Germany May 2009

It was like always ....a wonderful (and successful) trip to Germany, but this time even better because it worked out that Dave my husband could go along. We also took Lydia and our dogs Felix and Finchen.
We first visited our dear friends Heinrich and Inge (owners of Ken vom Waldesrain, sire of Felix, Finchen and Flori and Felix vom Haus Schöneck sire of Ken) we are always greeted with heartfelt welcome. They makes us feel right at home and our dogs feel right at home too, instantly they bond with their dad (Ken)and grandfather (Felix)and remember right away the way to the backyard.

Inge cooked us a great meal!

Here we are at an Ice cream shop, in Germany the dogs are alowed to come and, and look at "king Felix" trying to get a bite of my ice cream

We went to the Europasiegerschau in Dortmund, Finchen got V1 in her class and with this earned the title VDH German Champion, Felix got V2. The judge had a difficult job making a decision with lots of beautiful correct dogs. There we meet Günter and Petra and lots of other teckelfriends. For us it is not only about showing our dogs, but also meeting our friends and making new friends.
Then we took drove south to bavaria and visited with my mom and just enjoying being "Home". We did a lot of hiking, biking and took a trip to Milano which was only 3 hrs from our appartment at Walchensee.

We hiked "Herzogstand" Lydia and her little feet got her to the top and Finchen and Felix did very well too. Here is a little video clip a view on top of Herzogstand

The last weekend of our trip, we drove up to Dortmund again and went to a Spezialzuchtschau in Melle-Neuenkirchen. It was held at a Strawberry Farm and yes they did have strawberries already and they were big and delicious!
Finchen and Felix cleaned up that they and got everything that was there to win. Our judge was Mrs Rhodin from Sweden.
After this show in the afternoon was the Champion of Champion. Only Felix could compete because he had his Champion titles already. There were 2 judges. Dr. Kettendörfer, Mr, Deutscher and Mrs. Rhodin. The judges independently had to judge the dogs and could not talk to each other.
First all the dogs in one class had to walk in the ring, and each round one was eliminated till there was only one male and one female of each class. It was nerve racking, the competion was great.
Then the male had to stand on a blue carpet and the female on the red carpet and the judges decided Felix is Champion of Champion. I was thrilled!

Then next day was the Landessiegerschau, Felix won everything and got the title Landessieger 2009, Finchen won her class but did not win the title when all the female winners of each class had to compete for the title. The judge said Finchen was the nicer dog, but she acted a little scared and shy and he awarded the another dog the title, because personaltiy is important too. It was a cold morning and she was shivering, she would have rather snuggled with Lydia in her coat. Yes that is our Finchen she rather be snuggling than showing herself off. Felix of course is so different, he is a "showman" he has strong nerves and knows he "got it" nothing faces him and the judges just loved him.