At the end of the leash
My name is Maaret Äijälä. I live with my family in Tampere, Finland. My family includes me, my husband Petri, our two beautiful daughters and our dogs Riki and Hupu.
I have grown up in a farm so I have been surrounded by animals my whole life. When I was a child we always had at least one dog watching our yard. One of my biggest loves were our Bernese Mountain Dog, Jeri. Jeri was like a big, gentle teddybear who loved children and took good care of his family.
Jeri died in a cancer at the age of six, year 2000. It was a very huge lost to me because Jeri was mostly my dog. Jeri still has a very special spot in my heart and I will never forget his big and wise eyes.
There were few years after I left home when I didn't have a dog at all. But when my big sister's family started to look a small dog for them, I realized how much I'd missed a dog in my life. We talked with Petri about having a dog and at first it seemed like a mission impossible. Where would I find a dog which Petri would approve and which would fit to our lives at that moment.. But when my sister took a little chinese crested puppy at the year 2004, we were sold! That was the breed we wanted! And so began the search and our first powder puff boy came into our lives at the beginning of the year 2005.
Now we have two powder puff boys in the house. Along with this breed I also got to know something called dog shows.. A showbug bit me at the first puppy show we were in and since that I've been entering shows more and more! Dog shows are one of my passions nowadays (as well as grooming) and you can meet me there either inside or outside the ring :)
I have taken a breeder's course and I got my kennel name Smitten in autumn 2009. But I have no breeding plans, not just yet ;) So no Smitten-puppies for a while. But if my boys have puppies in other kennels, I will put information about it on my sites also.
If you are interested of my boys, don't hesitate to contact me and ask if they are available for stud.
And if you have any questions at all about me or my dogs or you just want to chat about his wonderful breed, just send me an email and let's have a talk :)
Best regards,
Maaret