Twenty-three years ago my older sister decided to get a dog, and Cingo - the Saint Bernard puppy - entered our house. He was HUGE, lazy and slobbered all the time... Still, he woke something to life inside of me, something that until then had been quietly asleep - my interest for dogs!

Of course, we'd had dogs in our family before. Our pet Sonette, a black Miniature Poodle, had been a part of our family for my whole life - but she was something that just was there, like an inventory almost.

Thanks to Cingo the doors opened to the world of dogs - I never knew you could have so much fun with dogs! There were obedience courses, dog shows, you could train your dog in the sport of tracking etc.

 

From that day on, my dog-mania was fully activated!

 

Our neighbour's tricky Boxer and I took many, many walks together and "sneak-trained" a little obedience and "to stand and run in a circle and back and forth" - 'cause that's what I'd seen they did on dog shows...

But, I wanted a dog of my own, and after studying a book on all the breeds in the world, page up and page down, several, several times, I always got stuck on the book's no 169 - the Clumber Spaniel.

 

A year later "Grynet" slept there so peacefully right beside my bed, snoring - MY VERY OWN Clumber Spaniel!

I'll never forget the feeling I had when I woke up, extremely early in the morning, and took the puppy I so eagerly awaited for out for her little morning walk - for the very first time! I felt like the luckiest 11-year old in the world!!!

Since then a couple of different dog-personalities have passed through my life, and all of them have influenced me and taught me so much. With my dogs of different breeds and origin I have tried a little bit of everything - obedience, tracking, training for working trials (spaniel), dog carting etc even though dog shows always have been my passion within our sport. Inspite of the start...

I'll never forget my debut in the show ring... The sweat was dripping and my whole body was shaking when the judge approached me, gave me a pat on the shoulder and said "that wasn't too scary, was it?!" - and next he gave me the very first CC of my life...

Dog shows are beauty and glamour - that extra spice that makes the adrenaline flow!

 

Even though I love dog shows and handling show dogs, the utmost reason for living this life are the daily interactions with my dogs, and that is something I believe most dog-people will agree on - no matter how successful they are within their genre.

The companionship and the fellowship, the stunning feeling you get when you're together with your dog and everything works, when you interact in symbiosis with your dog - that's probably the foremost motive power!

 

 

As a natural progression of my almost life long dog-mania, I've always had breeding as a goal. (As a 12-year old I sat down and wrote long lists of names for future litters, from A-Z...). I registrated my kennel prefix many years ago, but it's not until now I have the practical conditions needed, a greater chynological knowledge and a broader experience to concentrate on initiate and develop my work as a breeder.

 

Knowledge is something you never can be too rich of. I've learnt a lot from the practical work with dogs of different breeds - not simply my own, but also through handling other people's dogs and through other interactions with widely differing breeds.

Today I find great pleasure in searching for knowledge of all dimensions within the art of breeding. You can learn a lot from studying not only dogs, but also other species - I have myself chosen to concentrate on breeding rabbits. The shifts between generations goes quickly and you'll see results fast - both positive and negative.

 

Through the years I've had the great pleasure to meet many interesting individuals, people who have influenced me in many ways and taught me lots.

I would like to dedicate a huge and warm THANK YOU to all of you who've pushed me forward and helped me along away!

 

DOGS ACT AS AN INTERMEDIARY TO QUALITY IN LIFE IN SO MANY WAYS!

 

 

Marianne Komstadius.