Some History of Owl
Owl was born in a litter of five males and three females. One male never nursed well from the beginning and I fed him and tried to help him survive but he died at six days old. I wondered at his tenacity, was amazed that he hung on with so little for so long. This was my A O litter and I named him Abacus One. I began tracking with the seven remaining puppies when they were seven weeks old. It wasn't long before I saw, rather unexpectedly, that the three best trackers in this litter were all males. Or at least this was true from the age of seven weeks until they began leaving for new homes at 16 weeks.
I was determined to place two of those three males into homes where hunters would use them as blood trackers. Odin did go to a good tracking home in North Carolina, thanks to a referral from Jolanta Jeanneney, and thanks to Sian Kwa who provided transportation south. Oslo traveled a more circuitous route before becoming a permanent member of the Knoll family even further south in Mississippi. While I was glad that Stan Knoll called and said that he wanted Oslo after the sudden death of his young bitch Anika, I was also disappointed that Oslo would not fulfill his enormous potential a deer tracking dog. The disappointment faded, however, after I saw Stan and Oslo together once or twice. Those two display a remarkable devotion to one another as well as outstanding talent in the field trial venue.
The other 'best tracker' was the male I named Owl for his wise, intent expression. I really didn't think I would keep him. I didn't need a male, therefore I was busy deciding between the bitches! I felt that Owl, with all his energy, smarts, and style, would be a great candidate for a performance home. I thought of a talented trainer on the west coast that I should talk to about Owl, a woman I had never met and still have never met. But I kept putting it off and putting it off...
This was because Owl kept showing me his talent in the tracking department, his conformation was very good, I liked his shiny, flat coat, and his personality very much clicked with mine. I loved spending time with Owl.
On the day after he turned four months old, I was walking Owl by himself in a field at home, letting him explore. It was mid-morning but a doe dashed out of the woods, across the field, up a rise, and into woods again. Owl did not see her and I took this as a good opportunity to evaluate him for trail voice. We went up to where the deer had come out of cover and Owl took himself off on the line. Just about the time he hit the rise I heard Owl open for the first time and he sounded all the way into the woods. I have to say that as I followed after my pup, I was happily vocalizing, too, "Yes!" He was the first of his litter to demonstrate trail voice but Ossie (now "Asti") opened on a line in the woods soon after.
I want to add that the fourth brother, Otter, showed me moments of very good tracking ability but he was not as consistent as the other males. In this matter of consistency, he was more like his sisters.
In mid-September, 2005 when Owl was 14 months old, I took him along to the Central Ohio field trials near Marietta, Ohio. On Sunday evening after the trial was over, I took Owl into the field where he ran his first rabbit tracks. At some point in the next 90 minutes, I forgot about telling anyone that Owl was available.
I continued running Owl on rabbits that fall and was extraordinarily pleased with his talent.
In the spring of 2006, I set aside plans to enter Owl in his first field trials in the fall after he turned two. Instead, I entered him in the DCA Host and National field trials in Georgia in April. The Host trial was Owl's very first field trial and he won the Open Dog class of 30. This was at the same trial that his half-brother Nexus won the Field Champion Dog class of 30. The next morning when his first trial concluded, Owl was Absolute Winner in a total entry of 157 dachshunds which was, and is, the second largest field trial entry to date!
On April 25, 2006, Owl's first litter was born at the home of Julie and Christian Stock. The dam of the litter was red like Owl but the litter consisted of one red male and three black/tan females! I went to Columbus every week for several weeks to see the puppies and we had a lot of fun tracking them from seven weeks on. "Pie" is the female that stayed with the Stocks.
I was determined to place two of those three males into homes where hunters would use them as blood trackers. Odin did go to a good tracking home in North Carolina, thanks to a referral from Jolanta Jeanneney, and thanks to Sian Kwa who provided transportation south. Oslo traveled a more circuitous route before becoming a permanent member of the Knoll family even further south in Mississippi. While I was glad that Stan Knoll called and said that he wanted Oslo after the sudden death of his young bitch Anika, I was also disappointed that Oslo would not fulfill his enormous potential a deer tracking dog. The disappointment faded, however, after I saw Stan and Oslo together once or twice. Those two display a remarkable devotion to one another as well as outstanding talent in the field trial venue.
The other 'best tracker' was the male I named Owl for his wise, intent expression. I really didn't think I would keep him. I didn't need a male, therefore I was busy deciding between the bitches! I felt that Owl, with all his energy, smarts, and style, would be a great candidate for a performance home. I thought of a talented trainer on the west coast that I should talk to about Owl, a woman I had never met and still have never met. But I kept putting it off and putting it off...
This was because Owl kept showing me his talent in the tracking department, his conformation was very good, I liked his shiny, flat coat, and his personality very much clicked with mine. I loved spending time with Owl.
On the day after he turned four months old, I was walking Owl by himself in a field at home, letting him explore. It was mid-morning but a doe dashed out of the woods, across the field, up a rise, and into woods again. Owl did not see her and I took this as a good opportunity to evaluate him for trail voice. We went up to where the deer had come out of cover and Owl took himself off on the line. Just about the time he hit the rise I heard Owl open for the first time and he sounded all the way into the woods. I have to say that as I followed after my pup, I was happily vocalizing, too, "Yes!" He was the first of his litter to demonstrate trail voice but Ossie (now "Asti") opened on a line in the woods soon after.
I want to add that the fourth brother, Otter, showed me moments of very good tracking ability but he was not as consistent as the other males. In this matter of consistency, he was more like his sisters.
In mid-September, 2005 when Owl was 14 months old, I took him along to the Central Ohio field trials near Marietta, Ohio. On Sunday evening after the trial was over, I took Owl into the field where he ran his first rabbit tracks. At some point in the next 90 minutes, I forgot about telling anyone that Owl was available.
I continued running Owl on rabbits that fall and was extraordinarily pleased with his talent.
In the spring of 2006, I set aside plans to enter Owl in his first field trials in the fall after he turned two. Instead, I entered him in the DCA Host and National field trials in Georgia in April. The Host trial was Owl's very first field trial and he won the Open Dog class of 30. This was at the same trial that his half-brother Nexus won the Field Champion Dog class of 30. The next morning when his first trial concluded, Owl was Absolute Winner in a total entry of 157 dachshunds which was, and is, the second largest field trial entry to date!
On April 25, 2006, Owl's first litter was born at the home of Julie and Christian Stock. The dam of the litter was red like Owl but the litter consisted of one red male and three black/tan females! I went to Columbus every week for several weeks to see the puppies and we had a lot of fun tracking them from seven weeks on. "Pie" is the female that stayed with the Stocks.