Poppy's best friend

Derek, sent a picture of Poppy and Blue (blue heeler), Poppy's best friend. Thank you Derek!

Update on Henry (Grizzly)

Steve Hardee from North Carolina wrote today with a nice update on Henry (Grizzly v Moosbach-Zuzelek)). "Henry had his forth find and second true find last Friday. A friend of mine shot two deer with one shot. The first fell dead and the second was gut shot. Both were does. We weren't sure if he had actually hit a second deer until we put Henry down on the spot. He tracked to her in less than 4 minutes about 125 yds very thick cover. Not too many deer have been taken this year here, too much rain and warm weather. There have not been as many opportunities to track as I would have liked. I have plenty of frozen feet and blood so we will train if nothing else."

Thank you Steve for sharing news on Henry!

Koa recovers his first deer

We were very happy to hear from Chris Surtees from Georgia. His tracking partner is Koa (Grock v Moosbach-Zuzelek), an eight-month-old son of Billy and Gilda.

"I shot a small buck tonight while bow hunting in a special archery hunt area and decide to take a chance and put Koa on the trail. As far as blood goes it was a steady easy track but the terrain the buck made his death run through was another matter.

Koa started out fine for the 25 yards but after entering a large ditch he hung a right and broke off trail. I let him go to see what he was going to do and to my surprise he found an easy way out of the ditch and came back on to the trail. While I struggled to climb out of the ditch Koa jumped back in with me and to add insult to injury he gave me a look of I showed you an easy way out and went back out the ditch his way.

Back on track Koa was moving at a good pace, nose to the ground, weaving in and out of the thick brush. Now we hit the next obstacle, another small flood area the deer ran through. Before I reached the area Koa was in the water trying figure out which way the deer went. Once I arrived he gave me a look of I lost the track. We crossed the flooded area, and I worked Koa up and down the back even though I knew where the trail was. I wanted to see if he would pick the trail up or just take off on a false one.

He locked back on the trail and was off again at a good pace. Koa only had one other issue on this track, and that is when my dad and daughter heard me tell Koa he was close. They moved in on my light and distracted Koa from the track. All it took was for me to tell them to stand still and remain quite until he was on the deer.

I put Koa back on the last blood and he finished the trail in grand fashion. He was extremely excited over the deer and enjoyed his tug on just about every part of the deer. To finish it off he was rewarded with a piece of fresh deer heart.

I could not be more proud of Koa and seeing him prance around the house when we returned home I could tell he was proud of himself."

Great job Koa!

Radar's tracking success

No doubt that the first recoveries by young dogs in their first blood tracking season are going to be very memorable.

I was happy to hear from Rex Marshall from Ohio that Radar (Oak v Moosbach-Zuzelek, a Joeri/Emma son) had a chance to track: "Radar found 2 deer these past 2 weeks, one doe and one 9 point buck! It was really fun and exciting to see him track & to finally find the real deal at the end of the trail. Both tracks were easy. I could follow them both from a standing position & see the blood, but I wanted Radar to track them so he could find a real deer at the end. Both tracks were approx 250-300 yards long. He definitely claimed them at the end--do they ever stop barking?? BTW, yesterday I was called to help track a third deer (buck), but Radar couldn't find that one. Honestly, from the sign I saw, I think the hunter never hit any vital organs and the deer survives today. The arrow must have hit the meaty portion of the upper front leg area cause there was only a spotty blood trail. I haven't introduced Radar to tracking specifically on the interdigital scent gland yet, so was unsure if he was on the right track or not after the blood stopped. He stayed with it for 1.5-2 hours though before we gave up. I'm proud of him for not quitting.."

Poppy's first recovery

Derek Harris called from northern Texas with the news that Poppy found her first deer. The scent line with very little blood was around 400 yards, eight hours old. The deer was bedded and jumped when Poppy got really close. It had to be shot, and luckily Poppy was not concerned about three shots that were fired.

Poppy lives on a ranch, and her best canine buddy is a blue heeler. Derek says that she is fearless.

Thanks Derek for the phone call, and congratulations!

Doc's first deer

Stanley Thrasher from Alabama reported that last weekend was opening weekend for youth hunt. Doc (Pushkin) got his first call to recover a deer. The deer was for a 7 year old his first deer it was an 80lb. doe. the little boy was so happy when doc recovered his deer.

The trail was approx. 2-3 hours old. It was about 75 yards out of the clear cut. It was so thick we had to crawl on knees to get through it. Doc had no problem finding the deer. It took him about 5 minutes to find it after he hit the trail. The first thing he did was latch onto the deer's tail and chewed on it then he would chew on a leg. I got Doc off the deer and asked the man to cut the deer tail off for Doc to have as his trophy. Doc did not want the tail he wanted the deer. As the man pulled the deer past Doc he latched onto the deer. The man was pulling Doc and the deer up the hill. I then took Doc and put him in the truck.

Congratulations to Stanley and Doc!

Roughhousing with Gerti

Chris Barr from Indiana e-mailed us this story:

I thought you could use a funny Gerti story that has nothing to do with tracking. We have a wall that is open on each end that separates our kitchen and living room. Gerti has found it quite amusing to play a cat and mouse game with me around that wall. After a few minutes of dodging and weaving, she’ll finally just start barking and chasing me around the kitchen and through the living room. Well, a week ago last night, while playing this game, I was just hitting my stride, probably on my third lap, when I cracked my left pinky-toe on the doorway as I rounded the corner. I went down as if I’d fallen from a building on my knees and elbows. Well, you can imagine, Gerti thought this was just an addition to a delightful game so she proceeded to run circles under my chest and around my head. Dawn and the kids could hardly stifle their laughter. I finally got up and hobbled to the couch where I iced and elevated it for the remainder of the evening. I didn’t have it x-rayed but am pretty sure I broke it as it’s still very swollen and sore. Gerti must have felt a little sorry for me because she curled up in my lap for the remainder of the night and didn’t make a peep.

If you can visualize that, and you’re like my family, you’ll probably get a pretty good chuckle out of it. The next night when it turned all kinds of purple and blue colors, the kids took pictures of it with their phones to send to their friends.

Lucy (Patti) and her experience on real tracks

John and Jolanta

Just thought I would check in and get you up to date on Lucy's (Patti's) progress. I have been able to get her out on 5 "real" tracks so far. 3 of the 5 I knew where the deer were and had marked the route. The other 2 were blind tracks. She has managed to make it to the end of every track, some with a little more help than others, but we celebrated them all the same. The long and the sort of it is that it appears that her biggest shortcoming is her trainer. Each outing has provided a new experience and I have "learned" many of the lessons that John cautions about in his book. Her tendency is to work quite fast so our top priority right now is getting her to slow down. The only other issue is that she tends to pitch a fit whenever I go hunting and she doesn't get to come along (which isn't a bad thing unless its 4:30 a.m.). The bow season is just starting to pick up so I anticipate having more opportunities to get her out yet this fall. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Dan

First moose for Gunner

This e-mail; from Guy Marcoux-Filion brought news about Gunner, a six-moth-old son of Billy and Gilda who resides in Quebec:


Hello John,

This story is rather short. Gunner began tracking at the hit site. He stopped at every drop of blood, working very slowly, and as usual he made about a 20 foot circle at the start before taking up the track.
When he arrived at the moose, he stopped and didn’t want to go forward. Then he decided to approach it, and he smelled it without any reaction. The total tracking distance, in very dense cover was about 300 feet.

On the way back the animal was towed by a 4 wheel drive utility vehicle, and in seeing it move, Gunner barked and wanted to jump out of his sac on to the beast. I let him have contact with the moose, and he had already gained confidence. I think that he’s turned on now. He was rewarded with meat from the moose, and he stayed in his sac while we prepared the animal to haul him out of the woods. He is really very calm…

So long.

Guy

A great learning blood tracking experience for Pepper (aka Grannie) from Georgia

Great news from Saralynne Hudgins from Georgia:

Terry, Pepper and his ~140 class (8point) scored buck!
3rd arrow shot was a perfect kill through chest on the second day of bow season in Henry Co. Georgia on September 13th 2009...
Entered buck in the GON publication's 'Truck Buck' contest for the state opening week.
I (Pepper's blood tracking coach to date*smile*) took Pepper to track because Terry called and said he thought would need the dog to find the deer, but he found the deer before Pepper and I arrived on location.
Pepper was beside herself, growling and intently assessing the situation visually and by scent, before wanting to lavish herself with the fresh meat! She loved it!
Pepper, was quite territorial about the kill which was covered with hundreds of thirsty seed/deer ticks who had just lost their host (so we had to monitor her contact with the deer and limit it to prevent her from also being covered with ticks)!

First wounded deer recovery for Remi (Olive)

I received a copy of the e-mail that Matt sent to his friends last night:

Without Remi, we never would have found this 8 pnt that Lee shot in the wind and rain tonight. When we got out in the woods at 7:15, it took us 30 minutes to find the first blood, once we put Remi on the blood trail, she took us directly to within 10 yards of where the deer had fallen, about 200 yards of thick swamp from where dad arrowed it. The blood stopped and the deer scent was so strong that Remi couldn't pin point the dead animal. So we just walked in circles from the spot where Remi starting going erratic, and found this huge buck.
Peg helped me haul the monster back, which took about an hour. (Glad I'm having my knee surgery tomorrow.) Check out the blood on Peg's left shoulder in one of the pix, she rocks. :)
No more wise cracks about my serious hound... :)

Greta's first "real" deer

Dustin wrote: "This a picture from our second week of bow season in Kentucky. This is my son’s first deer with a bow. It was quite the thrill for him as well as Greta. This was the first track she has ever been on that there was a real deer at the end. Greta is doing very well and I am very glad that I have her."

An overnight blood track for Doc (Pushkin)

Those who follow this blog know that Doc's (Pushkin's) interest in blood tracking came later than with other pups, but now at 5 months he is doing really well.

His owner Stanley wrote:
I laid a blood trail for Doc at 5:30 p.m. on August 29th. The trail was approx 300 yards long. Let it age overnight. It also came a rain during the night. I took Doc out at 7 a.m. on August 30th, we were walking down a logging road. I had laid the blood trail across this road the day before. When Doc got to the point in the road where I had crossed the road with the blood he hit the trail and was off. The trail I had laid was in weeds and underbrush that ranged from knee high to head high. At times I could not even see Doc and would have to drop the leash to get through the weeds myself. It took Doc about 20 to 25 minutes to work this blood trail to the end. Doc is only 5 months old and this is the 2nd blood trail that I have aged overnight and Doc has successfully completed both trails. Also I have laid a trail that was approx. 1/4 mile long and aged it about an hour. Doc completed it in approx. 15 minutes I try to work with him once or twice a week depending on my work schedule. I AM VERY PROUD OF DOC.

Sam's progress in blood tracking training

Lincoln Anderson from Quebec writes:

Here are a couple of pictures taken when I was with Alain Ridel. I really enjoyed my encounter with Alain; he's a real nice guy and I learned a few things from him which should improve my tracking. Sam did a good job, but as I mentioned I have to talk a bit louder when I encourage Sam. Yesterday I did another blood trail he did very well. There was one spot where I had put the blood trail across a deep ditch, Sam had a little trouble but what I had noticed is that he always came back to his last point where he had scented the blood. That I found very interesting. I thought in a situation like that I would have to bring the dog back to the last sure point of blood. Anyway back to the ditch I helped Sam across and from there he went on his merry way to find the deer skin.

Next week I will be going to a camp which is about two hours from Quebec City and I will be doing another couple of blood trails with Sam. I'll try to get this on film if I can get my hands on a camera.

I also included a few pictures of Sam I took today. He's up to 17lbs in good health.

Update on Koa (Grock)

Chris Surtees writes about Koa (Grock):

Koa has adjusted very well. Our tracking sessions have been going good. He is very focused for the most part but does on occasion get side tracked on long tracks.

Our longest to date was 4 hour old and 500 meter with two turns. He was doing excellent on this track until some folks out for a walk seen us and got nosey. Koa broke from the trail when he heard them start calling "What a cute puppy". Once all the petting and questions were over we fiddled around for a minute or two so he could calm down. I then placed him back the trail about 20 meters from the first turn. He over shot it a bit but corrected himself very well. After that the trail went along without any other issues.

So far he has shown that he will track just about anything he is put on. We have worked with beef, and deer liver, squirrel, rabbit, and pigeon. We have a hunt coming up in South Carolina and hope he will get some work on deer and hogs.

We have also been working on cage training which is almost complete. He is for the most part house broken but does have an accident every now and then. Koa loves riding in the Jeep...both in and out of his crate.

He really enjoys playing with other dogs and kids. Overall I could not be happier with his temperament. Koa is very excited with his finds but is not so over possessive that I cannot take it away from him. He loves playing chase with his finds and really thrives on praise.

Our only big issue is his chewing. He has plenty of toys and chews but still insists on chewing just about anything he can find. He knows he is wrong but still does it. Hard headed is all I can say. He spends time in his crate when he is caught.

Breeders' satisfaction - P-pups at 4.5 months show a lot of talent

Yesterday Poppy left for a new home in northern Texas. Derek Harris is a wildlife biologist, and Poppy will have a lot of opportunities for blood tracking.

We are going to miss her -- she stayed here longer than other pups, and we got to like her a lot. She was not as precocious as some of her siblings but in the last few weeks she showed a great potential for tracking. Maybe it was just a coincidence but when Poppy found herself as a hunter, she started to stand up to Paika. A week ago two of them had a pretty bad fight. We don't know how it started but it did not end pretty. Neither of them was willing to submit, and we had to separate them. From that moment they became enemies. Even last night when Derek was leaving with Poppy and we let them loose in a room, there was a lot of tension, their tails were up and I had to pick up Paika as they were ready for another confrontation.

We wish Derek and Poppy well, and we are really happy to see young people becoming involved in blood tracking!

Today I got a phone call from Stanley Thrasher, who actually was planning to get Poppy but ended up taking Pushkin (Doc). Stan is an experienced dog man and he knows hunting hounds. It was great to hear how pleased he is with Doc, who became an important part of Stanley's family. In spite of hot summer weather in Alabama, Stanley manages to train Doc 2-3 times a week; he does it early in the morning and late in the evening. He called to report that the other day Doc did well on a ten-hour-old line laid in the morning and aged through the day, and today he tracked a quarter-mile-long line, which was pretty fresh. Initially Stanley had some problems with Doc's possessiveness of the deer tail that Stanley puts at the end of line. But now he got some really tasty treats from a vet, and Doc is ready to give up the tail in exchange for treats.

Stanley also came up with a good solution how to deal with fire ants getting on deer parts used as reward at the end of line:

"Just about everyone has a broken fishing rod around there house somewhere. Sharpen the end of the fishing rod so you can stick it in the ground. Take a piece of fishing line and tie it to the 2nd from the tip eyelet , then take the other end of fishing line and tie it to the 4th or 5th eyelet and tighten the line to make the fishing rod bow. Then take a piece of fishing line and tie it to the tip of the fishing rod and drop it down to make it face level with the puppy and tie a treat at the end of it. Then if your still having trouble with fire ants get just a little bit of insect spray and put some of it at ground level around the fishing pole. This should be enough to keep the fire ants off the pole and preserve the treat for the puppy. "

Recently we also heard from Lincoln Anderson who owns Sam (Petrus). He wrote: "Sam is doing very well. I laid a few more blood trails and he still has his concentration a 100% on the line. According to my knowledge on tracking and what I have read Sam is doing his job and more. This weekend I will meet Alain Ridel at Granby. He will bring down some moose blood and hide. Alain will set up a moose blood trail on Saturday and we will see how Sam makes out. I’m sure he will do ok, and this will also be a test for me to see if I’m reading my dog right and how I’m handling my end of the rope." (Alain Ridel owns Theo, a sire of P-litter.)

Well, so far we could not be happier with this litter. When we bred to Theo we took some chances as it was his first litter. Sometimes excellent individuals don't nick well, but the Theo/Keena combination looks really good!

Gertie's great trail

From Chris Barr in Indiana: "I laid a 200 yard track using 2 oz of blood and 1 scent tracking shoe.There were 5 turns through woods, on and off quad paths (or two-tracks as you all refer to them). I aged it 3 hours. I wish one of you could have seen her run it to tell me if it was as good as I think it was. She needed a little help at the turns but otherwise, I think she did great.She even corrected herself twice. I was really excited. It was by far her best one yet."

Update on G-puppies at 4 months

We got a nice update with pictures from Steve Hardee from North Carolina on Henry (Grizzly):

I thought that I would update you on Henry(Grizzly). He is doing fine and weighs 17.1 lbs now. He has had all his shots until next year. He is doing better with his house training, but still has some accidents. We have been training 3-4 times a week and Henry has been doing very well. I have been using the scent shoes for the past week or so. Henry has been running blood lines with the scent shoes for 200 -275 yd lines. He has an excellent nose. He sometimes will miss a turn but that might be my fault I think the 90 degree turns are too tight and I need to round them out slightly. Today and tomorrow will be 98 so its too hot to train for a day or two, we might only get 2 sessions this week anyhow thanks for the info you send it helps a lot.

Don Dickerson from Michigan wrote:

Gunther is doing very well. We have done several tracks and he is progressing quite nicely in my mind. Friday night I laid down a track of about 200 yards with 4 turns. I have been using a combination of beef liver drag with deer blood placed periodically along the trail, it has been working well. I think he is working the line a little fast right now, he tends to overshoot the turns a bit, but he corrects himself right away and goes back and picks up the line. It is so much fun watching him work, he concentrates very hard and is not easily distracted. Let's just say I am very very happy with him all the way around. He has become a member of the family and fits in very well. He and our 5 year old Min Yorkie play a lot and have become buddies. He also gives the girls kitten a good workout and lets her know her place, if you know what I mean ;).

I have some friends that farm and because of the huge deer population in our county the DNR issues them block permits to kill deer to control the population and reduce crop damage. Last night I received a call from one of them and was able to secure four fresh legs, blood, a liver and a hide off of a deer they had killed with a block permit. I have the word out that any of them have a fresh kill and they are sure it is down and know the location to call me so Gunther can track a sure find. Thus, Gunther will should be able to do some live tracks on downed deer before the season even starts! Keep you posted on any finds and will send pictures. I tried to attach some pictures this Morning but I am having problems with my computer and can't get them to attach. I will try again in the next email.

And Chris Barr from Indiana wrote about Gerti (Gwen):

Hey Jolanta, I thought I’d tell you that Gerti is spurlaut as well….but so far just on the cats. I took her out to the back yard over the weekend and one of our two un-suspecting cats was in the back yard as well. Gerti started chasing her and sounded as pretty as any beagle I’ve ever been around. We’ll see what she does on rabbits in January.

I took her on a long walk last night. We stopped at a creek with ripples and a shallow pool. She waded right in the water and into the pool to swim. This is only the second time she’s been in water deep enough to swim in. I’m surprised at how much she enjoys water when I can hardly get her to go outside to do her business if there’s the slightest dew on the grass.

This morning she got into trouble for grabbing a shoe. She got a swat on the fanny and a firm no. She went into the living room, sat in the middle of the floor and barked at me. Just what I need, another woman in my life that talks back Ha Ha.

Nipped by a musk turtle

I did not know that there are musk turtles around here or that they can nip a dog. But today during our walk Elli found one and she would just not leave it alone. Well, in return she got nipped on her nose. The little turtle was quite aggressive.

I moved it onto the other side of our enclosure, but the turtle left a surprisingly strong scent. Pups were in the same area two hours later and were fascinated by the scent. No wonder that the turtles are also called "stinkpot" turtles.

Puppies open on a rabbit for the first time - they are spurlaut!

Today we had another wet day. Yesterday Albany received 2.5 inches of rain, and July 2009 was the wettest July on record. Well, rain or no rain, puppies need exercise so today while we had a light drizzle, I took the two pups out. I did not expect that rabbits would be out, but at the end of our walk I noticed a small rabbit sitting on the edge of the path.

Paika picked up the rabbit scent quickly and opened on it. By then the rabbit was gone and she never saw it. Poppy followed and was opening too. This was like a music to my soul. Not all dachshunds open on rabbits so hearing pups voice at four months is a treat!


There are three articles on spurlaut in dachshunds posted on our website and they are worth reading - go to http://www.born-to-track.com/our-writing.htm

Puppies' night out at the local concert - a rabbit in attendence

Today Theo and Keena's pups are four months old. Paika and Poppy have grown and they must be around 14 lbs now. They are a handful. Poppy will be leaving us in two weeks for her new home in Texas. We will certainly miss her!

Tonight we went to a local concert - the Georgie Wonders Orchestra was playing at the Guilderland Performing Arts Center (GPAC) at Tawasentha Park. The orchestra plays the music from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, including Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and others. We thought it was a great opportunity to take pups along and let them socialize. Oh boy, we were for a big surprise!

Ten minutes into the concert a woman came with a RABBIT on the leash. The rabbit was wearing a harness, and it looked like it was not its first time on the town. John and I just could not believe our eyes. Luckily, we did not have any other dogs, besides pups, with us. I know how they would have reacted to the rabbit.

Paika and Poppy were not too close to the rabbit and did not realize its presence. And it was a good thing!

Summer days and puppies

The last few days have been busy. Dean Davenport came to breed his dachshund Elka to Billy. Elka is our Sabina's granddaughter. Just when Dean and Bruce were leaving, Beth and Gentian Shero from Deer Search came to visit with their two young dachshunds, Mae and Mariel, two sisters, who also are Sabina's granddaughters. Paika and Poppy had a chance to socialize and play. Mae loves to swim and Poppy and Paika joined her in the pond.

Also our neighbors, Paula and Kevin with their kids Logan and Mackenzie, tried to fish in our pond. Logan got a nice catfish, which you can see in the picture.

Paika, the wunderkind

It does not happen too often but every few years or so a puppy comes along that is so full of promise at a very young age. Paika, the wunderkind, has a right conformation, great temperament and tracking potential. We are happy... at least for now.

Ginie from Georgia

We heard from Wayne Varnadore from Georgia, who has Ginie, a Billy/Gilda daughter:

Just wanted to give you and update on Ginie. We have been working her twice a week and she has been doing a good job. We have got up to doing the lines about 250 yards and we let it sit for about two hours. I am very pleased with her. I purchased a set of deer scent shoes from Alan Wade and looking forward to using them with her. She is growing so fast.

Patti and her sisters, Poppy and Paika

We got a nice update on Patti from Dan Davis from Wisconsin:

"Just checking in to let you know how things are going with Patti. Today we ran a 200 yard bloodline that aged 4 hours. This is the second one of these we have done. Last week when we tried the same set up, she struggled staying focused after the first 50 yards or so. She drifted pretty severely and eventually got to the end, but was not at all precise. Today she did much better. I believe the weather played a part as it was much cooler today than it was during last week's track. I put some treats on the line and offered more encouragement. That might have helped some too. She went past the one turn in the line, but corrected herself and picked the line back up. Just for fun I took the very end of the line across a paved walking path with a lot of blood all of the way across. She was unable to make it across the path and it seemed to break her concentration because I had a little trouble getting her focused once we picked the trail up on the other side. I realize what I was asking her to do, but just wanted to see how it would go. Overall I was very satisfied with the track.

We're still not doing great with the house training, but we're trying. We can tell when she has gone in the house based on her body language when she comes around us so we are hopeful that is a step in the right direction. Guess we need to watch her closer even though several times we have taken her out only to have her go shortly after we bring her back in.

We feel like you did a great job fitting her with our family. Basic obedience is going well and she has been very easy to care for. Bow season is only 7 weeks away, we should be able to get her out on some real "tracks" and are excited for that!"


Yesterday we worked a blood line with Poppy, and the video clip showing it is posted here. Few days ago, when Joeri dispatched the woodchuck we trapped in John's garden, we used it for doing a drag for Paika. It was a long drag, over 200 yards, and we worked her on it 12 hours later (overnight). She had problems with picking up the scent at the beginning, but once she recognized it, she followed the drag without any problems. Today P-pups are 16 weeks old.

Poppy with a dead pigeon placed at the end of blood trail.

Billy von Moosbach-Zuzelek

Billy is related to all our pups that were born in 2009. He is an uncle of O-litter, grand sire of P-litter and sire of G-litter.

Few pictures of Poppy

Today I snapped few pictures of Poppy. The first one shows her with her mom Keena.

Poppy is getting better with every day so we probably just should assume that she has not been as precocious as her littermates. We will hold on to her for a while longer as we are really enjoying her, but there is no way that can keep her permanently as Paika is the one who is going to stay here. Decisions...decisions...decisions...

Update on Petrus (now Sam)

Last night we received a nice e-mail from Licoln Anderson, owner of Petrus, whose new name is Sam.

I just thought I’d give you an update on Sam. I ran two blood lines from 60 and 100 meters with two turns in each blood line. My third and fourth line were liver drags, one at 120 meters and tonight close to 200 meters. I have to say that Sam is right on the button. When he comes to a sharp turn in the blood trail he will circle around for a second and when he picks up the sent he looks back at me as if to say - let's go I’m back on track. Today I dragged the liver through a fresh deer bedding to see how he would react. So far Sam does not lose his concentration on a blood line but I’m sure there will days he’ll be distracted by fresh rabbits, deer, moose tracks.

We were in Sudbury, Ontario on the 4th of July for a family reunion and he loves the water and gets along great with young kids, other dogs and the adults. As I mentioned the other day on the phone he loves to dig holes, eat my flowers, lettuce and cucumber plants, munch on water bottles. Here are a few pictures of the blood line I did today and some pictures of Sam in a swim meet.

Swimming puppies -- dachshunds who love water

Today we have a gorgeous summer day, warm and sunny, without even one cloud. It was a great opportunity to take our two pups to the pond. Paika and Poppy are natural swimmers, and they love water. Not only they swim but actually they play in the pond. But then, they are just puppies after all.

Breeders' perspective - a tough decision about Olana

Being a dog breeder of hunting dachshunds is tough. Our goal is to breed blood tracking dachshunds who can do a good job for hunters and handlers. At the same time they should be healthy and have nice, outgoing and stable temperaments. Conformation is important too but certainly for us it is not a number one priority. We take our responsibility seriously, and there is no room in our decision making process for being enamored with cuteness or sweetness of puppies.

The most important parts of the breeding process is evaluation and selection of the breeding stock. If we keep a puppy for ourselves, it is never because of emotional sentiments but because we see desirable working and temperament qualities in the pup, which are needed in our breeding. By no means this is easy or pleasant.

We bred three litters this year because we needed to keep a female or two for ourselves. Our youngest brood bitch, Keena, is four years old. The oldest, Elli, is eight, and she just got spayed. We were planning to keep two female puppies from the Joeri/Emma and Theo/Keena litters. It was very disappointing to have only two females in Emma's litter, and we have kept Olana long enough to evaluate her. Now she is almost six months old, and today we said good-bye to her. She has many very good qualities but she also has serious weaknesses from our (breeders') point of view. Her coat is soft, and this factor would be a serious liability in breeding her, limiting our choice of a breeding partner. Also she comes from a litter where two males ended up with undescendend testicle, and there is a good chance that she might be a carrier for this trait. Her interest in blood tracking is not as intense as we like to see, especially in a prospect for brood bitch. So when a very good pet home came along, we decided to let Ola go.

Today Jeffrey Murray and his friend Carol from Kingston, NY came to pick Ola up. We are going to miss her as she was a delightful puppy, but we know that as breeders we have made a right decision. We hope that Ola gets along with Jeff and Carol's cat.

Good bye Ola - we know that you will have a great life with your new owners. We'll see you from time to time as you'll be just over an hour drive from us.

Update on Gwen (Gerti)

We received the four pictures from Chris Barr from Indiana, a new owner of Gwen aka Gerti. The first picture shows Ross, 13, holding Gerti, and Shelby 15. Obviously, Gertie is getting a lot of attention. Chris wrote: "She’s had 2 liver drags and 1 blood track. The liver drags seemed to be too easy for her even though she drifted a bit. The blood line was a little different. It was about 125 yds on some two-tracks and a cut through the woods. I could definitely see her nose on the ground digging scent but sometimes she just looked like she was just walking, not really scenting. I’m going to try the whippy branch next."