Our breeding kennel
"Od Brdské studánky" was registrated in 2002. We named the kennels after our favourite place in Brdy Woods
where we often go for a walk.
How did our life with Leonbergers begin?
How did we choose this breed? Our grand mother wanted a black dog, parents preferred a middle-sized one to be kept outside the house
(that was their priority)
so we chose Leonberger that definitely met all these conditions!
Bessy - our first leonberger - was born 16.5.1998 in the kennels of Pod tisem owned by Petr Blecha
from Čelákovice. Bessy had 3 brothers and 5 sisters. We brought her home in July 1998. When my aunt first saw her, she called her Medoušek (Honey).
All her family called Bessy this way since then. Bessy was a lively puppy and we realized very soon that it would be necessary to find some fun
and entertainment for her because, to be honest, we did not appreciate her games as a "Trench Warfare" or "Gnaw-This-Trees-or-I-will" too much.
We had no experience regarding dogs and their training so that we started attending training grounds - obedience is important for leons, too.
The grounds were a village, nearly family place. We did a few excercises and figures but could not find any helper for defence - once they learnt
the dog was a leongerger, they refused immediately - God knows why.
From time to time we went tracking - Bes was excellent in it. Then we released our dogs and chatted while they were playing. We were so sorry
when the grounds were closed in 2003 and sold as a building site, and that the town of Mirosov did not back cynologists up, even did not offer
them another place. We did not understand why.
It is true that only three or four people used to train their dogs regularly there but me and Vladěn decided to raise our symbolic protest
voice and take at least the Basic Obedience Exam (ZZO). Our dogs - Cir (Alsatian) and Bes both passed successfully.
Bes was always eager to train, every Saturday she still led me to the grounds in spite of the fact they had already been closed for weeks/months.
She simply did not understand, too.
Bessy had twelve lovely and healthy puppies in two litters.
Father
of the first litter (A) being a beautiful dog from the Czech breed - Arny Danův přítel.
On May 1, 2003, six puppies were born, two males Alf and Assan, and four females Aida, Asta, Arka, and Alma.
Assan (called Berny) was allowed to breed in May 2005. Assan is
father of three litters
- nine puppies
were born in the Od Bučického mlýna kennel, three in Golden Elf kennel, and four in Čejiva 4 kennel.
Father of the second litter (B) is Plet, a fine robust dog from the Danish breed - Khaimas' Just Incredible.
The puppies were born on May 18,
2005, first Borris, Ben, Bad, Bary and Barros came into world followed by the only female of the litter
Barča. Barča stayed
with us to become Besa's successor.
Barča - Bára od Brdské studánky, so different from a spontaneous Bess, has always behaved as a real lady. A sort
of hypocrisy from her side,
I am afraid, because a little devil hidden inside her sometimes says his bit as well :-) She loves soft cuddly toys but treats them carefully
- e.g. she has had her cat since birth. Only she always snatches their eyes
maybe not to be watched and keep
her privacy when playing with
them :-)
Unlike Bes, Barča was growing symmetrically and when she was eight months old, she was of the same height as Bes and the weighed 43 kg. Then she
started to hárat u psů nevím and since then kept her slim build, driving us crazy. She ate everything - sweets, meat, dry food, eggs...
as if she was afraid that something could jump out of the food and bite her. Her puberty ended up two years later. Then she put on several kilos.
Now (February 2008) she weighs 53 kg and - after several failures when she tried to get food together with the platem - can perfectly steal
food in the way Bes used to do it.
Having two dogs is a fun and I can recommend it to everybody. They invent new and new games, hunt cats, tussle about toys and cats, steal
food... so there is always a lot to watch! Even passers-by often stopped to watch them. Also, walking with two BIG dogs makes you look imposing
and noble,
even dangerous (or at least people with small dogs think so).
Our dogs share the house with our cats and in spring also with Zofinka, our turtle (her summer house is in the greenhouse). They meet our once
wild, now domestic ducks, too, and sometimes they even have to face
hens that succeeded in overflying the fence.
Otherwise, though, the hen house is a prohibited area for our dogs, not because they could hurt the hens, but because they would not leave any eggs for us
(the ducks have already learnt this, too).
In summer our leonbergers change into shepard dogs
and look after our herd of sheep. They usually accompany
my father and because both the sheep and dogs have already learnt all dos and don'ts, there are no problems with them. But when
they are with me, they show off: once Bes detached a lamb from the herd and drove it to me being very surprised that I was not about to bite
it and eat it
In fact, she was lucky that I did not swallowed up HER.
We can watch a stork nest from our yard with its residents fighting for it and their right to raise their young ones there who, as soon as they
learn to fly, set off for their long journey to the south - of course we do not watch their migration CONTINUOUSLY,
they just do not return home one day and their nest becomes an empty and sad place for the rest of autumn and whole winter.
For about two years or so, the storks have been trying to build up a new nest. The chimney of the former bakery seems to be a perfect place
for them but its owners do not agree and therefore foil all their attempts. Last year one stork got so furious that it landed in the street and
started pecking parking cars.
We love
walking and going for trips with our friends and relations.
You will find photos taken during the meeting of Bessy, Bara and their
offsprings
in this gallery, too.
It is wonderful to watch how these little bears are turning into handsome
dog gentlemen and beautiful dog ladies
Barča was allowed to breed in autumn 2007. We looked forward to having puppies looked after by their mum as well as by grandma. It would have
been interesting experience for us. Unfortunately, Bessy, our Medoušek - Honey, Bessinka, Brusinka, did not live long enough to see her daughter's
offspring. She died in January 2008. We all miss her a lot.
Yet we decided to cover
Barča. We chose a young German dog
Jökull Löwe von Walhall and
on April 4, 2008, ten puppies were born.
The delivery was long but Bara managed it without trouble which unfortunately could not be said about us: it was our first experience with such a
large litter and things did not go as smoothly as we had expected. Bara did her best to help us but still there was a lot of work left to us.
Feeding puppies with milk was brand new experience for us. At first, they did not like it too much but quickly realized what was going on and started
hunting us like little hungry raptors, unforgettable Fialka's "first words" being: "Yummy yummy" in my tummy
The next two months turned our hair grey and our faces wrinkled
but first of all supplied us with outstanding
experience. We had a wonderful time with the puppies.
Our decision to keep all the puppies at home for eight weeks turned to be a great idea. We could watch our sweet seven-week old doggies changing
into a demolition squad.
Of all the litter, Fialka (Comtesa) was the liveliest and most forceful, and I do dare to call her its most distinctive personality
.
Once again I would like to thank to all people who helped us or were helpful with their advice.
Walking in meadows on a frosty October morning, I found a little hedgehog entirely stiff with cold. First I wanted to leave it there but then
I changed my mind and took he home. It was a hedgehog from one of this year's late litters and therefore had no chance to put on sufficient
weight to survive winter. He started to warm up as soon as I took him into my hands and when
I put him close to our cat's bowl at home, he started eating immediately, undisturbed even by the cat who promptly joined him. We prepared
a wintering box for him and put it in the sunshine. But the little spiky animal misunderstood and ran away. He moved hiss bowel towards
the edge and climbed over. I hope he is not far away and will find his way to the food we regularly put outside the house for hedgehogs
to survive. Let's hope he will not miss the chance he was given.
We had been thinking about buying a male dog for some time. When Bess died, it was clear we would have to find a new friend for Bara.
We contacted the Norwegian kennel Aldibaras. We wrote to the breeder and waited eagerly wondering if she would agree
and if there would be a puppy left for us. And she agreed! Great! Unfortunately, all males from the litter had already been booked,
so that we had to wait for the results of the next mating. And we were lucky! During four hours, Kraka gave a birth to thirteen
lovely healthy puppies, nine males and four females - enough to choose from! We were finally offered the one with a gold ribbon - Gull.
We decided to call him
Fabián.
A Czech legend says that Fabian is a good spirit of the Brdy woods. But later we learn that it was the name of a robbery-knight, too
Fabian belonged to the most lively puppies. I don't know how the breeder managed to guess, but he has exactly the same temperament
and character as Bessy had. Our life will be a far cry from boredom, then!
He has been playing tricks since the first day he arrived at his new home. Bara has already been stolen all her toys and even lost her
beloved den - the robber-knight has come out, then!
He has also siezed my winter jacket. It became his favourite blanket on the way home and he still continues taking it to his den to sleep
on it. Fortunately, he doesn't destroy things.
Barča immediately recognized her big (though still quite little) chum in him and began teaching him how to carry toys and chase cats.
Ducks and hens are possible to chase, too. What a fun!
As a welcome gift,
Fabián received a one-metre long cuddly tiger. He quickly grasped what it was for. He keeps practising several times a day.
Once again, many thanks to all of you who helped us to get a puppy to our home.
First half of 2009 was an exciting period of waiting for new puppies. We bought toys and prepared books, collars, leashes and
beds for them - maybe a little early, but they will sure come useful. When born, the puppies will take all our time.
In March, we went for our traditional walk around castle
Šternberk. First time
we made this trip with Bessy in December 2007. We always drop in Park Hotel to be greeted by its smiling, dog-friendly staff, giving
our dogs lots of tasty titbits.
In April, Fabián and Cornelius took part in a club show on ranch "El-Paso". For both dogs this was their first exhibition.
Neither of them disappointed us, they both left the competition with an excellent judgement and were placed fifth.
In May, a club tests of young dogs were held. From our kennels, Claudie, Cordula, Cora, Cid, Corny and Fabián participated and all of them
were successful. A very nice event was our meeting with Assan od Brdské studánky. He successfully managed to repeat the breeding test and
was allowed to breed for other 3 years. We met also some of his descendants. They were also very successful during young dogs' tests.
Fabián has grown very fast, a sweet little puppy change into a
beautiful dog. We guess he is 74 cm and 56 kg, enough for a
ten-month puppy. In fact, he is as heavy as Barča now.
He took part in several shows. The first national show in Klatovy
was most successful for him - he received his first CAJC. Then we
appeared on a few small district and regional shows. Fabián's results
and judgements were very good but it didn't seem to make him happy,
he looked very bored. In spite of having been enlisted in several
more shows, we don't want to torture him and will prefer going for a
trip a walk instead.
In June
Barča started being in heat so we could set off to see her
bridegroom at last. This time we had chosen a dog from the
Netherlands - Rosaceae Amaranthus, called
Amore. It is a really
beautiful, strong, typical leon with lovely fur, exactly a sort of
male that
Barča needs. As a bonus, he is goodtempered and friendly,
it's really possible to say he loves people. Our trip was great,
too, we had a very nice weather and saw lots of interesting new
things. Holland is the right place for those loving travelling and
nature, we can recommend it!
Our trip to Holland was successful. On August 31,
Barča easily delivered
eight puppies, though sonography had expected only five.
And five were really delivered during first two hours. Then Barca
fell asleep. We were happy how quick it was, but after three hours
she woke up and to our surprise delivered one more, then another,
and another. Finally, there were five males and three females.
Barča did not manage to feed them so we started feeding them soon.
This litter was very different from the previous ones - they were
all the time hungry! We even had to stint food for "Mastík". If we
hadn't, he would have looked like a ball very soon. And the puppies
showed the same spontaneity when playing - we loved watching them
and they loved their toys, they really proved worth buying.
Fabián appeared to be an excellent nanny. Being just one year older, it often looked we have 9 puppies :-)
We had decided to keep one female puppy. Finally, we chose a "blue"
one, mainly because of her good relationship with
Fabián and
Barča.
Let me introduce her to you ... this is
Debbie !!!
At the end of November, we went for
a trip to Loučeň. It was the
very first trip for our youngest so that we're a bit afraid if
they'd be able to manage. They ran through pools and puddles in the
car park and then started their wild spree in the park.
The grown-ups "walked" through the park with us, some of them having a
swim in a little lake. And sunny weather made the lovely atmosphere
even more enjoyable.
In 2010 we gathered experience and took part in a lot of shows -
nine in Bohemia, three in Slovakia and five in Croatia. And there
was nothing to be ashamed of! All the dogs -
Barča,
Debbie and
Fabián , were excellent, just once they received very good".
Of course, we still need to learn a lot.
We were very pleased by Barca's offspring's results, especially two of them:
Danny was the first almost every time, meeting all Czech
Junior Champion requirements.
Kordulka taking part part in one
show only, won the open class of female dogs, beating lots of
beautiful rivals and making us very surprised as well as very happy.
Congratulations to both of them!
It'd be very interesting to compare our two Croatian trips -
one to Varaždin in June,
the other to Osijek in September. But it'd mean to
compare incomparable so I'll mention just Debbie's excellent result
- she met the criteria of the Croatian Junior Championship, getting
5x CAJC.
We made trips to Kolvín, to our favourite spring,
Kosmonosy, Kozel Castle, Kouřim
and Mirošov.
We also organized a weekend meeting in Ejpovice, enjoying it very
much. We're going to do it again!
We took part in several club events. Young dog testing was
attended by "Cs" - Ota and Miki,
and "Ds" - Debbie and her brothers Danny
and Leo. Barča managed to repeat the breeding test easily and without trouble.
Fabián got HD (B/B) and ED (0/0) and can be allowed to breed this year.
Several Assan's offspring got the breeding test, too: Agáta Golden Elf,
Adélka and Anthony od Bučického mlýna and Duffy Čejiva, some of them
having their descendants now. They make us very happy.
New Assan's puppies were born in Zelená míle kennel in spring
One female dog stayed with her mum Dafne and one male became his father Assan's friend and successor.
Unfortunately, we escaped the series of bad news. Assan was diagnosed with cancer the front legs.
Borris eye cancer. Both had to be sleep.
But unfortunately, there were some bad times to come, too. Assan
was diagnosed with cancer the front leg. Borris had eye cancer.
Both had to be put to sleep. After her six-month fight and several operations, Aida had to be put to
sleep as well cause her badly hurt paw couldn't be cured.
The empty place in Aida's family was to be filled soon. When Barča
started to be on heat three months later, it was a sort of happy omen. There was no time
to waste deciding about the mail so that we chose experienced and reliable Amore.
And he succeeded! Two months later, nine lovely puppies were born.
Almost the same day they were delivered, Amore won the Honorary Class in a German club show in
Leonberg, and a week later he succeeded again, winning the Champion Class in another club show in France.
As soon as they were born, it became clear that "Es" are related to
"Ds". The same predatoriness, the same buoyancy and appetite. And they
were growing so fast...
And growing...
Fabián became a devoted nanny again, helping Barča to lick her
puppies and playing with them. Debbie, their older sister, helped to
look after them outside, being Barča's great help, too.
In September, I was asked by magazine "Pes přítel člověka" to write an article about Leonbergers. I agreed and
after a long fight, I produced an article, supplemented with opinions of other breeders, owners and vets. It came out in the November
issue. You decide what it is like. There were two photos of D-puppies and a picture of Fabík published with it. It made us very happy.
You can see all our interesting photos in the gallery.
We hope you will enjoy our website.
