This is Willow, Nuforest Willow Rose MLD. She is a miniature longhaired red sable dapple dachshund. I bought her 3 years ago, November '97. She was born in Southern California. We bought her from Susan Buck of Nuforest Kennels Dachshunds and Labs. Willow will be turning 3 years old this September, September 16 to be exact. Willow is the sweetest little girl you could ever find. She is always willing to please and loves to try new things. If you would like to read more about Willow and her buddies, Dee Dee, Jessie, and Ozzie, you can go to Doxn Daze. Doxn Daze is a small kennel my mom and I run.

The picture to the right is Bessica, Taz and Willow. Bessica and Taz are two red smooth dachshunds. Let me tell you a little more about dachshunds. First off, there are two sizes of dachshunds, standard and miniature. Like I said, Willow is a miniature, and so are Bessica, Taz, Dee Dee and Ozzie. But Jessie is a standard. There are also three varieties, or coats, of dachshunds, which are smooth, longhair, and wirehair. We don't have any wirehairs, but you can click here to see one. Dachshunds originated in Germany, where they were bred to hunt badgers. They would tunnel underground to catch the badgers. The first part of their name, Dachs, means badger, and hund

These are Willow's pups. Aren't they adorable? This was her first litter. They were born on February 14, 2000, and are now 5 weeks old. Willow's doing a wonderful job as a mother. The dad of this litter was Ozzie. In this litter there was a black and tan double dapple boy, Joey, a black and tan dapple boy, nicknamed Bowinkle (don't ask), a black and tan girl (hasn't been named yet), and a red double dapple girl (also hasn't been named yet. We might keep one of these pups, but we're not sure yet. Joey is being bought by a good friend of ours who lives around here. His registered name is going to be Not Your Average Joe. Isn't that just too cute? If you want to see more pictures of these little dolls, go here.

Before I got Willow I had wanted a Jack Russell Terrier. At that time we only had our first two dachshunds, Bessica and Taz. They were just pets. My dad talked me into buying a registered dachshund instead, so off I went into the journey of finding a dachshund puppy for sale. I eventually found one, some two monthes later, but she ended up having hip dysplasia, so, a little discouraged, I started searching again. Pretty soon I got an email from Susan Buck, in reply to an inquiry I had sent to her. She told me she had a litter of puppies just born and asked me what I wanted. I told her I prefered a girl and the color didn't matter. Well, she had a girl, a little red one, she told me, for sale. Of course my heart leapt and I bought the little girl and two monthes later she was on a plane for here. Right away I took Willow to puppy classes, where she learned rapidly. Then my mom took her to conformation classes, and I can tell you, my mom got pretty mad. Willow knew I was there

and wouldn't pay attention to my mom. Somehow she got her trained though, and we took her to her first show in July of '98.This show was three days long, and my mom showed her in conformation all 3 days. On the third day I showed her in Junior Showmanship. That's how my Junior Showmanship career started.

Since that first show Willow and I have aquired two first places in our Novice Junior class, and I have shown Willow to two 3-point majors, plus 3 extra points. At this point in time Willow has 9 point towards her conformation championship. All she need is 6 more to gain that!

Ozzie, Dee Dee, Willow, Po

In the fall of '98 Willow and I attended an obedience class with the dog club in Soldotna. Willow learned the basics, sit, stay and heel. She also learned some tricks, such as to bark when I snap my fingers. We attended another obedience class with the dog club we now belong to, the Kenai Kennel Club. Since then we have been training for obedience at home and Willow is getting better. Once Willow finishes her conformation championship, hopefully this summer, I plan to take her back to obedience classes and start showing her in obedience. Willow and I also train for agility here at home. I have built a jump, weave poles, and a pause table. There are no agility

trials up here, but this fall or next summer I plan to attend an agility class the dog club in Soldotna holds. This is just a way to keep Willow busy, and she loves it!

If you would like to learn more about dachshunds, obedience, agility, or junior showmanship, click here.