We were up very early Friday morning as we were going to Gersthofen to visit Vixen’s breeder. Gersthofen is about 30 minutes north of Munich, so it’s a 10 hour drive. We had arranged a training weekend together with June and Odd with Foxy and Gizmo.

On Friday afternoon we met with June and Odd in a store with hunting equipment just outside Gersthofen. I controlled myself and bought only a very nice sweater. June and Odd, however, were really enjoying themselves and had their wardrobe renewed.

On Saturday Doris and Thomas started out by getting a feeling of how far we were with our training. I am pretty sure they thought we could do a lot better.

My big problem was that Vixen had developed a hard mouth. The look at us working and found that it was not a problem that couldn’t be solved. They were convinced that the root of the problem was that I needed to take more control over Vixen. I should demand more from her and let her know that she was supposed to work for me. She needed to know that when I demand something from her then it is important. Unbelievable, we saw the difference immediately. Her mouth was still a little unsteady, but she did not put her teeth through the canvas of the dummy. I was totally surprised to learn that such a little difference in my behaviour could make such big difference in her behaviour!

We also did some walk up where the dogs were not allowed to fetch the dummies. As expected, there was a lot of noise and unsteadiness in the beginning but it got better.

We did some direction work as memories (the dogs were aware that the dummies were there). We finished the day by placing dummies in 4 or 5 places while the dogs were watching. The next day we were going to start with the dogs retrieving the dummies to see if they remembered them.

We had brought Daisy and Chili and they were both allowed to work a little. Chili did a search up a slope. She really enjoyed it. Daisy and Leif did some heelwork, some markings and a search in some scrub.

The weather was amazing and on Saturday evening we had a barbecue and were able to sit outside the whole evening.

On Sunday we started by letting the dogs retrieve the dummies we had placed the day before. They all did well. Then we worked with some more direction work and we also did a walk up before lunch.

After lunch we went to a new area. June and I had to come with a suggestion to an exercise. We found an area where we could do some direction work to two utility poles in a field. They were placed in a 90 degree angle. We built the exercise up by increasing the distance. We ended on the other side of a fairly steep creek and a distance of 80-100 meters. The dogs had to cross 10-15 meters of field, the creek, a path and then some more field.

Chili and Daisy were the first ones to try. Chili worked amazingly – and almost without sound. Daisy was more stressed and had some sound.

Monday morning we drove back to Denmark. On the way back we stopped to have a look at Vixen’s boyfriend. The visit was very positive. He is a very nice dog and we have decided (together with his owner) that he will be the sire of Vixen’s fist litter. You can read more about this under “Planned litter”.

11 August 2014

Vacation is over and it is time for an update

As last year we took the caravan and went to Norway. This time we arrived in Norway without any problems. We drove towards Stavanger where we found a campsite very close to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) which was our first goal for this trip.

The first day we went sightseeing in Stavanger. The next day it was time to climp Pulpit Rock. We got up very early to avoid the worst of the heat. The climp to the top took about 2,5 hours. It was a tough climp as we’re not experienced climbers. However, it was also a very beautiful climp. We went through woods, crossed moor areas and walked on the rocks. We had brought the dogs and they had to be on leash all the way. We had flexible leashes so it was OK.

After several breaks – one at a small lake where the dogs could go for a swim – we reached the top. What a view from 610 meters above the Lysefjord. Having fear of hights it was quite barrier-breaking to be on top of the cliff. I stayed away from the edge contrary to Kristian who had to sit on the edge with his legs dangling 600 meters above the fjord. Mom was not happy!

We stayed there for about an hour eating our lunch and enjoying the view. Then it was time to get back. If the climb up was bad it was nothing compared to the trip down. Even though the nice Norwegians had made some kind of a trail and steps of big boulders, the trip down was terrifying. I was reminded that my knees are not good. It took several days before they stopped hurting. On our way down we met a lot of people on their way up. This can be a problem when the trail is very narrow. We also met a leg amputee. He climped the rock with one leg and crutches. What a great guy!

Back on the campsite we all collapsed for a few hours – including the dogs!

Next stop was at June and Odd’s place in Farsund. After a couple of nice days swimming, relaxing, drinking wine, eating and dog training the trip continued to Sweden where we were going to take part in the Swedish Tollarspeciale for the first time.

To avoid having to drive north of Oslo we went by ferry from Horten to Moss. Just before the Norwegian/Swedish border we found a campsite where we could spend the night. We rented a couple of Segways and spent an hour driving around. Some of us were better than others.

The next morning we continued to drive the last 3 hours to the cabin that June and Odd had rented near the Specialty site. The next morning we went to check out the grounds for the working test.

In the evening we had invited Vixen’s and Foxy’s breeders, Doris and Thomas from Lech-Toller Nest, and some of their friends, Sigge and Brigitta for dinner. They had brought Vixen’s mother, Bella, and her brother, Quartermain. What a nice reunion. Vixen looks so much like her mother, while Foxy and Quartermain are quite alike. I believe that Doris and Thomas were happy to see our girls. We spent a nice evening eating, drinking and talking Tollers.

Vixen, sister Foxy, mum Bella and brother Quartermain

The next morning it was time to be serious. Foxy, Gizmo and Vixen had all been entered to the working test – novice class. However, Foxy had just started her season so she couldn’t participate.

The working test consisted of five stations with two tasks in each station. Each task could be awarded 10 points. All the stations were close to each other in a nice wooded area.

Exercise 1 was two very short markings. Vixen was quiet and calm. Both times she went too far and had to go back before finding the dummies. Deliveries were good. However, she could be calmer after having delivered the dummies (she jumped up to get the dummy again). The judge liked her a lot but would have liked her to be more calm and controlled. She gave us 16 points.

Exercise 2 was also two very short markings up a slope. The first marking went well: Direct line to the dummy, spontaneous picking up and straight back home. She started well with the next marking. She ran straight out and picked up. However, on her way back she stopped and fumbled with the dummy in her mouth. First I thought that she by accident had gotten some small twigs in her mouth but apparently she was stressed. When I whistled at her to make her return, I heard when her teeth went through the canvas. Not good! We got 10 points for the first marking and 0 for the second.

Exercise 3 was yet another marking. This time the distance was a bit longer. The second task was a small search. I send Vixen for the mark. She goes too far. Instead of coming back she picks up the scent of one of the dummies of the search and she goes for it. At that point I didn’t know that there was a search so I did nothing to stop her. On her way back to me she almost stumbles over the dummy she was supposed to pick up. What does the creature do? She switches dummies! 0 points! I then send her to the search area. She reacts really well to my whistle and finds easily a dummy that she brings back. Again she could have been calmer when delivering the dummy. 8 points.

Exercise 4 was two single marks. As I remember it she goes directly for both marks. However, again she could have been calmer when delivering and the heel work could definitely have been better - 14 points.

The last exercise was a single mark on a meadow. The dummy landed on the other side of a small hill so that neither I nor the dog could see where it fell. Furthermore, I could not see the dog when she was in the area. However, Vixen does really well and is awarded 9 points. Next job is a short blind along a wind break. In my mind this was a piece of cake as Vixen is really good at blinds. Well, for some reason I was not able to send her straight ahead. She kept going to the right (to where the judge kept all the dummies retrieved). After having tried three times I just had to accept that we wouldn’t finish this task. 0 point.

On a positive note, Vixen did not once try to break. With Chili I have been struggling with her breaking so it is really nice to have a dog that just sits until she is told otherwise. The more negative thing is that the heel work needs a lot of improving. We simply must improve this. The really disturbing thing is the biting a hole in the dummy. I am sure that this is stress related and I am not quite sure how to handle it. Finally, I was chocked that we missed the blind. Vixen is usually quite good at running in straight lines – also when it’s a blind.

With 57 points out of 100 we were placed 39 out of 73 dogs. As it was an unofficial test you could be placed even though you were awarded 0 points on an exercise. The dogs placed no. 20 had 2 x 0 points on exercise 1!

Odd and Gizmo did really well. Odd’s focus was to prevent Gizmo from breaking. He succeeded most of the time. They got 34 points and were placed 57. They received points at every exercise.

I would have liked to see both Bella in the Elite class and Quartermain in the Open class. However, they were competing at the same time as Vixen and me. They were both placed first and Quartermain is now qualified for the Elite class. Very well done with a dog that is just over 2 years old. The previous weekend Bella had competed in another test where she received her third 1. prize in the Elite class. She now only needs to pass the practical part (a real hunt) to become Swedish Toller Hunt Test Champion. The practical test will be on 24 August. I am sure that she will do well. She is an amazing dog with an amazing handler.

The next day we went to see the rest of the Elite class dogs. There were a lot of well working dogs – and some dogs that did not work so well. But that’s the way it is. Some of the dogs had their debut in the Elite class and it was a difficult test.

Sunday was show time. Vixen and Foxy had been entered in the Open class and Gizmo in the Champion class. There were 49 entries in Open class bitches. Vixen received a nice critique but wasn’t awarded a HP. Foxy got a HP but was not placed.

It was a nice experience to participate in the Tollerspeciale. We met a lot of nice people. And we got to see a lot of potential fathers to Vixen’s and Foxy’s pups.

It was also nice to see that our own three dogs are getting used to be camping dogs. They know now that the caravan, the awning and the enclosure is their domain. And they don’t have to bark at everything that happens around them.

All in all it was a very nice vacation and Norway and Sweden are nice countries to bring your dogs.

The last couple of weeks have offered two camping trips. The first one was at Skjern Å Camping with Helle and Kim – it was their debut. We spent a lot of time preparing and eating very delicious food and drinking a lot of wine and a few cocktails. It was very nice.

On Saturday Helle and I went to Horsens as Helle had entered Troja to LP3 (obedience class 3). They missed a few of the exercises which gave 0 points. Nevertheless, they received 183 points and became third best. I am not sure that Helle is satisfied. I think they did well. But then again, I am always impressed when I see beautiful heel work.

The weekend ended with an information meeting for new students at Kristian’s continuation school in Husby. I am sure that he will love it. It makes the pain of having to miss him a little easier.

During Whitsun we went camping with Benno and Else. They were accompanied by their son, Christoffer, and he and Kristian had a great time together. On Monday I was invited to train with Iben Pytlich on Tåsinge. Unfortunately, I had to decline the first training session with Iben in June as Vixen had an operation to her eye. This time, however, I was able to participate – and I am so happy I did.

Iben is exceptional at spotting what is going on with both the dog and the handler. Her approach to each dog is great and you can’t help feeling welcome and to be taken seriously.

One of Iben’s mantras is that you shouldn’t fix things. By fixing she means that if the dog’s heelwork is not good enough it will never become better if you try to fix it by using all the small “helpers” as pad on your thigh, use differendt commands, pull the leash etc. Instead, you should correct it once and for all by crossing in front of the dog if it tries to walk in front of you or looses its attention. Then you and the dog walk in circles or figure eights. You might have to spend a few months doing this. However, if you are consistent, it will work. All I can say to Vixen’s and my performance is that I got very dizzy at some point.

We also did some work with delivering to hand from water. Again, Iben has a different approach which is so logical that I don’t understand why not more people uses this approach. She drops a dummy on land and takes the dog into the water. Then the dogs is send to retrieve the dummy. When this works you can throw the dummy in the water along the coastline (so the dog doesn’t have to swim). Next step is to throw the dummy into deeper water so that the dog has to swim. By then it will be programmed to deliver to hand from water.

Finally, we did a seach where the dog had to cross a small pond. First a mark was thrown just in front of a group of rush. Next it was directed across the pond into the rush. And after a short break it had to do it again.

It was an amazing day with a very inspiring instructor, lovely training buddies and great weather. We have agreed that we will meet with Iben every 3-4 months. Next time will probably be in September. I am already looking forward and I hope to be able to show her, that we have developed.

Leif has been busy with a new ”toy”: A portable thermometer which sends you a SMS if the temperature exceeds a predetermined level.

We use it in the car or the caravan to monitor the temperature to avoid the dogs becoming to hot. However, it is technology and you should never trust it 100% - you should only see it as a help. We still make sure that the ventilation is ok, that the car is parked where there is shadow, that the tailgate is open and everything else when we leave the dogs or a short while.

However, we are always worried if they are OK – not too hot and not too cold. This gadget helps us by informing us about the present temperature in the car. We can ask it to provide us with the present temperature and it can be adjusted to notify us if the temperature reaches a predetermined level. It is also able to measure the humiditylevel. It can be used for 230 volts or 12 volts and it is possible to mount an outdoor antenna I you need a stronger signal.

2 April 2014

Happy birthday, Vixen

Happy birthday to Vixen who is two years old today. Also a happy birthday to all her siblings from Kennel Vom Lech-Toller Nest.

Week 13, 2014

Mental behavior test and another unofficial working test

On Saturday 22 Vixen and I went to Seest to participate in another working test.

I had thought about not going as there are a lot of things we need to train. However, I had entered her and I was looking forward to meeting a lot of friends. Well, I should have stayed at home!

I don’t want to explain all the exercises. However, I can say that we still need to work on calmness around me. Vixen marks well, she picks up well and the delivery is also fine.

One of the exercises was a walk-up and this was a disaster. Both dogs were supposes to walk at heel. The dummy was thrown and shots were fired while the dogs sat without a leash. Vixen had a leash on while the other dog worked. Then we walked again with the dogs at heel. Now it was Vixen’s turn to work. Well, I have to realize that we are not ready for such a challenge. The heel work was terrible, which was not good. However, it was even worse that Vixen’s eagerness and my stress due to my problem with controlling her made her whine!

In retrospect, I should have put a leash on her immediately after the first noise and left the exercise. However, I wasn’t able to think straight as the other participant was dependent of a second dog working.

On the last exercise, though, I was able to react. I had told the judge, that if Vixen as much as thought of whining I would leave the exercise. Well, she did produce a very low whine that the judge didn’t hear – but I did! So I put the leash on her and left the exercise.

I was close to tears. I have been so attentive to whining and careful of how to train her. But she is a very hot and eager dog and the whining is just below the surface – and has been all along.

Now I need to put my thinking cap on and find out what to do. I am sure of one thing: If she whines during training she will be stopped in the exercise and put in the car. But will this be enough?

Well, on Sunday we went to Odder to have Vixen put through the mental behavior test. You can read about this under “Our dogs”, “About Vixen” and “Health”.

Week 8, 2014

Another working test

Well, Vixen and I have been to another unofficial working test. This time in Centrum. The weather was better than at the test in Norther Jutland in January. However, due to weeks of rain the ground was really muddy and 4-5 cars had to be pulled free at the end of the day.

To my delight I was able to accompany Birgitte and her lab, Dusen, the whole day. This was Dusen’s first test and Birgitte was very excited to see how she would do.

First exercise was a single mark. Vixen solved this task without any problems. However, she was a bit excited (no noise!!) which cost us 5 points = 15 points for this exercise.

Next exercise was a walk-up with two dogs being tested at the same time. However, there were so much waiting time that I decided to continue to exercise three. On reflection I should have just waited because we did not do well at this exercise. It was a “send back” (like a “blind” where the dog has seen the dummy). This is quite an easy exercise for Vixen. However, we did not do well. We started out walking – with the dog on a leash - behind the gamekeeper to the place where the dummy was to be placed. Vixen was really enthusiastic – to put it mildly. The walk back to the judge was at heel – which was not good at all. When I bent down to cast Vixen, she was too quick to go. I called her back and cast her again. She retrieved the dummy without any detours and delivered to hand. So this part of the exercise was fine. However, again she was too excited so the – very large – judge awarded us 5 points.

Back to exercise two – the walk-up. I was not comfortable as we have never tried this. The two dogs had to go in line with the gamekeeper with only very little distance between them. After a few meters we were told to stop, one of the dogs was “unleashed”, a mark was thrown and retrieved. Leash back on. Again we walked a few meters and now the other dog had to work. Vixen was the second dog and when it was her time she was somewhat excited (but no sound). However, she stayed until I cast her. She had to search a bit for the dummy but found it and retrieved it. And this is when the handler was an idiot: As we were both a bit excited I wasn’t sure that she would deliver to hand. So I bend over her, she spit out the dummy in my hand…..and the dummy fell to the ground. 0 points. Well, maybe I should learn to trust my dog!

Then it was time for lunch. During lunch I found out that one of the other participants was awarded 10 points after her dog spit out the dummy on the ground a few meters from her and went to eat a horse dropping! Hmmm….. It would be nice if the judges agreed on how to judge before the test.

Well, the last exercise was a double exercise. The first part was a search. Vixen has had a tendency to switch the dummies when searching. However, she does a lot better now, so I wasn’t worried. I was sure that I would be able to recall her by whistle or voice. Well, I was wrong! She had a blast in that search. She switched dummies as never seen before and she actually came back to me twice without a dummy! After a few hectic minutes she delivered one dummy! The judge was not impressed – and rightly so – and he gave us a big 0. Fortunately, I was also able to show him a well-working Toller because the second part of the exercise was a single mark where she did everything right – 20 points!

I learned from this test that I need to put all my focus on keeping Vixen – and myself – calm. She is a very agile dog and for some reason I find it difficult to keep a calm environment around me. It is actually quite sad because I am always aware of this when I see other handlers. We also need to train walking in a leash and at heel. She is able to do both things very well, but when she gets excited she forgets her “manners”.

Although we didn’t pass this working test it was still a very good experience. Vixen was relaxed when not working and she had no sound. We can work on all the other things.

Birgitte and Dusen had a great day. In every exercise they were awarded 18-20 points. However, the walk-up was too much for young miss Dusen and she broke. This meant 0 points which meant that they weren’t able to pass the test. However, Birgitte was more than happy with her young Labrador – and she should be.

Jeanette and Merlot also participated and they were fantastic. The passed with a very high score and were only a few points from being placed.

All in all it was a fantastic day – and how I love to be able to participate in tests again.

Right now it is all about dog training. Vixen attends the beginner class training with Rie and Jon. It is really good training. All exercises are carefully prepared to suit the individual dog. Chili and Daisy attend a class with a mixture of novice and experienced dogs – and Chili has a blast. She so loves to work and I love to work her – with whining and everything.

The clicker training with Vixen is also ongoing. Last week we started training “bringsel” and she got it instantly. It will be a lot of fun to complete this exercise. “Bringsel” is used when the dog is searching for people or objects. Instead of having the dog bark to signal that it has found something, it is equipped with a kind of a collar with a mouthpiece attached to it. When the dog finds the person or object it needs to take the mouthpiece in its mouth and return to the handler. The mouthpiece in the mouth signals that the dog has found the person/object.

After breakfast on Sunday we went to Aalborg. We were all a bit nervous for different reasons. This was June’s and Odd’s very first test and they were wondering what it was all about and how their dogs would do. To Helle it was mostly a question if Troja would have be speed and desire to work and for me it was about whether or not Vixen was ready for a test.

Even if there is only 2-3 hours between where we live and Aalborg the weather was very different the two places. In Vildbjerg we did not have snow. However, it had snowed quite a lot in Aalborg, the temperature was below zero and there was a lot of wind. We put on a lot of clothes and had brought blankets for the dogs.

Exercise 1 was a single mark up a small hill. Vixen and I were first. I hadn’t been able to train with shots fired so I was not sure how Vixen would react. She is not afraid of the noise; I was more worried that it would make her so excited that she would break. Fortunately, she didn’t. When I cast her she found the dummy, retrieved it and delivered to hand. I was very satisfied and so was the judge as he awarded her 18 points.

Exercise 2 was a “send back” and then send the dog to the same spot to retrieve a blind. It was up to the handler if he/she would have the dog stay and wait while he/she went out and placed the dummy or if he/she would bring the dog along. I chose the latter of two reasons: I did not want to lose points if Vixen decided she would not stay and it would help her to walk the same line as she was supposed to run when retrieving the dummy. Two dummies were already placed out there and the judge told me to make sure that I placed my dummy far from the others to make sure that the dog didn’t switch dummies. I think I kept a good distance between the dummies – but I didn’t. Vixen switched! Well, when she came back I sent her after another dummy and this time she didn’t switch. The judge was not impressed with the handler who failed to place the dummies so far from each other that the dog would not switch. However, he was impressed with the dog and encouraged me to continue working with her. The judge having a thing about hats was also very impressed with my hat made of sealskin and skin from arctic fox. Well, the switching dummies cost me 14 points which meant that we got 6 points.

The third exercise was a walk up with three dogs – one novice dog, one open class dog and one winner’s class dog. We started by walking 4-5 meters. Then a dummy was thrown to the novice dog. The dummy landed in a wind break belt with a lot of snow. Vixen has not able to find the dummy immediately. She is still not experienced enough to know that when I send her she can be sure that there is something to find. Therefore, she started returning to me. I am not able to direct her yet so I didn’t quite know what to do. However, I managed to stop her and to push her back and she finally found the dummy. On the way back she put the dummy on the ground to get a better grip and when she returned she put the dummy on the ground. When I picked it up I understood why: The dummy was frozen solid! So I don’t blame her. Maybe the judge was thinking the same because he gave her 12 points. He said the deduction was due to really bad heel work.

The fourth exercise was a mark that fell on a slope. I had seen 4-5 novice dogs do this exercise and they had all a lot of difficulty finding the dummy. I assume it was due to the wind on the slope. When it was Vixen’s turn she ran straight to the left into a ditch further down the slope. I was sure that this was it as I am not yet able to direct her. However, she came out of the ditch and ran a straight line up to where the dummy fell, picked it up and retrieved it. The judge gave us 14 points as he found that she should have gone in a straight line to the dummy. And of course, he is right.

Last exercise was also a mark. This time it fell behind a big drift of snow. Vixen went to the left towards the person throwing the dummy and did not manage to get behind the drift. Again she is running back to me, and again I manage to stop her and push her back. I had to do it twice before I managed to get her over the drift. Then she found the dummy and delivered it to hand. Of course, the judge had to deduct some points because I had to handle my dog. Nevertheless, he gave us 14 points which meant a total of 64 points - and Vixen passed her first test! The 64 points were not enough to get a placement, but I don’t care because my little fox cub did so well. She worked well, was relaxed all day and had no noise.

The deductions we received were all due to the idiot handler and a dog that lacked experience.

Unfortunately, Odd and June were weighed down by their dogs breaking. After lunch June didn’t feel like continuing the test but we managed to persuade her to look at it as training to find a way to keep her dog from breaking. When she came to the last exercise she told the judge that she had this problem with Foxy breaking and that her only priority was to prevent this. The judge was all about helping June and he suggested that June sat next to Foxy when the dummy was thrown. Then she was told to stand up very slowly before casting the dog. And it worked because Foxy didn’t break. June was so happy she gave the judge a big hug.

Troja surprised me - and probably also Helle - because she had a lot of speed almost alle day. She worked really well and at one of the exercises she got 20 points. However, at the last exercise she was getting tired and when she didn't find the dummy immediately she ran out of steam and never managed to retrieve the dummy = 0 points which meant that she did not pass. That was really a shame because she deserved to pass.

One of the Tollers from the area was 2 winner – a really great achievement!