During the autumn 1990 I was walking from my home to the train station I saw this cute little puppy sitting behind the gate. My sister and I had talked about this cute little puppy a few times. I had lost my other dog (mix breed) 6 months before and was sure that I shouldn’t have any new dog now.But…a day in october 1990 my sister called me and said – this cute little puppy needs a new home. After 2 seconds I said – tell them that I’m on my way – so that was how I got my first Bouvier – Skovlyst Sonny Boy.I didn’t know the breed, how to pronounce the name, how to groom them etc. So I started out with a dog, a pedigree and books about the breed. In the beginning I had a slip of paper in my pocket with the name – Bouvier des Flandres – just in case somebody should ask what breed he was.I did some training with my first dog and had a lot of fun doing that. So it was obvious that I should work with Sonny as well. We started doing obedience and after a while also Agility (we did actually win the unofficial club-championships in our club).
In 1992 I got my second Bouvier – this time a female “Jelo Pamela” called Tulle. At the same time I started my education as puppy and obedience trainer in the Danish Kennel Club.
I worked as a volunteer at the Civil Defence, and of course the work with Rescue dog was my favourite. Both Sonny and Tulle was educated here and passed the first test to become rescue dogs.
In 1995 the third dog came to the house – Kanix Private Affair – called Carmen. Carmen was owned by Ulf Bråthen who had Kennel Kanix – at that time he was breeding Bouviers. So in 1996 the first litter saw the world here. The litter was breed by Ulf Bråthen/Kennel Kanix but they grow up here. From that litter I kept Kanix Stop on the Top – Goofy. This litter was the last Bouvier-litter that Ulf wanted to breed – that explains the names from that litter. Carmen had another litter the year after.
I had to get a name for my kennel and that was hard time to find. But it ended with Carmson’s – the name Carm comes from Carmen and Son from Sonny. The two dogs that “started it all”.While all of this was happening I still was working and showing the dogs – mostly obedience but I also found IPO (tracking, obedience and defence work) very interesting and had to find out what that was. In 1993 I went to my first Beginner test in obedience (from the IPO-programme) with Sonny. Unfortunately I had not the experience and knowledge working with a Bouvier in IPO – so we never got to an IPO-trial. Looking back Sonny had the capacity to get an IPO title but he had a new handler in this field.
My interest for shows was also huge. So we started in Denmark but I had to see more Bouviers. In 1993 I was in Holland for the first time at the Bouvier specialty – not to forget mention that Sonny was the first Bouvier showed in Holland with a long tail! And it has been several shows in Holland at the specialty afterwards. Also shows in Germany, Norway and Sweden.He did quite well on the shows generally even though he was the only one with long tail for a very very long time. The next show-dog was Goofy who was one of the most winning Bouviers in Denmark.
In 2000 I got Hazy – Excerno Hazy Heaven af Aqua from Anna Stridh in Sweden. Hazy was just something very special! I started training her with the clicker and got lots of help from Jeannette Sjöberg – I wanted to do IPO training with her and Jeannette really knows this type of sport. Hazy was a great workingdog and very beautiful too. I can’t thank Anna enough to let me have this dog. In 2003 she had her first litter and out of this Jeannette had INTCH DKCH SECH IPO3 Carmson’s Boris bZack – the youngest Bouvier getting an IPO3 (only 2,5 years old) and the first Danish breed Bouvier with an IPO3. The whole litter was great both in shows and work.
In 2002 Excerno Kactus Kvadrat af Fantasy moved in. He was so funny – was doing funny things and he was really a great dog to work with. With him I got my first IPO title and he was beautifull too – so also INTCH, DKCH and SECH plus the IPO1 and LP1 was added to his resume!!
In 2011 a new breed came to the house – a Jack Russell Terrier. And the interest for this breed has increased over the years. Our first litter was in 2013 and our JRT-litters are breed under the prefix Dorte-Martina – a close cooperation with Dorte on this breed has made this possible.
Not only dog-sport has my attention also breeding of the Bouvier and the JRT’s. A Bouvier is not “just a Bouvier” and a JRT is not “just a JRT”. The dogs must be breed in respect of the standard of the breed – not only when it comes to the beauty but also when it comes to the character. The whole dog is what is important for me and this is the main focus when it comes to selecting dogs suitable for breeding.