My name is Sylvia.
I have grown up around dogs my entire life. In fact my very first memory as a child is going to pick up a puppy with my dad.
My kennel name is a shortened version of one my parents used way back when…when they were trying to show and breed the Chow Chows we once had.
We’ve had numerous breeds over the years, but my focus has always been towards the rarer breeds. I’ve never been one to follow the trend of others, but to set my own route. When I first got into havanese in 1997, there were very few breeders in Canada. Our breed was registered by the United Kennel Club.
My first girl, Scosha, came to me through a Canadian breeder in 1997. She was a black and white Irish Pied. She had so much spring to her step, she could jump straight into my arms when I was in a standing position.
As I said, I don’t like to follow in others’ footsteps, and I fell in love with chocolate havanese, which were acceptable in Canada, but were not readily accepted for show in Europe. So I imported my first boy, Rheiley, a chocolate and tan, from Germany in 1998. He was the sweetest, most gentle boy you’d ever want to meet. He had this way of just melding up against my body, which I called, “giving me hugs.”
Scosha and Rheiley were the loves of my life. Number three, Tori, the Boss, joined our ranks in the new millennium…2000. She came from Rheiley’s breeder in Germany as well. Tori was a golden girl (literally). Her bloodlines came from some of the first Cuban lines allowed to be imported into Europe. I called Tori my traitor because anytime my dad came to visit, or stay, she was his Velcro dog, not mine.
With these three, my havanese family was complete for a while…and the adventure continues to this day…