My very first own dog was a Siberian husky called Mr. Ratikainen. I spent most of my childhood playing in Rati’s dog house in our backyard, or running around the forests with this great companion. Rati was followed by a Japanese Chin Jasu (Asami of Zlazano), who I patiently took to obedience classes and agility trainings for years, despite that he refused to take me or anyone else seriously.

All my life I had dreamed about having a Newfoundland and in 1989, when I was 15 years old, I bought Pomo (Fin Ch Majakarhun Flanagan) with my hard-earned savings. The cheeky little bear pup grew to be the love of my life. Pomo was a true working dog; intelligent, easy to train, and followed me constantly everywhere. We competed in obedience trials and since Pomo was fairly handsome-looking too, I also got interested in shows. Pomo was a very active and cheerful person until he finally slept away at 12,5 years. He certainly left his big paw mark permanetly in my heart.

Pomo in 2000 (on the right) with young Pilkku and Oskari, and Terho on his side

In 1994 Terho (Fin & Swe Ch Cannon Bear’s Kisses For Sale) was born in Denmark in Kennel Cannon Bear’s, and she soon moved to Finland to develop a career in Academia. At that time I was finishing my undergraduate studies in Biology, and little Terho spent her days in lectures and field courses with me, even traveling to Utsjoki, Lapland, for one summer to study caterpillar behaviour on the mountain slopes.

In 1999 breeding Terho sounded like a good idea – I was writing up my doctoral thesis and would therefore finally have plenty of time looking after little puppies while working at my computer home. Little did I know! Terho produced 8 little monsters with Ch Alpha Rovi’s Crown of Scandinavia, which kept me busy every hour of the day (and night). My dissertation was delayed by six months! After sharing the same bed with the puppies for 2-4 months, giving them away to their new homes was heart-breaking, and against any plans I ended up keeping two puppies myself; Oskari (INT & FIN & S & EST CH Terhotarhan Timotei) and Pilkku (FIN & S CH Terhotarhan Taiga). Terhotarha was set up! Following Terho’s lifelong dedication to the wonderful wonders of biology, I picked up all the puppy names from the Dictionary of Biology, so her puppies were named after types of forests or cells, and plants and insects.

In 2002 we also got a chance to acquire a new girl into our Newfie gang, an English import (from Italian and Danish lines) Dii Dii (FIN & S & EST CH Big Top’s Masquerade). These days, we have five Newfoundlands who share their time between Finland and Sheffield, UK, where I moved in 2000 - and Terhotarhan Hunajapupu and Kastehelmi live in their foster homes with co-ownership. Terho has got company from her son Oskari and daughters Pilkku and Onni (Terhotarhan Onni Makkara).

Onni is Terho’s daughter from her second litter (born 2002) with Cannon Bear’s Quenemo at Topsail. She is mad as a monkey, and I love her to bits. Sadly her hips are far from ideal and she will not be used for breeding, but all my dogs are primarily very dear family members anyway who often follow me to work, come along for holidays, sleep in bed and share my life. Perhaps due to all her troubles Onni is so special to me. Although, they are all special! Oskari is such a gentle giant, and Pilkku is extremely intelligent and there is not a problem that she could not solve. She is perfectly aware of the capacity of her brain, and most of the time she is convinced that she is the cleverest creature in the universe… Pilkku has that something that Pomo also had: a true desire to work hard and be useful, and I wish that all of our possible future Newfoundlands would always carry this trait in addition to sound looks and good health.