At an obedience trial with  Temppu 29.8.2004

Hi, I'm Sanna Laine-Evans, the owner of the Takkutukan "kennel". I'm a biologist (biochemistry & genetics), but currently work in IT. Myself, my husband Hayden, our dogs and other animals currently live in Sammatti, in a village about 80 km west of Finland's capital Helsinki.

Temppu is my first Mudi, I got him in 1995, before that we had other breeds. When looking for a new dog for different sports the choice fell on Mudi because the breed seemed to meet my wishes: smallish size, doesn't require too much grooming and is "weatherproof", good health situation, no separate working- and show lines, not too soft or sensitive, has a lot of drive, can also guard. So far I haven't had to be sorry as the Mudi seems to suit me well! My first litter was born in spring 2005 just under 10 years after Temppu's birth, and I intend to continue breeding in small scale and home environment. So far I've bred 3 Mudi litters. Over the years I've imported Mudis from Hungary (6), France (2), The Netherlands (1) and Norway (1).

Through Mudi I also got interested in the Croatian sheepdog, a very similar breed, a couple of years after I got Temppu. After long deliberation Luna came from Zagreb in summer 2004 for a "guinea pig" - there was only one Croatian sheepdog in Finland before her. I imported my second Croatian sheepdog in 2005 (3.5-year-old bitch), third (a bitch puppy) in January 2006, and two adult males from Croatia in May 2006. I've been very happy with this breed too, and my first Croatian sheepdog litter was born in March 2006, and the second in July 2007. The plan is to continue small breeding with this breed too, with the next litter planned possibly for 2010.

We also got a new addition to the pack when working line Border Collie Swift from North of England joined us in autumn 2008. At time of writing we're still getting acquainted, but the plan is to continue the herding training she has already started in the UK. 

We can't have too big a crowd at home due to wanting to work with each dog, so I've placed several dogs in co-ownership or have retained breeding rights to males. This way I hope to get a good start and be able to make progress in breeding, and the dogs all get lots of individual attention. The co-ownership system will be very important in the future too, and I plan to keep importing dogs every now and then to keep my breeding material genetically diverse. I aim to choose imports from interesting (rare or otherwise a bit different from the mainstream) lines and from parents whose qualities go together with what I'm after in a dog, and who ideally have health- and other results.

Hayden and Croatian sheepdog puppy T. Elosalama "Teppo" on Lake Saimaa in June 2006

It would be very important for me that the Mudi and the Croatian sheepdog stay healthy both mentally and physically, and I'm trying my best to do my own share for this to happen. The parents of my own litters will normally be at least character tested (Finnish character test) and officially health checked (minimum of hips, knees and eyes), and preferably have been trained for e.g. sports to assess their trainability. When using a dog living abroad (or in other special cases) these may have to be improvised a little due to e.g. the differing testing traditions and possibilities. I hope to get 100% of the dogs I've bred officially health checked, and they are (only) sold to owners who commit to this against a price reduction. I also encourage everyone to sports and character tests. I aim for low inbreeding in my litters, and an inbreeding analysis constructed by a database software is available for each combination.

Because there's unfortunately only very little work for Mudis or Croatian sheepdogs as "real" farm/herding dogs in Finland I'm breeding dogs with different sports (obedience, agility, working trials etc.) in mind. However I try to assess each breeding dog's herding instinct if at all possible as the instinct shouldn't be lost from the breeds I think. As active and action loving breeds I prefer to see the dogs I've bred or placed in co-ownership in working or sports homes.

Details in appearance come last on my list of priorities. Dogs need to have healthy and purposeful structure and be easily recognised as representatives of their breed, but need not necessarily be multi show champions. I do however aim to get all the good stuff into the same package if at all possible, and breed dogs that are healthy and good tempered (first and foremost), together with conforming to the breed standard as well as possible.

I hope you enjoy the pages! Please drop us a line should you have any questions or comments.

All the best, Sanna

Sanna Laine-Evans
Sammatti (Lohja)
Finland
tel. +358 40 7363036
email: sanna.laine.evans@gmail.com