Foxfire Kennels
Breeding program
We have bred 22 litters over the years under the kennel names vom Blitzstrahle
and vom Gluckstag.Most of the pups were sold as pets but we were able to keep
track of probably half of them. Between Betty and Jim we have obtained about
25 titles in 27 years of training on 18 different dogs. 4 of our own breeding
and a total of 12 from pups.
Initially our breeding centered around hochzuchtlines, Quanto Wienerau, Dick Adeloga, Jonny Rheinhalle, Mutz Pelztierfarm and Marko Cellerland representing the main lines. We then used Canto Lines mainly through Sonny Badener Land and Irk Arminius .
In general , the working ability our production was not what we would have liked. Many were soft. The overall temperament was good , the hips good as well and they were healthy. We just never got quite what we wanted for working ability. Many of them made excellent pets, however. But then many pound dogs make excellent "pets". We then emphasized leistungs lines, including Gildo Korbelbach, Harro Lechrainstadt, Arec Bunsenkocher and limite DDR influence with somewhat better results.
We currently are not doing any breeding, but may resume doing so on a limited basis if the proper breeding stock is available given our resources. We may simply roll the dice a purchase replacement pups and hope for the best. It isn't easy to find our desired lines, which are older West German lines with little or no DDR ,Czech, Hungarian..etc.etc. etc. influence.
We believe that the breed benefits greatly from the German breed survey system. Primarily for dogs that will be used for breeding. Terminal breeding crosses are not as important. United Schutzhund Clubs of America sponsors breed surveys through the member clubs that are qualified to host them. Breeders in the business of producing breeding stock for sale should take advantage of this system. We used to be absolute proponents of the system but have seen too many clearly inferior animals approved for breeding without restriction. So even this system bears scrutiny when used as a breeding tool.
Marko vom Gluckstag
April 1, 2003 marked the passing of our Marko at the age of 14. He was the son of Alf Stoffelblick and our female Fiona vom Holstentor. While never titled past the Begleithunde, he taught me and a number of beginning helpers what it was to work a good, solid , hard biting dog. We also used him many times to let rank amateurs "take a bite" just for the hell of it.
He also taught a couple of helpers that it is not always safe to drop the sleeve, expecting the dog to carry it around like a toy.
That was, admittedly, a few years ago ..such behavior is no longer considered "acceptable " in some training circles. The opposite is true in our "training circle", however. We still believe that Schutzhund is not for sport only and serves best as a breeding tool when it is not treated as such.
We'll miss Marko, but he had a good , long working life. We'll probably never have another one as good...but then , who knows, we might.
Utz vom Gluckstag
We lost another of our favorite, home bred dogs this year. Utzy died of complications from an Pasteurella infection which we believe he contracted from an encounter with a cat. Utz was not your average sleeve dog, he represented what we like most in a dog, fighting spirit and a willingness to bring the fight to any encounter. We miss him terribly especailly on training day. Unlike Marko, he didn't have a chance to live a long life and achieve what he was capable of..he was 4 years old.
Training
We train with the USA affiliated Southern Tier Schutzhund Club . We like to emphasize the dog/handler relationship and the club setting is an excellent means of doing so.
The emphasis in our club is keeping it light and having fun. . No big egos, no big rivalries and no turf battles. Jim is the training director and as such enforces only 3 rules
Anyone interested in training with us is encouraged to come visit and see how we do it. You will not be ignored and we will do our best for you and your dog. We have no formal evaluation proceedure. If we like you you can join . We don't care what kind or quality of dog you have, if you want to train it, we will do what we can and we'll have some fun doing it. We want training to be fun for the dog and fun for the owner , our training methods reflect this .
Southern Tier Schutzhund Club
The Southern Tier Schutzhund Club was founded in 1996 and approved as a United Schutzhund Clubs of America full member club in 1998.
Our latest trial was held on Oct. 13, 2007under the auspices of USA judge Mike Hamilton. We had are usual mix of good and bad luck a bit on the bad side this year. Jim Baldwin earned a SchH1 with Jake with a little luck. Enough to carry on for SchH2 though. Betty Baldwin failed SchH2 with Lido. Lido's back has been bothering him for a while off and on and he just couldn't manage the jumps.A nice score in tracking, though, 95. Probably this is it for Lido. Kim Behrman was able to repeat a SchH1 with Arek, but didn't get the needed 80 in protection to go on. We feel fortunate to have gotten this far with him, though and at 8 years of age he too is retired.Sean Behrman did not pass SchH3 with Quax , falling a bit short in obedience. We've had ongoing issues with this dog too and have corrected some of them but not all. He was imported with an alleged SchH2 but with some "social problems" as well. Probably it for him too. John Krichbaum did not pass SchH1 with Rommel despite a lot of hard work in all three phases by everyone, but mostly John. He passed tracking and obedience but the combination of all three phases affected him that day and he didn't pass protection. He has a UD and enjoys bitework so he'll probably be retired at 8 years of age also. We knew he might be marginal in protection..and he was..that day.Tim Shutts with Diesel failed the BH exam but Tim hasn't had much time between work, school and building a new house after his burnt down...so we get 'em next year.
So we'll press on regardless. We have new blood, Raven a rottie with John , Kim has a new pup from Wyndmoor kennels and Betty and Jim each have youngsters from our good friend Molly Graf at Eichenluft kennels.
Next years event will be with Mark Przybylski and will include a helper seminar on Friday for new helpers and re evaluation of already rated helpers. It will be held October 24, 25, and 26 2008.
.Jim Baldwin 607-257-1683 E Mail Dog Training
Nutrition
For our dog's day to day nutritional needs we feed Purina Pro Plan Performance. We like this food because of its' high caloric value. .It helps maintain condition on very active dogs housed outside for the most part.In addition toPro Plan Performance we occasionally feed our own ground "lamb", like most other "lamb" in dog food it is really cull ewe. We find this to be a good addition of calories in the winter and a tasty treat as well. Unfortunately, from the dog's viewpoint and fortunately , from our sheep enterprise viewpoint, we do not have a lot of this available. What we do have is not "certified" organic , but we never use sick animals only older sheep culled for breeding purposes. We do not use antibiotics or any chemical additives, the exception being worming of the flock. We do intend to have this meat available for sale in the future.
We feed no supplements . To our knowledge there is little credible scientific evidence that supplementation adds anything to canine nutrition.
