Kunox our new dachshund puppy from Germany

It was a week ago, on Wednesday, when John and I drove to Newark International Airport to pick up our new puppy from Germany - Kunox der von der Dohlmühle. Kunox  arrived in the United States, all happy and wiggly, not showing any sign of stress.

Interestingly, we did not plan to get a new puppy this fall, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself and cannot be denied. It was almost four weeks ago when Stefan Fuß of "von der Bismarck-Eiche" kennel in Germany posted some information on Facebook about a male "von der Dohlmühle" puppy looking for a hunting home due to some unexpected circumstances. When I (Jolanta) saw the pups picture and outstanding pedigree, I knew that we must have him. More about his pedigree and family later.

So many, many thanks go to Stefan who made it all possible and to Annelie Grauer, Kunoxs breeder, who trusted us with her puppy.

John has already started to work with Kunox and this is what he wrote: As Jolanta points out, we were lucky to get a puppy with such an outstanding pedigree for  blood tracking. Fortunately little Kunox doesnt know about the pedigree and how  good he is supposed to be. He is a nice, relaxed dog with good social skills around humans and canines. He departed from Lufthansa at Newark Airport totally relaxed and ready to sleep on my lap all the way home.

Of course the Old Man was especially interested in Kunoxs desire and ability for tracking. The second day after his arrival in Berne we tried the first liver drag of 20 yards. No problem, but he learned what it was all about and had a fine chew on the deer liver at the end of the drag. The next day Kunox had a liver drag twice as long. Clearly it was too easy, but he liked the liver. On day three the liver drag was nearly 100 yards and an hour old. It was windy but Kunox got his nose down in the grass and  held to the scent line. Now he was ready for something more challenging.

Day four: This time I laid out a line with droplets of deer blood through  the labyrinth of paths in our running enclosure. There were many right angles to overshoot, and I let it age for  four hours. The line was only about 150 yards long, but there were many complicated turns. Kunox marched through it with ease, never overshooting a turn by more than five feet before checking and correcting himself. At the deer skin he approached with caution, but after my assurances he grabbed on. The prey drive was there! He actually preferred shaking the deer hide to eating the deer heart treats.

I kind of like this puppy!

This puppy loves his food, even home-grown kale. We need to take just a little bit of weight off him.

He is a low-key pup that can just relax and sleep while we go about our daily routine.

Kunox has met most of our dogs and proved to have good social skills. Mielikki is a good playmate as she is patient and gentle with him...up to the point. She set some boundaries by now for Kunox and one of them is that he is not allowed to hump her (he tried).

 

Kunox has been accepted by his new family; the picture shows Paika and Sky

Kunox licking Billys face

Kunox has a very good switch: he is on in the field...

...and off in the house. Dont you love a puppy that you can take a nap with?

 ??

Kunoxs dam is Gwendoline der von der Dohlmühle, who just three days ago won the International Vp test in Italy with maximum number of points of 280. Gwennies mother Elsebeere von der Bismarck-Eiche got 268 points. Both got their CACIT (Certificat d’Aptitude au Championnat International de Travail) and became International Working Champions.

When we were in Germany in 1999 we visited Manfred Siekmann of von Rominten kennel. He is an extremely knowledgeable and accomplished breeder and handler, and we learned from him a lot. At the time his male Nurmi von Rominten was flying high as a blood tracker. I think he won Chorin Suche blood tracking championship twice. We loved the dog, and we saw him again on subsequent trips. He got to live to be 15. We always wanted a puppy sired by him but it has never worked out. The sire of Kunox is IACh GS BSS Doktor von Rominten, who is linebred tightly on Nurmi, and is an outstanding dog in his own right.

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The Deadest Horse of Them All Dogs Kids

By Eryka Kahunanui, KPA CTP, OSCT

Reposted with permission from http://www.kahunask9s.com/dogs-and-kids/

“There is really only one absolute rule in our home,” I tell K’s new nanny, “Baby and dogs are to never interact. Ever.”

The expression that covers her face is a reaction I see all the time from parents with dogs. It’s one filled with questions: Are the dogs “aggressive”? Does that mean they’ll bite me, too? Is that just while she’s gone? Are the dogs even safe to be around? My dog would never do anything to hurt us…

I explain to her, “I’m working on their tolerance for her behavior. We’ve made some significant progress so I need to make sure I can trust everyone before I will allow interactions without my supervision.”

Call me paranoid. Call me a helicopter mom. It’s a rule I will not bend.

In my profession, I hear all sorts of love stories involving children and dogs. One man’s dog guarded their newborn baby from anyone who tried to come near. Another woman told me how her dog would endure being placed in a bucket by her three-year old nephew. And better still, the stories of the dogs that let kids lie, ride or [insert verb here] on them. “The kids could do anything to this dog – he just stands there and takes it.” I always have to play along and force laughter.

Usually, it’s the dog having to endure the child. Never have I heard a parent proudly exclaim,”My child was so good! She just sat there as our puppy pulled on her hair!” And that example isn’t a stretch: almost all of my clients with puppies and children complain of puppy pulling and biting little one’s hair.

Look, I get it. A dog’s loyalty is one of their most endearing qualities. They love us despite us. So when we have children, the one thing we love more than ourselves, we want to know that our dog will be just as loyal to them, if not more.

But we forget our relationship had to be earned with our dogs and it doesn’t just transfer over. It’s fair to assume your dogs will need time to form their own relationship with your child. My kid has to earn my dogs’ trust and so far, so good. And it might not even be the relationship you are dreaming of.

"I’m very aware that it may take a long ass time – as in 5+ years – before my child fully understands how to respect a creature with steak knives in its mouth."

My job until then is to convince my dogs that I will be a fair and consistent referee. I need to convince them that “I got this” – they don’t need to intervene because I will keep her away. Right now, it seems like she’s always crawling in their direction. At first, the dogs would immediately jump up and go somewhere else. After weeks of me intervening, they’ve come to trust that I won’t let her get near them and now they won’t even wake up from their slumber.

And I’ll say right now: I’m sure your dog is the exception. But what does it hurt if you take the extra precaution and just take it slow? Play your cards right and your dog and child will have many years to grow up alongside each other and get to know one another. Isn’t that worth a slow introduction in the beginning?

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Check out the Babysitter Rules from Doggone Safe

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Free Recorded Webinar for Parents Keeping Kids and Dogs Safe Over the Holidays

Thanks to the Pet Professional Guild and Family Paws Parent Education for partnering with Doggone Safe to present this free webinar for parents. If you have a dog and expect visitors or if you will be visiting a family that has a dog, you will get some great tips from this webinar. Even a nice family dog can bite if stressed, and unfortunately many do at family gatherings. The dog owners are inevitably shocked and upset, and say that this "came out of the blue" and that they never would have thought their dog could bite. There are always warnings, although subtle in some cases. Learn to recognize the signs of stress and how to prevent situations in which a dog might feel the need to protect himself with his teeth.

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Tip of the Day Teach Kids to Invite the Dog to Come to Them

This is our simplest tip and one that is probably the most significant in terms of improving dog/child relations. Teach kids that they should invite the dog to come to them, and if the dog declines the invitation, then they leave the dog alone.

Dogs say yes, by coming over, being loose and waggy and staying around without restraint. Dogs say no by turning away, walking away, yawning, licking or flicking their tongue out, showing a half moon of white in their eye, doing a big shake off, or being tense and stiff.

Here is a fun video from dog/child relationship expert Madeline Gabriel that shows kids how to be a kid a dog feels safe with and shows parents how to teach kids how to invite a dog to interact.

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