Goodbye CKC, Hello ABI

After talking to a friend of mine that breeds pugs and doing some careful consideration with our breeding program, we have decided to say goodbye to the Canadian Kennel Club conformation shows and start showing with All Breed International.

We have high goals set for our breeding program - we are extremely disappointed in the way that our breed is going and feel that some changes need to be made to bring it back to what it was like quite some time ago. For those of you that don't know, we breed working standard longhaired dachshunds. Working dachshunds tend to have less chest, slightly longer legs, a bit more roach in their back and slightly shorter ears. This is extremely beneficial when you're out hunting with them because the likelihood that they're going to be a liability is low - their chests aren't going to be too big to get in a tunnel/hole/den, their ears are less likely to be grabbed by the animal, the longer legs allow them to back out quicker, etc. The modern show dachshund is pretty much useless - they have been bred to be pets for the most part, with extremely exaggerated features (extremely short legs, big barrel chests, ears that pretty much drag on the ground). They have very little drive and energy. Our main goal is to merge these two together to create a dachshund that has the drives and capability to do actual work, but that can still successfully compete in the show ring.

The reality for us is that this is not going to happen anytime soon with the Canadian Kennel Club. We will still register our dogs through them and have our breeding program through them, but we will be showing under ABI. The attitude at the shows is much different and, *gasp*, the actual DOG is judged instead of the handler.

Our first show with them is the May 28th and 29th weekend, wish us luck!

I wish you the best of luck

Do you have pics of your dogs? One of my best friends has 2 Dachshund's, one of them a long haired one.....they're such a cute dog

Of course I do!

Here are the two that live with me (the black and tan one is spayed, she's the reason we got into breeding):



This is our girl that lives with my friend. Her name is Lucy, she's a lot younger in this picture than she is now - her chest hadn't dropped yet and her coat was still coming in:



My boyfriend and I at a CKC show with Fynn in February:



Sadie (spayed, epileptic, etc, lol) on the grooming table:



The next two are of them stacked, it was basically the first time for both. Lucy was down for a visit, this was in September, so it's newer than the other picture I posted of her.

Really bad picture of Fynn stacked:



Really bad picture of Lucy stacked:



Fynn and Sadie outside this past winter:



Fynn running through water, lol, last summer:





Sadie and Fynn in a hotel room, on our way to visit Mike's parents last summer:



Fynn and Sadie at earthdog practice last year:











And this is the picture that I first saw of Fynn when he was advertised on a dachshund forum. I fell in love with him and debated it for a long time, I'm honestly surprised that there was no interest in him. He outgrew his breeders program, so she had to place him.



His first day home after flying from Illinois to Buffalo, then driving from Buffalo to Woodstock (we spent the night at my parents, then drove back here to London).

They're just gorgeous

My friend has a miniature long haired dapple girl and man she is just gorgeous!
The are such sweet dogs, I loved your pics!

Thanks!

Sadie is a miniature (at 11 lbs), but for some reason that picture of her on the grooming table makes her look HUGE.

Fynn is a small standard, usually weighing around 18lbs but could stand to gain a pound or two comfortably. A few show people have told me to put about 5 lbs on him, but I'm not comfortable with that. He is a very long and heavy boned dog, and very active, which is why he's so lean. I love his weight now - although I have been told by a few people on our walks that he looks too thin. Our vet thinks he's the perfect weight, but is also ok with him gaining a pound or two, she strongly advises agains the 5 lbs (which was only suggested to mask the fact that he is short in ribbing).

Lucy is still maturing, she just turned 1 in September and weighed about 18 lbs then. Her sister is already at 23 lbs and we expect her to get to between 20-25 lbs mature (by 2 years old). We will be breeding her when she comes into heat next, which should be just after her birthday.

Unfortunately for us, both dogs come from lines where the coat is extremely slow growing. It's such a pain, lol. Fynn's is still coming in a bit and he'll be 3 in August. Lucy's is much nicer than Fynn's, but still wraps around her tail and she's a year an a half - most dachshunds' tails have dropped by 6-8 months.

We're hoping that with the breeding between Lucy and Fynn we'll be able to improve on the ribbing and coat (the things Fynn lacks), and temperament and drives (the things Lucy lacks, she's a bit shy and her drives can definitely use some work - although they are there). We will be keeping a pup back, against fellow breeder advice, to grow out so we can see exactly what we are producing. If it will not fit into our program by a year old, we are going to give it to Mike's parents. That way we will still be able to follow it's progress, and they will get a dog that's fully trained and housebroken. They absolutely LOVE our dogs and want one, so we're going to talk to them when we go up this summer and see if they're ok with it. If not, I have a few friends that sound interested.

Wish us luck!

Our show is this weekend, our first time out with this club, and there are THREE shows on Saturday. Normally, in one day there is only one show, so this will be interesting.

We were going to skip this show, but my mom called my boss and had her rearrange my schedule so that I could have this Saturday off to attend the show (I normally work every Saturday). So my boss called me up to the office today and told me that I would have this Saturday off and would instead work on Thursday, my mom called me about 2 hours after I got off work and said that she had deposited money into my bank account so that I could get to and from the show, plus entry fees, for the day. I'm so excited. I groomed Fynn a bit last night (I had just done his nails and his under paw hair, he keeps his own nails pretty short, lol), and then clipped the top of his feet this evening before my mom called. So at least that was done in time, lol. I still have some thinning to do around his neck, but that's pretty much all I can do for him and the rest will be up to him.

I haven't done any work with him since our show in February, so I have to get him out on the grass with the show lead a few times before Saturday, but it will be worth it!

I'm so excited, Fynn and I both LOVE showing and it will be interesting to do it in a different venue.

Good luck with the show!
They're both gorgeous doggies, so cute! That black & white photo of them in bed together is just the most lovely photo ever!

I wish you the best of luck at the show, I'm sure you guys will do great