Photo of the Month 2013

Photo of the Month 2013
(photos posted more than less randomly)

December 2013

December's photo is a blast from the past. This is CH Dorndorf's Ericka L CD TT and myself, I do not remember the judge. It was at DCA in Metropolitan Washington in 1982. The trials were the Metro Wash, Metro Baltimore, and DCA National obedience trials. Ericka earned the Companion Dog title in the three trials in four days, with three 1sts in Novice B and she was High in Trial at all three. She was the only dog to qualify in all three trials. They were held outside and one of the trials the sun was hot. Every one of the six or so dachshunds in her class broke either the long sit or long down or both except Ericka. Conrad Gottlieb was the announcer as they introduced the DCA High in Trial winner to everyone at ringside before the BB judging. He was a big man with a big, booming voice and spoke with dramatic flourishes, something like a circus ringmaster. (ha!!) The judge called a heeling pattern which we performed off lead for the crowd. Ericka liked to heel well, and she was on. Everyone was in a good mood apparently and considerably appreciative. They loudly clapped and cheered. It was one of my best competitive moments in dogs.

November 2013 (see Nov 24 blog post)

October 2013

Handsome, intense, and ever-athletic Owl as the sun goes down in early October. Owl is nine years old going on four.

September 2013

Gretel, not quite 2, going Absolute Winner in Kentucky in the fall of 2008.

August 2013

Nutmeg is passionate about swimming and retrieving from water.

July 2013

On June 25, Olive became titled in all six AKC performance and companion venues! See blog post of the same date.

June 2013

Clockwise, from top left: Odin, Taya, Ginger, Keyser (son of Owl), Asti

May 2013

Maxi-Tax Most Wanted, littermate of Taya's father Maxi-Tax Maroon Marstax.

Apr 2013

What we see depends primarily on what we look for. ~ John Lubbock

Owl, Owl's half-brother Nexus, and Owl's father Kasi in Kentucky, Oct 08

Mar 2013 (slideshow)

In early March, I was talking about agility with Cliff Shrader who has started his young Tasha in an intro agility class. Cliff wanted a fun, physical, and different activity that they could do in the off season when they are not tracking deer. And they ARE having fun!

With agility in mind, then, I decided to make the home page photos for March a slide show of pictures taken in April 2012 that I had never posted on the website.

They are photos of Nexus, Owl, and Viljo (ages 10, 7.5, and not quite 2 at the time) on all-breed agility courses in Alpharetta, Georgia. We were in Georgia for the DCA Nationals and participated in other events and trials. As for agility, this is how we did...

Nexus qualified in Novice B Standard Saturday in Alpharetta, 10 seconds under SCT with a score of 100 and 1st place! Nice job, Nex! (Photo 4-21-12 by Dogs in Motion.)

Owl qualified at DCA in both Open Standard - 1st place, and Open Jumpers - 2nd place, at his (and my) first Open agility trial. He was also Highest Scoring Dog of 29 dogs competing in the 8" Standard agility classes. At the all-breed agility trials in Alpharetta, Owl earned Open Jumpers legs 2 (1st place) and 3 (1st place) for the title in three trials in seven days! Good boy, Owl! (Photo 4-21-12 by Dogs in Motion.)

Viljo did not qualify - but he sure did not miss by much! You can see where he is blasting out of the tunnel how much he uses himself and how intensely he loves this! His skills base and drive were wonderful and I was very proud of him, too!

Viljo was quite young and has not trialed since but we will resume agility training again when I am ready. (Photo 4-22-12 by Dogs in Motion.)

Feb 2013

Stan Knoll acquired Oslo from me in November 2005 when Oslo was 15 months old. This is Oslo 2.5 years later at a field trial of the Dachshund Club of St Louis in March 2008. Oslo had by then established himself as an excellent talent on rabbits with a commanding perseverance on scent lines and a loud and consistent voice.

This is Oslo later the same day, with owner Stan Knoll of Mississippi and judges Carol Luetkens of Wisconsin and Scott Woodall of Arkansas. Oslo had won the Field Champion Dog Class of 17 (in which Owl placed 2nd and Nexus was 3rd!), and has gone on to Absolute Winner (Best in Trial) in an entry of 79 dachshunds.

Left to right, this is Oslo, Owl, and Nexus after going 1, 2, 3, in the Field Champion Dog Class of 17 at the Dachshund Club of St Louis on March 15, 2008. I think this photo is interesting in more ways than one. Oslo, who was one of the Dorndorf pack until he separated from us at nearly 16 months old, is obviously no longer one of the pack. There was no taking this photo with all three dogs side by side. You can see that Oslo has physically - intentionally - distanced himself from Owl and Nexus. For all intents and purposes, he is saying that HE is a Mississippian now, thank you very much, and let's make sure we keep it that way! Well, it actually makes me very happy. I LOVE it when the dogs thrive in their new homes! Oslo has indeed thrived with Stan Knoll and his family. Updates about their extraordinary accomplishments may be found here and here.

The next day, on March 16, 2008, Owl was 1st and Oslo 3rd of 19 Field Champion Dogs. Their sister Olive was 2nd of 17 Open All-Age Bitches. And Owl went on to Absolute Winner in a total entry of 74. It was a great weekend!

I will add that Oslo finished 2nd in the Dachshund Club of America Merit Point Standing for Field Champions in 2008! The same year, Nadja was ranked 11, Ochre 14, and Owl 17, so we had four dogs in the top 20. Furthermore, Babe was 25, Nexus 31, and Asti 88 of the 96 dachshunds that earned two or more placements (1st thru 4th) in Field Champion classes nationwide. Every one of these dogs is a son or daughter of Marta except Babe who is Nadja's daughter, therefore Marta's granddaughter. Marta's value and contribution to me and my breeding program through her two litters are absolutely immeasurable and I am sorry that she is gone.

Jan 2013

Marie Gadolin of Hound's Kennel with SvCH Nick v Dorndorf L in Nov 2008. Nick was imported by Marie to Sweden in Jul 2002. He sired a number of excellent dogs with the result that he is today in the pedigrees of longhairs all over the world. Nick has lived with Linda Mellberg in Sweden for several years. Marie and I were visiting them when this photo was taken. You may notice that Nick and his brother Nexus are total look-alikes, more so than any two dogs I have ever had!

So interesting how it worked out that Taya, my Jul 2012 import from Denmark, has Nick two times in her pedigree. Taya's mother Hound's American Dream is Nick's daughter. Taya's paternal grandmother Maxi-Tax Hestia is Nick's granddaughter through his son Fagermons Isidor. It was all an unforeseen blessing 10 years ago!

Me with Marianne Fredriksson in my same visit to Sweden in Nov 2008. Marianne is a true grande dame of standard longhairs in Scandinavia. She has been breeding under the Fagermons prefix since 1969 and longhairs in that part of the world almost always have Fagermons in the background. More recently, two Fagermons litters were sired by Nick.

Energetic Marianne and her husband were terrific hosts for the day and we enjoyed seeing their dogs. Our wonderful dinner included wild boar and mushrooms from the surrounding woods! As Marie and I were leaving, Marianne gave me a big hug and said "Thank you for Nick." Her comment brought tears to my eyes. It stands as one of my best moments in dogs. Many thank yous to Marie for such a fantastic trip!