Skaldsong Swedish Vallhunds

01/07/2024

What a great weekend at our home town show, the Oklahoma Summer Classic!

Turlough finished his Championship on Thursday going Best of Winners over the girls for his last major! He is now:

CH KleinHaus Hand Me My Harp at Skaldsong BCAT NF RATI

Poesi and her lovely owners Laura and Eric showed on their way through on a cross country move! And boy, I bet they're glad they did! Poesi earned her first major by going Best of Winners over the boys on Saturday and then scored a double by going Best of Opposite over a SPECIAL (and beating her sister in Winners, ha!). They are a major and up to a single away from earning Poesi's Championship. I'm so proud of them! But not only that, Poesi picked up two more titles: Her CGC and DCAT!

I got to hold her and almost didn't give her back. (Just kidding, her family is beyond amazing).

This makes Poesi:
AKC Major-pointed Skaldsong's Bard To The Bone DCAT CGC TKN ATT FITB

Cleric wasn't showing his best after three weeks of crate rest (long story I'll post on here later, I'm sure), but I was happy that he could go back into the ring. He still needs maturity to help both his brain and body, but I am so pleased with how promising he is. Right now he needs experience and time.

Barbarian showed super well all weekend and he and his kid Grayson did some wonderful things in Juniors! I just wish I could remember them all. I'm super proud of that team!

Marlow also showed well (except when she heard her human parents outside the ring, HAHA! Lesson learned) and I'm really proud with how far she's come. Like Barbarian, she's in a weird noodly stage of growth these guys can go through. Time will bring her back together. I was told by judge Michelle Scott that she is very promising and I may be a little biased, but I agree. She'll get there.

Brigid (dam of Cleric, Barbarian, Poesi, and Marlow) earned a GCH single as Select the one day I showed her and then later on her CGC and TKN. This makes her:

CH Caliente She's A Firecracker CGC NA NAJ TKN RATN RATI

She only needs 1 Champion Defeat for her GCH. I'm planning on mostly showing her and Cleric against each other at the small Oklahoma shows this fall until she finishes it, and then she'll be retired from conformation to fully concentrate on sports. Cleric will be the main dog I'll continue showing besides entering Marlow whenever I can find an entry of class girls.

12/05/2024

Happy Mother's Day!

Thank you to all the moms and mom-types and all the hard work that you do. Brigid certainly felt it. 😹

08/05/2024

Here's how Turlough is coming along in agility. One issue we have right now is knocking bars when he slices a jump, so we're working that separately. He's also just recently started on weaves.

I'm very proud at how he's running for such a young boy.... Only 18 months old!

He comes from a fantastic line of accomplished agility Vallhunds on his sire's side from Alkemi Swedish Vallhunds.

Turlough is...
AKC Major-pointed, ICKC BJPIS RBJPIS KleinHaus Hand Me My Harp at Skaldsong BCAT RATI

Hoping to start collecting agility titles soon.

30/04/2024

Barbarian picked up another point this past weekend, won a first over competition in Juniors, AND finished his DCAT!!!

Barbarian's human also showed my Turlough, picked up a single on him, and finished his BCAT!

He makes a great team with them both.

Barbarian is:
AKC Major-pointed Skaldsong's On The Back Of Dragons DCAT CGC

Turlough is:
AKC Major-pointed ICKC BJPIS RBJPIS KleinHaus Hand Me My Harp at Skaldsong BCAT RATI

15/04/2024

Rune (on the left) achieved her RA on 4/14! The day before she even beat her housemate Valo by a point with a score of 96 to his 95.

Massive congratulations to Rune and Brilynn!!!

Skaldsong's Mysteries And Magic RA CGC

10/04/2024

On March 30th Barbarian and family had an incredible day at the Claremore, OK shows!

Barbarian, affectionately known as "Bean," completed his BCAT and earned an Owner Handled Group 4!!! Way to go, guys!

AKC Major-pointed Skaldsong's On The Back Of Dragons BCAT CGC

10/04/2024

Since things get away from me sometimes, I never did announce that Poesi got her BCAT, TKN, and FITB titles in the past several weeks!

These babies and their amazing owners can be hard to keep up with.

AKC Pointed Skaldsong's Bard To The Bone BCAT TKN FITB

31/03/2024

It's Poesi!!!

AKC Pointed Skaldsong's Bard To The Bone BCAT TKN FITB

26/03/2024

On 3/23/24 in Fort Worth, Cleric went Best of Winners, achieving the last two points he needed to finish his Championship! Pending AKC, of course, and exclusively from the Bred-By
-Exhibitor class.

He is the first Skaldsong Champion and my first Bred-by Champion out of my first and thus far only litter. I am so proud of this little dude and how much he's accomplished in the 6 months since I got him back. Three three point majors, a four point major, and a double spanning the only three show weekends he's been entered in so far: Shawnee, OK in November (where he also got a Herding Group 4), Glen Rose, TX in January, and now Fort Worth, TX in March.

Neither of us are the best at win photos, but we're working on it. He's still very inexperienced, of course. I have no such excuse other than just general human awkwardness.

While the situation surrounding his return tested the trust I'd put into other people, I probably would not have kept him otherwise. The plan was to "keep" a co-owned girl in a guardian home, not a boy in my own suburban home. Yet here we are now and it was meant to be.

I plan on continuing to show him as a Special. We are also working on Rally, Obedience, and Agility foundations with a goal to debut in Rally in three months. He enjoys FastCAT, so we'll continue those, too!

CH Skaldsong's Carry the Blessed Home

24/03/2024

Congratulations to Rune who achieved her RN title on March 9th!

Skaldsong's Mysteries And Magic CGC RN, owned and loved by Brilynn.

23/03/2024

Congratulations to Poesi, Barbarian, and Marlow for hitting the current FastCAT rankings for Swedish Vallhunds!

Check out Poesi's speed!

15/03/2024

This is my boy Rolston's litter with Phase at Valkyrie Vallhunds! Such a lovely group of babies.

They're 7 weeks old.

02/03/2024

Happy FIRST BIRTHDAY to the Tabletop Adventures Litter!

Kira, Marlow, Poe, Loki, Cleric, Poesi, Rune, and Barbarian! I'm so proud of all of them.

24/01/2024

Cleric came back to me in September. He was developing so nicely I decided to have a go in the show ring with him.

Out of two show weekends, he has earned 4 majors totaling 13 points, meaning he just needs 2 points to finish his AKC Championship. He was also awarded a Herding Group 4 his first day out to boot.

Our next show isn't until March, so we'll see how it goes!

25/12/2023

Happy holidays and merry Christmas, all!

I promise I'll catch up on updates one of these days, ha! I'm terrible at social media.

Here's the most adorable of Marlows.

14/08/2023

Look at Loki work! He's so happy!!!

Skaldsong's Loki's Game Of Lore At Slekira

09/08/2023

I'm really proud of how well Turlough is doing in agility at 11 months old.

We've been mostly working at home with what little equipment I have, but it's really paying off in class. This video is from his fourth group class.

He'll, of course, eventually jump higher, but he's still a baby so elbow-height it is!

AKC-Major-Pointed ICKC-BJPIS ICKC-RBJPIS KleinHaus Hand Me My Harp At Skaldsong RATI

09/08/2023

Very good advice and an especially cute model. ❤️

This morning I witnessed an interaction between two of my dogs that I realized a lot of pet owners mishandle a lot of the time.

My 5-month-old Swedish Vallhund puppy, Rune, was eating her breakfast. My (almost) 9-year-old Bull Terrier, Armani, was very interested in the food as well (many of you have heard stories about Armani - this dog, even at her age, lacks all sense of boundaries) and walked up to stop about 2-3ft from Rune and her bowl of food, then just casually stared. Not a hard stare, nothing overly concerning in body language, just rude behavior.

Rune gave a quick glance at Armani and subtly raised her lip then went back to eating. Seemingly not very concerned but wanting to communicate regardless. Saying: “go away”. She did not snap or truly snarl, just a very naturally socially in-tune puppy giving another dog a warning. Her breakfast is for her. It is not to share. We definitely agree there.

Armani, as she does as a dog who has never been socially well tuned, continued to just stand and watch. She did not take the warning as it was and did not move away. This was not to challenge Rune in this case - just a dog who is genuinely oblivious to boundaries. Harmless, but rude nonetheless.

Now I get involved. I gently grab Armani’s collar and guide her away. I tell Rune she’s a good girl.

Most people would have seen Rune’s actions as potential aggression - or, gasp, - is this resource guarding?? And punished her for it.

STOP doing this. Stop punishing the one that gives warnings or even fair corrections. Your dog is setting boundaries and advocating for themselves - if YOU don’t advocate for them, who else will but themselves?

Rune communicated a boundary with Armani and I advocated for her by removing Armani from the space. Armani was in the wrong for ignoring a warning. Rune was in the right for communicating clearly and in a fair manner. Had I not intervened, a situation like this could potentially escalate to further, more serious action being taken by Rune in order to get her point across. She is learning that she does not need to go this far. Mom always has her back 💪🏻 As I do for all of them.

Punishing Rune for this would quickly create a puppy who feels she has nobody advocating for her and isn’t even allowed to do so for herself. Do you know what this results in? Dogs that SKIP the warning and go straight into HEAVY corrections, most often leading to a dog fight.

Don’t take the warnings away. ALLOW fair and appropriate warnings and dogs who communicate well. They DO NOT need to tolerate every little thing in this world and I’d rather my dog can warn / correct / communicate confidently than to be a dog who is afraid to do so and as a result tends to go way overboard when they’ve finally had enough.

Bottom line: stop punishing the punisher. Correct the one who isn’t respecting boundaries!

07/08/2023

Barbarian, the puppy otherwise known as Bean, won THREE BPUP placements at the Longview, TX shows! He came home with a BPUP Group 2, 3, and 4 out of a decently-sized lineup of gorgeous Herding puppies.

Barbarian is owned, loved, and shown by Virginia and Grayson in Oklahoma.

Skaldsong's On The Backs Of Dragons

28/07/2023

Last weekend Rune won a BPUP Group 3 in Marshfield, WI!

Rune is loved, owned, handled, and trained by Brilynn in WI.

She's also insanely adorable.

Skaldsong's Mysteries And Magic

21/07/2023

Anyone looking for a little sport partner?

These half siblings of Turlough are ready to rock!

And then there were 2. We are still looking for the perfect homes

You can find my form "KleinHaus Swedish Vallhunds puppy application" at: https://form.jotform.com/203015945237048

20/07/2023

Marlow earned her AKC S.T.A.R. puppy on 7/14!

Skaldsong's Not Like The Other Warlocks

18/07/2023

Turlough is coming along in agility! He's just, uh. Creative at times.

16/07/2023

14/07/2023

Poesi and her fantastic owner Laura won a Beginner Puppy Herding Group 3 & 4 over the last weekend out in Maryland! I am extremely proud of them both.

Skaldsong's Bard To The Bone

13/07/2023

Brigid said she couldn't be left out of the rosette club and brought home a NOHS Herding Group 4 out of a large and gorgeous lineup on 7/2 in spite of being very out of coat. I am extremely proud of her.

CH Caliente She's A Firecracker NA RATN RATI

12/07/2023

Wee baby Marlow picked up a Beginner Puppy Herding Group 2 on Sunday 7/2 at exactly 4 months old. She and her brother Barbarian went head to head in the BPUP breed ring. Barbarian is looking amazing, btw.

Skaldsong's Not Like The Other Warlocks

11/07/2023

On Friday 6/30, Turlough earned a Puppy Variety Group 2 out of a beautiful lineup of young herding dogs! He also earned his RATI in Barn Hunt that same day.

AKC Major Pointed KleinHaus Hand Me My Harp At Skaldsong RATI

10/07/2023

On Thursday 6/29, I took Rolston around the Veterans ring for his retirement run and he picked up a Veteran Group 4!

This is the dog who started it all.

While he's pretty close to his GCH, he doesn't love showing as much as he once did and we don't have the entry numbers in the region to potentially attain the rest of the points quickly. I will miss his antics in the show ring.

CH Osafin Jam Kolache CA CGC IT TBAD TG1 RATI

10/07/2023

This would be a half brother to Turlough. Looking for a cracked out performance prospect? Here you go!