The Path to Becoming a Breeder 

Some Background

The first dog in our childhood family was a cocker spaniel. After that, in 1982 a Kerry Blue Terrier named Fille, Geijes Philosoph, moved into our family. We got to keep Fille for 13 years. Fille and I went to a dog school where the instructor had a Wheaten Terrier called Ani, so I got to know the Wheaten Terrier more than 40 years ago!

When my daughters were in preschool, they too wished for a dog. While studying different breeds, we always came back to the Wheaten Terrier. In 2004, our first Wheaten Terrier Heta, Grairish Heritage, moved into our home. We then got our second Wheaten Terrier Iisa, Camacha Ysult, as a friend for Heta in Christmas 2007.

Unfortunately, we lost both of our beloved dogs at the age of 11 and 9 within a short period of time during 2016.

After the loss of dogs, the longing for a Wheaten Terrier in our family was great and in 2017 we started looking for a new family member. There was no Irish line puppies available in Finland, so I started to look at the puppy situation abroad and found breeder Anne Skodborg from Gaelic-Wheaten`s Kennel in Denmark.

Our first imported dog Rasmus, Gaelic-Wheaten`s Vayne of Eire, was born on 30 April 2017. Rasmus immediately proved to be a top individual thanks to his open and social nature, his healthy structure, clean genes and a wonderful coat. Rasmus won the title of Finnish Champion in February 2020. It was

self-evident that I would use Rasmus for breeding and start the breeding work with Rasmus. Rasmus' first litter was born on 3 October 2020 at Geijes kennel.

I started look for a Wheater Terrier bitch in the autumn of 2019. Going through pedigrees and finding a suitable bitch was time-consuming. The Covid-virus and the restrictions brought challenges to my breeding dreams. Finally I came across a suitable combination from the long-time breeder Kickie Norrdy from Villa Rosa Kennel in Sweden. Kickie was interested in collaborating with me and chose a wonderful and suitable puppy - a genuine and original Wheaten Terrier - for the planned use of starting my own kennels. My wait was rewarded when Iris, Villa Rosas Iselin Fin, born on 28 March 2020 travelled with me to Finland.

To our delight, Iris' health and genetic test results were confirmed good. Apart from Iris being a carrier of the RB4N gene, her results were clean.

The Path to Becoming a Breeder

Work as a breeder has interested me for a long time; It started with my first Wheaten Terries bitches.

Unfortunately, neither was selected for breeding. I then acquired my current dogs with breeding in mind, and to our delight they have both grown and developed to be suitable for that use.

Both of my dogs are genuine Irish Wheaten Terriers according to the original breed definition. I have started my breeding work with a combination of my own pedigree dogs, the Irish line. I hope to be able to cherish the origin of the breed in my breeding work with healthy, good-natured dogs that conform to the breed definition. With this combination, the genetic base of the Wheaten Terrier population in Finland will also expand.

Our dogs are good-natured, wonderful individuals and active family members who are involved in everyday life and activities.

We practice agility and rally obedience with our dogs, although we don't compete at these events at the moment. In addition, we practice nose work and occasionally compete in dog shows.