When I was a child in the 60's we had a dog breed chart on the wall. I always enjoyed looking at it and thinking about the breeds I would like to have. I was drawn to those less popular. One of these was the Wire-haired Dachshund.

The first Wires I met came from England with their owner, Mrs. Ella Warrington, in 1983. Ella was a past acquaintance of my mother's and came to Canada with her 3 young adult Wires, one male and two females. Their names were Chantalles Choritzo (call name Natasha), Katelyn Dulcimer (Daisy), and Katelyn Kanada Dry (Duncan). Daisy was a wild boar colour and Duncan, a red, and they both became Canadian Champions in due time with Duncan finishing with a group placement. Natasha, a wild boar, was not shown because she was on the small side and higher on the legs. Duncan was bred to Daisy and Natasha, and I was given a male puppy out of Natasha's litter in 1984 for all my voluntary help with raising the litters, and grooming and showing the parents.

My little puppy grew up and became Canadian Champion Justrough Tuff 'N' Tawny (call name Tuffy) at 1 1/2 years old. Then he earned his American Field Champion title (Am. F. Ch. ), Certificate of Gameness (C.G.), Canine Good Citizen (CGC), and his Canadian and American Companion Dog obedience titles (CD). He was a dog I will never forget. Together we tried every dog event we could and Tuffy's favourite was Field and Den trial work. It was a thrill to watch him at work thoroughly enjoying himself, doing what his breed was meant to do.   TITLES EXPLAINED

Parallel to my early showing of Tuffy, I bought a red female, Springwood's Guinevere (Sally) from a lady in Sechelt, B.C., Barbara Upton, who had also bred her German import, Holberg Barbara, to Duncan. Barbara, the owner, became terminally ill and one of her wishes was to have one of her pups shown and eventually bred. Barbara had just started the kennel name of "Springwood" and wanted to transfer the name to me to continue on with. The name certainly suited our area, we had plenty of woods and springs around, and I was touched at being asked to continue the name for Barbara through one of her puppies.

Sally became a Canadian Champion in 1986. I bred her to Tuffy twice. In the first litter, Sally had 8 pups and in the second, 6 pups. Their qualities live on in the following litters.

My goal has been and still is, to produce DUAL PURPOSE Wires. Dachshunds have been bred to hunt, both above ground and below and I see no reason why they should not have titles at both ends of their names, resulting in dogs with beauty and brains, form and function. I have spent 20 + yrs with this breed, carefully adding top working bloodlines to quality show lines, always keeping in mind the goals of producing Wires with balanced attributes, that is sound conformation and character with good working ability. I have been lucky to be able to borrow back dogs I have bred, from their owners, and show, work, and breed with them. Most of which I would have loved to put more working titles onto but time and distance have been a challenge.

I hope everyone enjoys browsing through the many
pictures and pedigrees linked below, and our photo gallery

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- The First Litter

Produced Can. Ch. & Am. F. Ch. Springwood's Tuff Tica CG, CGC (Tica) and Can. Ch. Springwood's Li'l Shadow. (Tuffy X Sally) TITLES EXPLAINED

- The Second Litter (B)

I began using the alphabet, starting with the letter B, and produced Can. Ch. Springwood's Burly Boomerang and Can. Ch. Springwood's Bonheur Brody. (Tuffy X Sally) TITLES EXPLAINED

- The C Litter

I bred Tica to Can. Ch. Bristleknoll Just So, producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Four Leaf Clover, Can. Ch. Springwood's Chestnut Ziggy, and Springwood's Charming Chicory who stopped at 7 points (out of 10 needed in Canada) because her owners lived too far away for me to show her further. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The D Litter

I bred Tica to Am. Ch. Whistlestop's Guy Wire producing the lovely male, Can. and Am. Ch. Springwood's Donatello CG, a group placer, and his sister, Springwood Diamond Inthe Ruff (Twinkle). TITLES EXPLAINED

- The E Litter

I bred Clover to Can. & Am. F. Ch. Fausto de la Grande Futaie, who was a handsome and talented import from France. This breeding produced Can. Ch. Springwood Princess Ofthe Dark (Elvira) and Can. Ch. Springwood's Grande Ember JES. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The F Litter

Boomer was bred to Clover, producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Fearless Faye, also a group placer. TITLES EXPLAINED

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- The G Litter

Donatello was bred to Chicory, producing Can. Ch. Matsutake Ruckus Springwood, a group placer. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The H Litter

Tica was bred to Am. Ch. Brazos Ski Winter Wind producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Hercules Powder CGC. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The I Litter

Donatello was bred to Elvira, producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Ignatius, Can. Ch. Springwood's Intrepid Hunter, and Can. Ch. Springwood's Irish Cream. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The J Litter

Clover was bred to Boomer by co-owner, no pups were shown.

- The K Litter

Diamond (Twinkle) was bred to Can. Ch. Brindale Bradach Ghilli CGC producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Kiwi Dream. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The L Litter

Faye was bred to Ignatius, no pups were shown by their owners.

- The M Litter

Elvira was bred to Donatello again, producing another great litter resulting in Can. Ch. Springwood's Michaelangelo, a group placer, Can. Ch. Springwood's Mulberry, and Springwood's Mistltetoe who went to the U.S.A. and is a major shy of her Am. Ch. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The N Litter

Clover was bred to Ignatius, no pups were shown by their owners.

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- The O Litter

Chicory was bred to Hunter, no pups were shown by their owners.

- The P Litter

Elvira was bred to Hercules, producing our first black and tan, Can. Ch. Shayla's Pfeiffer. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The Q Litter

Kiwi was bred to Zalud Staccato, a Czech import from the top kennel Staccato, known for its excellent game blood tracking Wires. This produced Springwood's Quid Tenet Anbela, who rather hunts than shows, Springwood's Quasar Quest, and Springwood's Silken Quiver who is a proven worker and producer in Texas, U.S.A. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The R Litter

Mulberry was bred to Hercules, producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Princess Rozella, a group placer, Springwood's Double Tuff Ruffian, who had 4 pts, and Springwood Relishing Raphaelo, who live too far away to be shown further.

- The S Litter

Mulberry was bred to Zalud Staccato producing Springwood's Sophia Staccato, who had 7 pts when her co-owners moved away.

- The T Litter

Kiwi was bred to Hunter, producing Can. Ch. Springwood Tara's Mint Julep, a group placer.

- The U Litter

Rozella was bred to Springwood's Quasar Quest, producing Can. Ch. Springwood's Unique Miko. TITLES EXPLAINED

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- The V Litter

Irish Cream was bred to Bella, an import from Germany, producing Vella vom Weihshause, dam of Wilkie. TITLES EXPLAINED

- The W Litter

Springwood Relishing Raphaelo was bred to Vella, producing Can. Ch. & Aust. Ch. Springwood's Ashley Wilkes ME*(Wilkie). This fellow, Wilkie, is another versatile Wire, a handsome, loving dog, excellent rat catcher, tracks rabbit scent keenly and deer blood accurately. Wilkie has sired two litters in Canada, one of 5 pups and one of 4 pups, and one litter of 7 so far in Australia where we all now reside. TITLES EXPLAINED

We also have Frozen Semen from a handsome young red male Basil Westham who is sired by Hercules and out of Anbela (Annabell). Basil prefers hunting to showing any day.

What's next? I think we will finish the alphabet and spend some time doing Earthdog work and Agility.
Wilkie earns his Novice Earthdog title 22 May, 2005! Wilkie earns 2 Senior passes in July/August 2005!
Wilkie earned his 3rd Senior pass 28 May 2006, earning his Senior Earthdog title.
Wilkie earns 2 x Master passes on 9 July 2006, plus his 3rd Master pass on 20 August 2006.
First Dachshund Master Earth Dog in Australia - April 1, 2007
Jacranda earns her Novice Earthdog title - August 19, 2007
Brigitte attains her Master Earthdog judging licence - September 22, 2007
About Earthdogs

We hope you have enjoyed learning about the Springwood Wires and know that they do well both in the ring and field and of course at home as enjoyable companions.