The Newest Triple Champion “Wigeon”

TRIPLE CHAMPION WIGEON!

by owner/handler Leslie Keys

Little did I know when I got my first dachshund just what I was bringing home. At first, it never occurred to me to do much of anything but very basic house manners and socialization. I had never had a little dog and Wigeon was about to change that misconception. His first adventure into the real world was coming along with me to a fairly large outdoor show where I was competing in Rally with my ancient golden retriever. While wandering around the grounds a total stranger came up to me and asked me about Wigeon’s pedigree. When I wasn’t sure, he answered his own question, told me he owned the sire, a dog named Wee Mr Red Thorn, introduced himself as Guy Jeavons and urged me to plan on showing Wigeon. He gave me his contact information and an offer to answer any questions or guidance I might need to finish him. Wow! I had no idea. I knew about conformation, having worked in two kennels that bred conformation dogs and even assisting in grooming and showing, but that was years ago. I knew nothing about showing dachshunds. I added conformation classes to our classes. A month or so later on a whim, I entered him in a puppy match at Ann Arbor Kennel Club and much to my surprise, he won Best Puppy in Show! I took him to his first real show and he earned his first point. It was a small entry but even so, I was so nervous I could hardly think and decided I needed to enlist the help of someone who could keep their head when the competition got tougher. I contacted an acquaintance, Lori Sargent,a professional handler, in hopes that she could take him on a day by day basis. They met, hit it off together, and the rest is history. He got his conformation champion title in fairly short order. While Wigeon was earning his conformation title with Lori, he was also involved with a couple more things I thought he might enjoy, barn hunt being one of them. While at a barn hunt trial we met another person with a dachshund named Ripley, owned by Linda Alkema. She gave us a few pointers for dachshunds doing barn hunt, took her turn at that show, gave us a bottle of water and left. We saw her often at shows after that and got to be pretty good friends. One day she told me about having just returned from some place called Roscoe where Ripley and her other dog, Snoopy had been at a series of field trial. Ripley had gotten something called absolute. I had no idea what that was but Linda explained it all to me and encouraged me to try it the next time I had a chance. We took her advice. Wigeon loved it. He loved it so much that he took off on his own hunt and it took the entire field of participants 45 minutes to finally catch him. He was better the next time, and placed twice, but still had to be hunted down for far too long. The following year he placed again and pulled the same stunts but was getting much better at circling back. I knew he was getting close to his champion title but I did not realize until the next day that he had earned it the day before. The points rack up fast when you only show at the National. He was now a Dual Champion.

Because I run agility with a springer spaniel and a border collie, and a smooth collie, it was only natural when Lorie Marlow, with her 4 long-haired dachshund urged me to try with Wigeon, I said “Sure, why not?” Wigeon was still just a puppy then so we started foundation training with lots of restrictions; no bars, no contacts, no weaves, just partnership skills, sends, and communication until he was over a year. He learned much faster than my other dogs had. Not a big surprise since he was the 4th dog I had trained. He earned his novice and open titles in 6 shows. After that, things slowed down a bit. He was still young and we both had a lot more to learn as a team. My other dogs aged out and retired after earning their excellent titles but Wigeon was still young and I was training a new dachshund, Velvet, from a friend, Robin LaFrance. It just seemed silly not to continue running Wigeon as well as Velvet. The master legs were accumulating and so were the Double Q’s.

Wigeon qualified for the AKC agility Invitational down in Florida. We had accepted, arranged our transportation and housing when disaster struck! Wigeon and Castle the collie were running the fence line as some passers-by teased them from the sidewalk. Somehow Wigeon was trampled and injured his neck. The trip was canceled, surgery was done, hopes and dreams smashed. I was told when the neurologist came out that everything looked good and my boy would live a normal life; wear a harness, keep him fit. When I explained about agility he strongly discouraged it. So we went home. I followed orders, did his exercises, kept him fit. He was leading a life but he cried when I left him behind to go to agility trials, and moped when we returned.

Almost two years later I took him back to the neurologist with the request for a re-evaluation. Wigeon got a full and thorough exam and the doctor could find nothing wrong. He told me if Wigeon were his dog he would not want to keep him from enjoying his passion, BUT, he would allow it only in extreme moderation. I could not return to our former pace but I could run him once or twice a month. That’s what we did. Wigeon ran one day once or twice a month, and earned his last 4 double Q’s for his Agility MACH title, making him a TRIPLE CHAMPION.

I would not, could not, have ever gotten all this without the help of so many friends, instructors, total strangers, well-wishers, and even a few people that thought I shouldn’t even be trying (because dachshunds are so delicate and must be set upon a cushion for their entire lives and I wanted to prove how wrong they were.) !