1st Annual Fun Follows Function
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by Patt Nance
Workshop Coordinators and Hosts:
Matt & Sian Kwa-Hopfensperger of Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Hal & Donna Schafer of Oxford, North Carolina
Workshop Presenters:
Karl-Heinz Kraus of Nürnberg, Germany Anke Bogaerts of Haren, Netherlands
Also participating was Tineke Antonisse of Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands, an astute, well-spoken and highly experienced retriever trainer who was Ms. Bogaerts colleague on this trip.
Workshop locations:
Quail Farm Beagle Club and Hearthside Fox Preserve in northern North Carolina
permission has been given by "Fun Follows Function Workshop" to publish workshop content
photos of presenters by Jolanta Jeanneney
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North Carolina?
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Frankly, I wasn't certain I wanted to attend. Because, while I have admired Sian Kwa's dogs and breeding aims and goals, and I believe she has appreciated mine, we had had major differences too. I wasn't sure I could spend three days at this workshop in North Carolina and have fun! But the idea of learning more from English-speaking experts about blood tracking, forest search and spurlaut, and fox work, and participating in these activities with my dachshunds, was a tremendous pull. Especially the fox work of which I had only seen pictures. When Jolanta Jeanneney mentioned in a message to me that she was going to the workshop, I thought, well, if Jolanta is going, there will be at least one person there I can enjoy associating with. (It turned out that there were many!) I wrote to Sian and Donna for more information.
I was tremendously impressed by the quick response, the generous cooperation, and the quality presentation of the workshop information that I received at my inquiry. It settled my decision to attend. I made arrangements for coverage for five days at work and care of the three dogs I was leaving at home, all of which came together more easily than I expected. The weather cooperated as well and, on Thursday, February 21, I finished packing the car at 2 pm and left the snowy ground and very cold temperatures of Ohio, headed south on I-77.
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Blood Tracking
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Friday, February 22
 We met on Friday morning at the beautiful Quail Farm Beagle Club in Mebane, North Carolina. This beagle club, which used to be a, ahem, quail farm, is owned by beaglers Charles & Sarah Best. Five years ago, the couple decided to make their 254 acres into something that could be enjoyed by other dog people and by the people in their community. Last September, the first beagle field trial held at Quail Farm Beagle Club had a fantastic entry of 306 beagles over two days. Sarah, who does all the sumptious cooking, said that the clubhouse is also rented out for birthdays, meetings, and wedding receptions and the like. It is comfortable, well-lit, and warm, and has His and Hers bathrooms and a small, well-equiped kitchen.
I'd arrived early so as to give my dogs good exercise and who should pull into the grounds behind me but Alecia Wenner. Alecia and her husband Stan are avid deer hunters who live in North Carolina. They own three-year-old Axel Odin von Dorndorf, a dog they bought from me that has been successfully tracking deer. I had not seen Odin, called "Odie" by his owners, since he was four months old. I'd only found out the day before that Alecia and Odie would be there and I was excited by the prospect of seeing them. We walked our dogs together down the long, winding lane. There were puddles everywhere as it had rained the night before but there was not, I happily noted, any snow in sight.
The majority of the 20 or so workshop participants were dachshund people, but there was a weimaraner owner and a couple of other breeds represented, too. Our presenters introduced themselves.
Speaking first was Karl-Heinz Kraus, an avid hunter, standard smooth dachshund breeder, and a JGHV and VJT (Verein für Jagdteckel/Club for Hunting Dachshunds) hunting test judge.
Mr. Kraus began by stating "Dachshund breeding must be performance breeding", and he spoke for a time on dachshund history. Most of his presentation, which he so generously shared with us, can be found at Karl-Heinz Kraus on History.
Next, Anke Bogaerts stood. Ms. Bogaerts, who bred wirehaired dachshunds for 20 years, is an experienced hunter and hunting dog trainer. She has authored books about the training of hunting dogs, wrote a series of articles on blood tracking for the Dutch hunting magazine, and gives an average of 30 workshops per year throughout Europe.
Ms. Bogaerts gave us her suggested blood tracking training schedule for puppies 10-16 weeks of age. She recommended not to continue blood tracking training during the juvenile or fear period which begins at about four months. Afterward, advanced training can commence, with special emphasis on teaching the young dog to indicate small pieces of skin, hair, bone, hoof, or blood from a deer, and to ignore 'seductive' or distracting scents. Distractions she uses in training are perpendicular 'crosstracks' made by dragging dead rabbits. In addition, teaching a dog to work a backtrack is useful because a wounded animal does occasionally backtrack, advised Ms. Bogaerts.
Some excerpts from Ms. Bogaerts' presentation:
"I categorize dog temperaments into three groups: the Sensitive Dog, the Action Dog, and the Visual Dog." (This is the crux of Ms. Bogaerts dog training book "De Drie Karakters", literally translated "The Three Characters".) She described the characteristics of dogs in each of these categories and how each type of dog should be worked on a blood trail. She said that while she used to believe that the action dog was preferable, these days she prefers training the sensitive dog. This is the dog that does not cope well with stress or with miscommunication from his handler and can easily be discouraged, but that also wants to work for his handler, is motivated to please, is people-oriented, and enjoys physical contact.
"I try to learn and understand my dog so I can help him better. If I don't run practice tracks regularly, I cannot learn to read my dog. And I know how unhappy I feel when I get anxious about whether my dog is on the track!"
"With every different scent, the dog's nose must adjust. Do not push the dog."
"First, build the nose. Age the tracks before lengthening them."
"Firmness of discipline depends on the dog. I don't want a slave in my dachshunds, I want to develop initiative."
Following, Mr. Kraus gave instruction on how to lay and work a blood track. He said he prefers to lay all of the training tracks using cow or sheep blood. This is because the scent of deer blood is more enticing to a dog. Remember, he said, that after all the training on cow or sheep blood, a dog will especially enjoy a track made of deer blood. And it is on deer blood that a dachshund must pass the bloodtracking test!
Mr. Kraus stated that it makes no difference whether the blood is dripped from a bottle or dabbed with a stick but he prefers using a stick. He himself uses a mop handle. (He said his wife's mop has been known to come up with the handle missing and I don't know if he was joking!) The sponge can be bigger for early training but the stick used in a test has a 2cm x 2cm sponge nailed or wrapped onto the end which is used to dab the blood as the tracklayer lays the track.
He emphasized that it is very important to mark the training tracks so as to always know exactly where the track is and to praise and reward the dog at the end of the track.
Next we went out - to lay and run blood tracks! Participants divided into two groups. The more experienced went with Mr. Kraus while Ms. Bogaerts went to a different area to work with inexperienced dogs and handlers.
My Owl, Andy Bensing's Arno, and Sherry Ruggieri's Auggie (in that order) had the good fortune of running the three blood tracks that had been laid the evening before. Then, under the direction of Mr. Kraus, Andy, Sherry, Alecia Wenner, and I took turns laying and running fresh blood lines with six of our other dogs.
And I discovered something! All of my (limited) experience is with dripping blood from a bottle but I discovered I prefer using a stick. We saw the stick method being used to lay a track as we trotted behind Mr. Kraus. Then, using the stick to lay a track myself was an "Oh, I like that better!" revelation to me. I found that the stick made it easier to control the amount of blood put on the ground, that the blood was in fact being put on the ground and not splattered on thigh-high vegetation, that the breeze wasn't spritzing bottle drips onto my pantlegs, that blood wasn't sticking between my fingers or trickling down my sleeve, and that I enjoyed traipsing through the woods with an oddly familiar 'walking' stick.
The other situation novel to my experience was blood tracking in a rabbit enclosure. I was not doubtful as in "No way, Jose!", but I was not far from it. I thought that all the rabbit cover and scent would prove much more distraction for the dogs than it actually did. It was surprising to me how well the dogs stayed focused on the task at hand. These striking pieces of knowledge alone were worth the trip south and this was only Day One!
We were out all afternoon, then enjoyed a delicious dinner and desserts cooked up by Sarah (the) Best and Chefs.
After dinner, discussion gave rise to a little demonstration featuring Tineke Antonisse as the trainer and Victoria Burton as the little dog. It seems that Victoria, although smart and willing, does not speak Dutch. She is dependent on her own initiative and especially on frequent, consistent, non-emotional and well-timed reinforcements from Tineke in order to accomplish the task Tineke has set for her.
Don't blame the dog!
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Scent, Steadiness to Gun, Forest Search, and Spurlaut
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Saturday, February 23
Back to Quail Hollow Farm where I was, contrary to my initial forecast, having fun!
This morning started off with an excellent presentation by Sian Kwa called "The Science of Scenting". We, the people, practiced odor discrimination. We were presented with current scientific information about the olfactory nerve, odorant receptors, olfactory sensitivity and adaptation and growth of the puppy brain.
Mrs. Kwa presented us with a table of the olfactory perception of various species. Highest to lowest: Wild boar, Dog, Roe deer, Cat, Human, European rabbit.
Additional points made by Mrs. Kwa:
Olfactory receptor densities in humans, dogs, and most other mammals are fairly constant.
Dogs have 100 times more receptors per square centimeter than humans.
Receptor density increases during development and decreases in elderly individuals.
Some alleles for olfactory receptor sequence are breed specific.
Very low thresholds are obtained by multiple receptors responding at different levels of sensitivity.
The meandering of dogs during scent trailing may serve the purpose of preventing olfactory adaptation.
Factors which contribute to scenting ability include neural components, turbinate bones, genetics, behavior/emotion, and development.
Ms. Bogaerts showed, via video excerpt, the possibly 'iffy' behavior of a dog during a gunshyness test. She questioned us as to how we would, if we were judging, evaluate the actions of that dog. Though the dog ran back to his owner at the gunfire, it was agreed that the dog's demeanor and after-behavior did not fly the flag called gunshy. Mr. Kraus noted that some dogs are trained to return to the hunter at the sound of gunfire. He also stated that if he is suspicious of a dog's reaction to gun shots while it is being tested, he will observe this dog the remainder of the day while the other dogs are being tested.
Then Mr. Kraus gave a thorough explanation of hunting tests and pedigrees within the Verein Für Jagd-Teckel system. The VJT pedigrees consist of two pages. The dog's ancestry is on the first page. On page two is the extensive hunt test results of every ancestor in the first three generations and the average hunt test scores of all of those dogs' progeny! The amount of information available on VJT pedigrees to someone seeking their next dachshund hunting companion, or stud dog, is astounding.
We watched a video of a water retrieve test. In the VJT test, unlike the DTK test, the teckel does not see the duck thrown. The duck is thrown into reeds so as not to be initially visible to the dog, and the two gun shots are fired after the dog is in the water. Ms. Bogaerts commented that a dog can be made gunshy if not sytematically, gradually, exposed to gunfire. She added that, with time and patience, gunshyness may be cured, too, at least well enough for the dog to be useful. Evidence abounds that gunshyness is heritable, however, and she said she would not breed to a gunshy dog unless there were strong extenuating circumstances.
Then we discussed spurlaut! Ms. Bogaerts verbalized this perspective: "A pointer that does not point is not a pointer, a retriever that does not retrieve is not a retreiver, and a dachshund that is not spurlaut is not a dachshund".
"We need voice for hunting."
Mr. Kraus talked about degrees of hunting voice:
1. Mute
2. Waidlaut - dog opens up from excitement when no game is present, he has too low a threshold for voicing
3. Sichtlaut - dog barks while chasing game by sight
4. Fährtenlaut - dog barks on the trail of hooved game such as deer and boar
This was very interesting to me as I had never heard the term fährtenlaut before. I'd had a dog named Judo who opened sometimes on deer tracks but never on rabbit. Because he was always mute on rabbits, I'd never considered him spurlaut and it turns out I was right. He was fährtenlaut and I never knew that category existed!
5. Spurlaut - dog barks on the trail of small furred game such as hare, fox, and rabbit
Ms. Bogaerts observed, "Show breeders lose spurlaut because they never take care of it. You don't lose spurlaut so easily if you are careful".
Next was a talk on forest search, flushing game, and field obedience and we saw another good video. In field obedience, a dachshund must stay where he is put for a total of 10 minutes, out of sight of his handler, while shots are fired and while a noisy line of beaters beats the brush past him.
We broke up into two groups again and went outside to expose and test the dogs to gunfire. During a gunsteadiness test, the dog is unleashed and encouraged to move away from the handler. A shot is fired, the dog is observed for 10 seconds or so, then a second shot is fired and the dog remains under observation until the handler is instructed to call his dog.
Later that afternoon, we headed into the rabbit field where our dogs, were, one at time, sent into the brush. The dogs were to search the area thoroughly in a controlled yet enthusiastic manner, flush game if present, and run the game line spurlaut.
Owl was the first of my three dogs involved in this activity. Unleashed, he searched the area well and good. After a time and in view of the appreciative gallery, he jumped a rabbit from a thick tangle of vines and brush, and took after it voicing. Nicely done, Owl!
Some other dogs did very well, too, and a few novice dogs and puppies got their first experiences at this. I didn't see many dogs work because I was going back and forth out of the field to get my other dogs one at a time. But I did get to see Sherry Ruggieri's wire bitch Dixie's searching and flushing work up close and it was great!
Speaking of Dixie, after an enjoyable afternoon in the field, we had a magnificent steak dinner - thank you, Matt! - while we were entertained with some serious southern talent in the form of a bluegrass band. I was reminded of the 1995 DCA Centennial in Kentucky when Ruth Robins and committee employed a bluegrass band to the delight of all attending the National field trial. (And Sandi Myer had a longhaired bitch that sang along with the music!)
It got a little warm in the clubhouse and someone opened a window. Alecia, Alecia's friend Phyllis, Odie, Owl, and I, went out to the rocking chairs on the porch in front of the window. We sat back and enjoyed the toe-tapping music, patted our dogs, and talked.
What a relaxing way to end the day!
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Fox Hunting and Fox Test
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Sunday, February 24
 I drove 1.5 hours northeast this morning to meet up with everyone at the Hearthside Fox Preserve. This is 100 acres of fenced thick brush and trees which is home to many foxes. Here, outside of the fenced "pen", not far from the little cabin, Sian had gotten permission to put den liners in the ground so we could work dachshunds and terriers on fox.
I arrived early to find Matt and Hal putting the finishing touches on an exhaustive work of 80 feet of wood tunnels. In the form of a square with 20-foot sides, the den included many access doors, three obstacles, and a fox 'chamber' at one corner. Kudos to you both, gentlemen, you had us shaking our heads in wonder as we investigated the site. Yours was an elaborate, labor-intensive work of art!
 
In this test, as in most European fox tests, there would be no physical contact between dog and fox.
The obstacles consisted of wooden posts inside that narrowed one section of tunnel, a drop where the tunnel went further underground, and a 12-inch jump up shortly before the fox chamber. Matt had even positioned an infrared camera inside the fox den and hooked it up to a tv on a picnic table 35 yards away so we could observe the activity taking place underground.
First, though, everyone crowded into the little old cabin for breakfast, coffee and tea while Karl-Heinz Kraus gave an excellent talk on fox work with dachshunds in Germany. He described den work as a type of hunting that has a very special fascination and said that fox hunting with his dachshunds is his most favorite activity. His passion for the work was evident in his presentation which included many excellent slides and handouts along with much discussion. Following are some of the points made by Mr. Kraus:
The average weight of the fox is 8-9 kg (17.5-20 lbs.) for males and 6.5 kg (14.5 lbs.) for females.
The fox population in Germany is booming because the fox has no natural enemies there.
May 1 to January 31 is hunting season for fox, boar, and most other game species.
While a dachshund is the wrong choice for field (bird dog) work, he has no problems retrieving a duck, is very good at blood tracking, and is brilliant at open trailing and earth work.
Earth dens situated in farmland or forest soil are well-suited for hunting. Sandy dens at first seem harmless but they can be dangerous traps for the dogs; sandy dens situated on hillsides pose an even greater risk for cave-ins. Native rock dens are feared by hunters but very often are harmless. "But before I work in a rock den with one of my dachshunds, I make sure the den has been hunted before. So far, all of my dogs have come out of rock dens".
Just one dog is used during a hunt.The dog handler is always the director of the hunt and only the dog handler goes to the den. Upon finding a den, the handler unleashes his dog and the dog goes in to check for occupancy. Different game will make different sounds under the earth.
The first fox will come out relatively quickly. Any additional fox will take longer for the dog to flush because it has heard the noise outside. A fox that has been flushed from its den may be shot only if it is at least 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) from the den and there is no dog near behind him! Never shoot toward the den, only away from it! Too many dogs get killed at den work!
Only the dog handler shoots a fox returning to the den. If there is potential danger to the dog - as decided by the handler - it is the handler who decides to dig immediately and vigorously.
"You know, I'm the President of the Verein für Jagdteckel in Bavaria and I am absolutely convinced of this breed. Nevertheless, I say, all earthdog breeds are suited. I have seen good terriers as well as good dachshunds. But I have also seen bad terriers and bad dachshunds."
We know three character types of earthdogs: Vorlieger, Packer, and Flieger.
The Vorlieger often lies for hours in front of the quarry. He will not earnestly engage nor try to get to quarry via a different route. The hunters often have to wait for a very long time!
The Packer goes under the earth noiselessly, finds the game, and immediately tries to choke it. He generally does not make a sound but lurks for his opportunity to get into a nasty fight. Often, such dogs become injured and cannot hunt again for weeks.
The Flieger attacks the quarry fiercely, works loudly, and tries to get to the quarry from different directions. He doesn't lay still but keeps working the game until it leaves the den.
A well-trained dachshund will pull an injured fox out.
The Anlagenprüfung is an artificial den test for young dogs (six months to two years) to see if they have enough passion to work the quarry. A fox is in the end chamber and the dog must work for 10 minutes.
The Gebrauchsprüfung is the master examination in an artificial den. At first, the fox is in a chamber and the dog must work for 10 minutes. Then, the partition is manipulated so that the dog can push the fox out.
The Bau Natur is the test during a real hunt. The dog works in a natural earth den. If he successfully drives the game (fox or badger) out, the dog gets the tribute.
"We cannot refrain from den hunting. Experts acknowledge that the fox population can best be controlled by den work."
Andy Bensing said later that he learned more about fox hunting on this morning than he learned while actually engaged in the activity in Germany last year.
 Outside, in a separate location from the den in a small fenced yard, was a red fox in a cage inside a barred wooden box that sat on the ground. This was the majority of the dogs' first exposure to fox and the reactions were widely varied. Some dogs off the bat were more interested in the smells in the yard than in the fox (and foxes have a lot of odor!). Some dogs were interested in the fox at first but then went away. Some dogs became interested with much time and encouragement, some became interested with a little time and encouragement, and others were interested in no time! Variously, handlers saw behaviors from their dogs that they'd expected, or were surprised by what their dogs did or didn't do. Therein lies the value of work and testing. It gives breeders and owners valuable information that cannot be obtained any other way.
Nexus, Owl, and Marta worked this fox very well and were sent on to the inground den where a gray fox waited in the chamber. Olive, unlike her relatives, didn't see the point! She found the yard smells more interesting, as did several other dogs. (Besides dachshunds, there was at least one border terrier and one parson russell terrier participating.)
Over at the den, proceedings were as follows. First, the dog being worked was set down in the tunnel directly in front of the caged fox. If that agreed with him, he was put into the tunnel at a corner 20 feet away to approach the fox and work. And if he liked that well enough (most of them liked that real well!), he was put into the tunnel in that same but separated corner to negotiate 60 feet of tunnel and obstacles before again arriving at the fox.
 Nexus, my first dog to work the fox, gave rapt attention and whined and scratched but was not going into full-fledged working mode. Someone suggested putting Dixie in the other tunnel on the other side of the fox. That we could do this is one of the beauties of this design. So Sherry put her dog in the other tunnel and Dixie carried on which caused Nexus to have at it, too. After a short time, Dixie was removed and Nexus continued to work. Then Nexus was put in so as to move through 20 feet of tunnel and, lastly, was re-entered to negotiate the 60 feet. All of this he did very well and Herr Kraus said that a couple more practice sessions like this would see Nexus on to a test.
Owl and Marta worked the fox well, too. During this time of working the foxes, Ms. Bogaerts honored me with the words, "You know your dogs". Well, sometimes I do. And sometimes they are a puzzle.
Good weather fortune was with us for it did not rain on our workshop until Sunday evening as the last of us were leaving the fox preserve!
Karl-Heinz, Anke, Tineke, Sian, Donna, Victoria, Jolanta and I had a great dinner at a local restaurant and talked and laughed until sometime after 10 pm when they began dimming the house lights. We said our goodbyes and went our ways, some to drive short distances yet that night, and others to drive long distances or catch planes on the morrow.
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North Carolina!
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Kudos!
The presentations were very professionally done by excellent presenters. It was a great chance to go over lots of things that we have been covering with presenters that were very easy to talk to in English. The fox den was a totally new experience for us. Larry Gohlke, Wisconsin
The most exciting and inspiring times for me were the meetings and symposiums where we shared our findings: "picking each others' brains". The workshop was set up with that concept in mind and we hope that you feel as energized and inspired as we do, after the presentations of Karl-Heinz and Anke. Sian Kwa, North Carolina
Sian and Donna put together a wonderful workshop, one of the best I have ever attended. It was very informative, yet conducted in a very pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. I learned a lot and had a great time. Thank you Sian and Donna for a great learning opportunity. I can't even imagine how much work you put into it. Jolanta Jeanneney, New York
I can only agree with Jolanta: Thank you for the wonderful workshop Sian and Donna!!! Andrea Thompson, Michigan
Sian & Donna, I, too, would like to thank you and compliment you on the tremendous effort and wonderful outcome of the seminar. I applaud your efforts and your reasons. Sherry Ruggieri, New Jersey
I am very glad that I made the decision to attend! I was - still am - amazed by the information, activities, hospitality, and comaraderie. The workshop lived up to its billing as a "Great Opportunity for Education"! Many, many thanks to Karl-Heinz, Anke, Tineke, Matt & Sian, Hal & Donna, and to all the people and dogs who participated. Let's do it again! Patt Nance, Ohio
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