Greetings from Finland

[Anni Roiha]

Hi,

I am a 30 years old woman from Finland. I have a two years old DS female "Zelda" a daughter of Holland Gentleman v. le Dobry and Canine For Use B'Tuska. We are training tracking: FH, blood tracking and nordic style. There were problems loading a photo so here is a link to my dog:
http://www.working-dog.eu/dogs-details/ ... -FI5205411

I have a FCI kennel "IGNITIA" and plan the first litter on next year. As a new breeder I am very fortunate to have contacts who have helped me to get into this breed. However, there are still a lot of gaps in pedigrees and I welcome every information concerning this topic

Lastly, I have to apologize beforehand that my english is a bit rusty

Regards,

Anni Roiha

[johninny]

WELCOME ! thanks for joining. exciting to have a Finnish voice here. hope you get the input you need.

[LyonsFamily]

Welcome to the forum!

Where abouts in Finland are you? My brother and sister in law just spent a year in Helsinki and really liked it there.

[Anni Roiha]

We live in Vantaa, which is located next to Helsinki. The distance to Helsinki is about 30 miles and Helsinki-Vantaa airport locates 13 miles from our home.

Helsinki is a great city having an open and international atmosphere. Nevertheless you really dont get the wind of the real essence of Finland there. Finland is "a land of thousand lakes": we have over 188 000 lakes (area larger than 500m2). Population density is low outside the big cities. Woods cover over 70 % of our land. I guess it is comparable more than in Canada?

Dutch Shepherd is a quite new breed here. As for working dutchies, our breeding is based mostly on swedish dogs (Havrevingens, Canine For Use). The frustrating thing with the FCI pedigree dogs is that you do not know their true heritage. Luckily I have found people with more experience who have helped me with this issue.

Looking forward to get more into this breed

[Dances With Empties]

Good Day from Canada!
The Dutch Shepherd has been here for while, but it's popularity is still low compared to the G.S.D. Since I feel that a large number of breeders here have taken so much away from the German Shepherd in favor of the show ring & profit; other breeds for that matter as well, I looked for a Shepherd that was bred more for it's intelligence & health than that of its appearance. It's not that I don't like G.S.D.s, just that it is a lot more difficult to find a sound one with the amount of "breeders" in North America. Also a fan of the Malinois, but prefer the character of the Dutch more.
Not an expert, but I believe a lot of the D.S. here in North America come from proven, high drive, high energy working dogs from Europe. That's why I believe it is harder here to find a companion dog with lower energy & drive that does not have to be worked or in a regular sport. I realize Shepherds are not couch potatoes, but believe most people who purchase dogs, base it solely on appearance & don't realize the amount of effort required to keep a particular breed healthy & mentally sound. Shepherds bred for working or sport are not going to make good pets for those in urban settings or for those who cannot commit the time to their dog. But yet so many fall into this trap, only to be surrendered or abandoned. I believe responsible breeders should direct or deter potential customers with regards to the litters they have for sale.
I honestly explain to the breeder what I was looking for in a Shepherd & he helped me narrow my selection down to two in the litter. He had also refused to sell me two that were not what I described what I was looking for & I am grateful for that. His interaction with the litter over the last two months gave him the ability to direct me to the perfect Dutch Shepherd for my wife & I.
And in perfect Finnish/ Canadian fashion, my Dutch will be going on his first moose hunt this fall. He'll be wearing more blaze orange than me!

[Stacy_R]

Welcome!