That’s your Lotte
The great advantage with this little tinker is her size; it is easy to hold her back or to pick her up. The disadvantage is that she can squirm into the most inaccessible places. She makes use of her size to get her own way if she thinks she can. I thought I had brought a dog home, not a ferret. Still, she hasn’t vanished up my trouser leg. Yet.
She is improving all the time. She is now 19 months old and is still learning. I’m not talking about scenting and finding deer here; she had that ability at about four months old and hasn’t failed. Compared with all my other dogs, the teckel develops later, similar to a German wirehaired pointer. It has taken until now for her sight to fully develop.
Her hearing is exceptional. But her real strength is her sense of smell; it is phenomenal. She does not miss anything deer related. We were out the other day and on went the harness and lead. I decided she would stalk with me. However, it can be a bit tricky if the dog isn’t fully aware of stalking etiquette – not tripping me up being the most important one.
Seriously, she is getting the hang of it. I always give her some freedom at the start to get her settled then rein her in more as we progress. I never thought I would succeed in that but with the odd correction she is getting the idea.
On this day we were not successful but Lotte’s nose was on every deer track there was, scenting the air over the fields too. The deer are invisible at this time of year, the crop is so high they simply potter about unseen. Lotte, however, is telling me that they are there.
Back to size, she is so small that neither she nor the deer can see each other, which can often be a great advantage.