abs5 dc nexus v dorndorf L cd td RN je NA vc wa-t bhp-g LH
Nexus in 2014 at 12.5 years
Male, Born March 2, 2002
Breeder: Patricia Nance
Weight: 22 pounds
CERF Normal: Sep 05, Sep 07, Jan 09
Sire: CH Walmar's Luke v Dorndorf L
Dam: ABS6 FC Marta v Dorndorf L JE LH
Breeder: Patricia Nance
Weight: 22 pounds
CERF Normal: Sep 05, Sep 07, Jan 09
Sire: CH Walmar's Luke v Dorndorf L
Dam: ABS6 FC Marta v Dorndorf L JE LH
Nexus earned his Field Champion title at seven months, his Tracking title at eight months, and his first show points at nine months. He was - and is – just "one of those dogs."
March 2002 Nexus was born in the one litter that I bred for others and from which I had no intention of keeping a puppy. Well, you know what they say about intentions! Several youngsters in this litter had the look, mentality and attitude to catch my attention early on and one jaunty light red male led the pack.
Later, it became apparent that the best of both parents had come through in this, my N, litter. It is the stuff breeders’ dreams are made of! I could not know when they were babies, however, whether these kids would voice on game. Marta was strongly spurlaut but Luke had never opened. Voice in their offspring was a wait and see proposition.
The names of three puppies were chosen by their new owners and the other names came easily to me except, for some reason, the name of the male I had 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.
October 2002 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 a truly outstanding balance of passion for trailing game with self-control in the pursuit.
December 2002 When he was eight months old we entered and passed his first tracking test. On an 18 degree morning in Kentucky we drew the first track, the one closest to headquarters. 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!
January 2003 Nexus was first shown and won his first conformation points when he was nine months old. I showed him several 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 show where his father had gone BW for 5 points a few years before. So we came close but no cigar and when his 13 month birthday came and went, my motivation to continue showing Nexus went along with it.
August 2003 August found us at earthdog tests in Michigan 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 (then) youngest VC title holder since DCA instituted the program in 1982.
September 2003 At a zuchtschau (breed show) of the North American Teckel Club, Nexus earned a V rating and high praise from German judge Wolfgang Trumpfheller. Herr Trumpfheller said of him "Absolutely correct.” However, then he noted 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 inarguable importance of correct size in a breed 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 or Excellent) conformation rating. Contrast this with the size of the huge majority of standard longhairs showing and winning in the United States.]
September 2004 Nexus earned Prize 1 with six perfect scores and a total of 108 points in the DTK BHP-1 or Companion Dog obedience test.
June 2005 He earned Prize 2 with eight perfect scores in the 10 exercises of the BHP 1, 2, and 3 tests. Passing all 10 exercises and 3 tests in one day gave him the title BHP-G.
In 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2011, Nexus was entered in and passed the water test (duck retrieve from 85 feet out) hosted by the North American Teckel Club. He loves to retrieve from deep water and is staunch and steady in close proximity to shots from a shotgun.
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 6 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. Semen evaluation by reproductive specialist Dr. Robert Hutchison of North Ridgeville, Ohio was "Excellent..”
November 2008 Nexus was Reserve Winner of the Buckeye Invitational trial for top-ranked Field Champions. (The only other standard longhair to do as well or better in nine years of the Invitational is his half-brother Oslo who won it two years later.)
I am writing relatively little about field trials but throughout his life, Nexus has placed and won with consistency in the company of his best peers. So much so that somewhere along the line, Cheri Faust nicknamed him Nemesis!
March 2009 In the first event of its kind in this country, which boasted an entry of approximately 30 dachshunds and terriers, Nexus was one of five dogs who passed the F3 artificial den test on fox. (His half-brother Owl was among the other four dogs to pass.)
July 2010 Nexus was nearly 8.5 and hadn’t been shown in a long time. He needed only a major to finish and I decided to get it done. I sent Nexus out with pro handler Marietta Singleton. The second time Marietta showed him, Nexus finished with a four point major! This was on July 24 at the all-breed the day after the Louisville specialty!
My elation was short-lived.
August 2010 On the last day of August, Nexus went down. I had never owned a dog that did. The experience was something hellish. My thoughts and emotions at the time are probably best expressed in an email I sent to Jolanta Jeanneney on September 15.
Later, it became apparent that the best of both parents had come through in this, my N, litter. It is the stuff breeders’ dreams are made of! I could not know when they were babies, however, whether these kids would voice on game. Marta was strongly spurlaut but Luke had never opened. Voice in their offspring was a wait and see proposition.
The names of three puppies were chosen by their new owners and the other names came easily to me except, for some reason, the name of the male I had 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.
October 2002 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 a truly outstanding balance of passion for trailing game with self-control in the pursuit.
December 2002 When he was eight months old we entered and passed his first tracking test. On an 18 degree morning in Kentucky we drew the first track, the one closest to headquarters. 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!
January 2003 Nexus was first shown and won his first conformation points when he was nine months old. I showed him several 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 show where his father had gone BW for 5 points a few years before. So we came close but no cigar and when his 13 month birthday came and went, my motivation to continue showing Nexus went along with it.
August 2003 August found us at earthdog tests in Michigan 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 (then) youngest VC title holder since DCA instituted the program in 1982.
September 2003 At a zuchtschau (breed show) of the North American Teckel Club, Nexus earned a V rating and high praise from German judge Wolfgang Trumpfheller. Herr Trumpfheller said of him "Absolutely correct.” However, then he noted 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 inarguable importance of correct size in a breed 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 or Excellent) conformation rating. Contrast this with the size of the huge majority of standard longhairs showing and winning in the United States.]
September 2004 Nexus earned Prize 1 with six perfect scores and a total of 108 points in the DTK BHP-1 or Companion Dog obedience test.
June 2005 He earned Prize 2 with eight perfect scores in the 10 exercises of the BHP 1, 2, and 3 tests. Passing all 10 exercises and 3 tests in one day gave him the title BHP-G.
In 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2011, Nexus was entered in and passed the water test (duck retrieve from 85 feet out) hosted by the North American Teckel Club. He loves to retrieve from deep water and is staunch and steady in close proximity to shots from a shotgun.
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 6 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. Semen evaluation by reproductive specialist Dr. Robert Hutchison of North Ridgeville, Ohio was "Excellent..”
November 2008 Nexus was Reserve Winner of the Buckeye Invitational trial for top-ranked Field Champions. (The only other standard longhair to do as well or better in nine years of the Invitational is his half-brother Oslo who won it two years later.)
I am writing relatively little about field trials but throughout his life, Nexus has placed and won with consistency in the company of his best peers. So much so that somewhere along the line, Cheri Faust nicknamed him Nemesis!
March 2009 In the first event of its kind in this country, which boasted an entry of approximately 30 dachshunds and terriers, Nexus was one of five dogs who passed the F3 artificial den test on fox. (His half-brother Owl was among the other four dogs to pass.)
July 2010 Nexus was nearly 8.5 and hadn’t been shown in a long time. He needed only a major to finish and I decided to get it done. I sent Nexus out with pro handler Marietta Singleton. The second time Marietta showed him, Nexus finished with a four point major! This was on July 24 at the all-breed the day after the Louisville specialty!
My elation was short-lived.
August 2010 On the last day of August, Nexus went down. I had never owned a dog that did. The experience was something hellish. My thoughts and emotions at the time are probably best expressed in an email I sent to Jolanta Jeanneney on September 15.
This disc herniation with Nexus hit me like a ton of bricks. Much of the time now I am 'okay' but it really got to me again last night. I was on Facebook chat about it with Sian and just couldn't stop the tears.
Other than the pain and suffering he went through, the really huge hit to me is the loss of Nexus from any potential of being used to sire puppies again. I think of everything he is and has done and it is all essentially for absolutely nothing. His tremendous talent. Temperament. Movement and good looks. All Wiped Out by a bad back.
This actually looked to be his best year. He won or placed in EVERY stake he ran in this spring. And then I met a long-held goal when he finished - in two shows - in the show ring this summer. We were really riding high! It all came suddenly crashing down two weeks ago and I'm still asking myself How Did This Happen.
Some people will not understand this but I think you will. It is very hard right now for me to imagine being happy with competing with Nexus again. What's 30 more placements or 5 more Absolutes on a dog who cannot be used? To me, field trials and shows and everything else exist primarily for proving breeding stock. I am certainly thrilled for accomplishments that others have with spayed/neutered dogs of mine - but those people aren't breeders.
Such is life. We march on.
Everyone on Facebook has been very supportive. It has helped a lot. The day I took Nexus to the vet I called both MaryAnne Teal and Dawn Renee Mack from the vet's office. My head was spinning and I just didn't know what to do. Their advice was sound. Nexus went down two weeks ago Monday, had surgery two weeks ago yesterday, and is really recovering beautifully. He has peed and pooped totally on his own from the very beginning, lifted his leg 10 days post-op, and is making truly remarkable progress. But he did have some things going for him going in despite the fact that he could not move his hind legs. He had deep pain sensation, knee reflexes, and he could wag his tail (not that he did much wagging with all the pain he was in). In this we were both very fortunate.
The big thing now is surviving two more weeks of crate rest. Nexus has never been a demanding dog but he's never been a lazy dog either. I've had to become inventive to give him things to occupy himself. I ordered a Bob-A-Lot yesterday. I hope it arrives soon!
Jolanta told me that I would enjoy competing with Nexus again, and of course she was right. Nexus’ post-op recovery was pretty uneventful. He gained strength and stability with each passing week. By November, he was going with me and the other dogs again on our daily one-mile walk.
September 2011 I entered Nexus in the field trials in Michigan. I thought he was ready. The first day, he had a little trouble busting through the brush. The second day, as we walked all the way to the back fence to join the gallery, I thought Nexus became weak on his right hind. Ashley Roseberry (now DVM) owns one of the only two dogs that Nexus had sired. She was competing with her dog in the Open class at this trial, in fact won the class. Ashley, forfeiting opportunity to handle her dog for Absolute, left the trial grounds and went with Nexus and I to the vet clinic at the University of Michigan.
I was worried.
Thankfully, in the next week or so I realized that I’d been “looking too hard” at Nexus in the field that day. I was actually seeing something that had been there all along in the year since surgery. I’d been missing this tiny bit of weakness in his right hind because our daily exercise had always been on a country road, never in tall, thick grass. With the blessing of his surgeon, an orthopedic specialist, I continued, then, to treat Nexus normally. He wanted Nexus to get plenty of exercise. So did Nexus!
October 2011 With flying colors, Nexus passed the DTK water test for the 4th time. He struggled on the subsequent retrieve that we did for fun and water exercise but I believe it was more a poor grip on the duck than lack of physical strength. Nexus was not 100% but he was getting closer every day.
November 2011 In the St Louis Field Champion Dog class of 8, Nexus was called back High and finished 2nd. And in the FCD class of 11 the next day, Nexus was called back 2nd and won the class. He was physically strong that weekend and remained so afterward. That was the weekend, 15 months after “Nexus’ back,” that I truly felt “Nexus was back!”
In the meantime, I had been taking Owl and Viljo to agility classes and was working with them at home. Nexus begged to participate but I was very hesitant. Water retrieves and field trials were one thing but agility? Yet he was jumping up, down, and around anyway, when I wasn’t fast enough to stop him…
December 2011 I asked my agility instructor, a highly experienced, world-class competitor, to evaluate Nexus over a few jumps. Her statement came in the form of a question. “What’s the problem?”
So Nexus began agility training. And he loved it! It fit right in with his love of training and his joy of being “on stage.”
April 2012 Nexus competed in his first agility trials, in Georgia. His only bugaboo in the Standard class at DCA was the weave poles. Doggone those weave poles anyway. However, later in the week at the all-breed trial in Alpharetta, Nexus qualified 10 seconds under Standard Course Time with a score of 100 and 1st place!
Also at DCA, and with ridiculously minimal training prep, Nexus qualified in both the DCMA and DCA Obedience trials with 4th places, earning two legs toward his Companion Dog title.
September 2012 Nexus earned the final CD leg with score of 184.5 out of 200 and High in Trial at the Cincinnati specialty. The next day at the field trial in Michigan, Nexus was Absolute Winner in an entry of 81 dachshunds. The day after that, he was back High and finished 2nd in a class of 20 male Field Champions!
October 19 and 20, 2012 Nexus joyfully ran 19 and 20 seconds under course times and qualified with scores of 100 and 1st places in Novice Standard at the all-breed agility trials in Zanesville, Ohio. At 10.5 years young, that gave him the Novice Agility title.
It ALSO gave him the honor of being the first male longhair, second longhair of either sex to title in seven AKC venues!
The 10 week old that kept saying, “Look at me. I can!” became the 10 year old saying, “How do you like that. I did!”
Thank you, Nexer. It has been fun. You are ever a joy and AMWC. Always Most Willingly Capable.
So much for my intentions of not keeping a puppy!
September 2011 I entered Nexus in the field trials in Michigan. I thought he was ready. The first day, he had a little trouble busting through the brush. The second day, as we walked all the way to the back fence to join the gallery, I thought Nexus became weak on his right hind. Ashley Roseberry (now DVM) owns one of the only two dogs that Nexus had sired. She was competing with her dog in the Open class at this trial, in fact won the class. Ashley, forfeiting opportunity to handle her dog for Absolute, left the trial grounds and went with Nexus and I to the vet clinic at the University of Michigan.
I was worried.
Thankfully, in the next week or so I realized that I’d been “looking too hard” at Nexus in the field that day. I was actually seeing something that had been there all along in the year since surgery. I’d been missing this tiny bit of weakness in his right hind because our daily exercise had always been on a country road, never in tall, thick grass. With the blessing of his surgeon, an orthopedic specialist, I continued, then, to treat Nexus normally. He wanted Nexus to get plenty of exercise. So did Nexus!
October 2011 With flying colors, Nexus passed the DTK water test for the 4th time. He struggled on the subsequent retrieve that we did for fun and water exercise but I believe it was more a poor grip on the duck than lack of physical strength. Nexus was not 100% but he was getting closer every day.
November 2011 In the St Louis Field Champion Dog class of 8, Nexus was called back High and finished 2nd. And in the FCD class of 11 the next day, Nexus was called back 2nd and won the class. He was physically strong that weekend and remained so afterward. That was the weekend, 15 months after “Nexus’ back,” that I truly felt “Nexus was back!”
In the meantime, I had been taking Owl and Viljo to agility classes and was working with them at home. Nexus begged to participate but I was very hesitant. Water retrieves and field trials were one thing but agility? Yet he was jumping up, down, and around anyway, when I wasn’t fast enough to stop him…
December 2011 I asked my agility instructor, a highly experienced, world-class competitor, to evaluate Nexus over a few jumps. Her statement came in the form of a question. “What’s the problem?”
So Nexus began agility training. And he loved it! It fit right in with his love of training and his joy of being “on stage.”
April 2012 Nexus competed in his first agility trials, in Georgia. His only bugaboo in the Standard class at DCA was the weave poles. Doggone those weave poles anyway. However, later in the week at the all-breed trial in Alpharetta, Nexus qualified 10 seconds under Standard Course Time with a score of 100 and 1st place!
Also at DCA, and with ridiculously minimal training prep, Nexus qualified in both the DCMA and DCA Obedience trials with 4th places, earning two legs toward his Companion Dog title.
September 2012 Nexus earned the final CD leg with score of 184.5 out of 200 and High in Trial at the Cincinnati specialty. The next day at the field trial in Michigan, Nexus was Absolute Winner in an entry of 81 dachshunds. The day after that, he was back High and finished 2nd in a class of 20 male Field Champions!
October 19 and 20, 2012 Nexus joyfully ran 19 and 20 seconds under course times and qualified with scores of 100 and 1st places in Novice Standard at the all-breed agility trials in Zanesville, Ohio. At 10.5 years young, that gave him the Novice Agility title.
It ALSO gave him the honor of being the first male longhair, second longhair of either sex to title in seven AKC venues!
The 10 week old that kept saying, “Look at me. I can!” became the 10 year old saying, “How do you like that. I did!”
Thank you, Nexer. It has been fun. You are ever a joy and AMWC. Always Most Willingly Capable.
So much for my intentions of not keeping a puppy!
