Kennel Ferrafox

First litterplans soon to be announced

First litter is being planned at Ferrafox! The happy mom will be Sienna-Red Capsicum (Ferra)! The puppies are expected to be very interested in game and well motivated to work with their handler. Size expectation is a bit smaller than average. The puppies are expected to be born in the end of January 2009 and they will be of delivery age in the middle of March.

Capsi, Willa, Ferra & Pia

Kennel Background & Goals

It's been over ten years since I got my first toller. Who would have guessed how hooked I'd get? Althouth the story of my first toller didn't end happily the years with him were very important, I learned a lot. In 2002 I took the Finnish Kennel Club's course for breeders (a prequisite for applying for a kennel name) and that was the same year Capsi arrived.

Since beginning of 2003 I've been active with the Finnish Toller Club, first three years helping new puppy buyers to get in touch with breeders. Since 2006 I've been in the committée for health and breeding issues, chairing the committee 2007-2008. I've also been a hunt training instructor in regional and national toller events, and also some periods as an instrcutor in obedience and agility classes.

In tollers I value most of all a good temperament. If there are serious problems in temperament nothing else matters either. Of course it must be remembered that not all tollers are for everybody, in wrong hands good temperaments can cause problems too. Physical health is the next most important thing. With tollers the risks for autoimmune problems are always there. Sometimes things go wrong even when you've done "everything right", but you still shouldn't take risks that can be avoided. Number three on my list is hunting abilities, the original purpose of tollers. Unfortunately I don't actually hunt, but hunt training is a very nice hobby even for women living in the city :-). The best part is to see the dogs really loving the training sessions and it's also wonderful to watch them sleeping happily after training, think nothing tires the dogs as efficiently as hunt training. Last on my list is conformation. It seems often that looks and show results decide which tollers are used for breeding. If everything else is ok (temperament, health, hunting abilities) and I'm still allowed to wish for something of course I want my tollers to look like tollers. But I don't want anything heavy, I like the "sportier" kind of model, with good proportions, a typical tail, head and expression.

Thoughts for puppy buyers

Tollers are often regarded as a fairly challenging breed, not the first choice for a person looking for her/his first dog. When the owner and the dog are a "good match" and the owner is enthousiastic enough I'm pretty sure also a "newbie" will do well. Certain dog experience might make things easier, but everybody has once been a newbie and experience is no guarantee for anything anyway.

My wish for puppy buyers is in addition to giving the dog a good home and meeting it's basic needs is an intention to introduce the dog to different activities, preferrably also those that make use of their natural hunting abilities. Good basic education will for sure pay off every day for the rest of the dog's life.

As a breeder I will be highly motivated to help out in every way I can when it comes to the training and socialization of dogs that I've bred.