEW-09 BALTJW-09 Red Top's Klatjofs. Many thanks to their owner Tia Eskelinen of Finland for this very nice photo! |
