NEWS

25.6 latest news

We have been pretty much stuck at home while others have been busy. So there are pick & result updates here and there. Only if I  could remember where!

The pups are growing and have reached their four weeks milestone. Unfortunately we have had kennel couch. First Tiitus got sick, then Speedy and Bitti, then Oona and Kössi. Despite our efforts to avoid the pups getting it, they did. Luckily all accept for Calle had only mild symptoms and everyone is OK now. The camera has not been used much but we promise to improve on that.

3.6 JOSH has earned his WCX

Wonderful news from Canada have reached us. Josh has earned his WC, WCI and WCX tittles and can be called Redadict Road Runner WCX now. And he is only 10,5 months old! Congratulations Sue and Josh! I'm sooo proud right now. Also Dixie, Foxgrove's Whistling Dixie, half sister to Daisy earned her WCX title, congratulations!

1.6 puppy news & game tracking results

Oona and the pups are doing fine. You can almost hear them grow! I almost envy their easy living: eating, sleeping, crawling a bit, eating, sleeping.... :-D

Nitro from R & R litter has been to a game tracking test and has finished with 47 points and a first prize! Congratulations Niina & Nitro! Jing in Norway did no worse, she took a first prize with a HP as well! Congratulations Johanna & Jing!

28.5 Alma, Bertta, Calle, Daniela & Elina

The little one's are here! One male and four females. Oona and the pups are doing fine.

21.5 Pup news

On Sunday me and my friend Marja-Liisa flew from Helsinki to Stockholm to visit Toppa & Kössi pups. The main purpose of this trip was to check out the pups and decide who would be "Rasa", Marja-Liisa's new friend for all kinds of activities. Altogether there was eight pups: four girls and four boys. All of them very lively, playful and all had pretty sharp teeth ;-) Bit thank you to breeder Annika who put up with us the hole day and let us "inspect" the pups. Picks will follow as soon as I can figure out who is who...

While we were on our holiday managed Eve & Kössi pups some fantastic results: CAC's for Hulda & Essi and Rilla finished second in Mölleri, an unofficial hunting test dome with game. Way to go! Congratulations!

Oona is at our house now. One week to go until the pups arrive...

17.5 IN NEW YORK AND VISITING josh

Last few days we spent overseas together with our friends Laura & Tomi. Our trip started with few days in New York. When you go overseas it's definitely a city you just must go to. We visited the famous tourist attractions like the statue of liberty, Time Square, Central Park, Wall Street, Empire State Building. Due to bad weather we also found our selves indoors: Macy's just around the corner from our hotel was the nicest and most expensive place to avoid rain...

New York buildings as seen from Central Park.

From New York we drove north. Our destination was small village called Glen Robertson in Canada. That's where Josh lives now. Laura and I spent few days observing and discussing how dogs are trained in their style while Tomi and Jani went to see Montreal and Ottawa, the biggest towns nearby. Josh was doing well and he works really really nicely. Thank you so much, Sue and Pierre for letting us stay with you in the middle of your training season.

Sue Kish, Josh & Pierre Mathieu

Training ideas and tips was not the only thing we brought back from there! We also brought the sweetest puppy ever: Daisy.

Before our flight back home we had just enough time to visit the famous Niagara Falls. Here is a picture from the American walls. You simply could not keep dry without the lovely yellow rain coat.

We also would like to thank people who made our trip more relaxed and nevertheless possible: Thanks mum and dad for taking care of Tiitus & Speedy, Nina for taking care of Kössi and Anna & Ville for taking care of Bitti!

4.5 result update

Excellent Redadict results: Couple of obedience wins in class 1 for Löwe who has been competing with Tiina Kinnari. Jing got HP and CK in Norway and also finished as second best bitch in the other show. Her brother Nitro won the junior class with excellent in Lahti INT. Congratulations!

Speedy and Tiitus competed in obedience. Should have stayed home... Tiitus was on a another planet than I was and we can't speak of any kind of co-operation between us so I decided to retire instead of making things very unpleasant for both of us. Speedy started with four tens but we got couple of zeros as well so the result was a third prize. Shame on us.

Bitti started in a Working Test. Can you guess the result? A round zero... Well she missed a marking and we could not get the dummy with directing so there went the result as well. In three other tasks she got 19, 18 and 15 points so otherwise I can be really happy on her performance.

Lyyli has been mental tested. She got together 174 points, everything was on the plus side so we can be happy with her performance.

6.4 unofficial team hunting test

Toller clubs team for this year consisted of Mila & Jouni son "Kairo", Kössi & Eve daughter "Rilla" and Bitti. Our team finished eight out of seventeen teams. Kairo and Rilla did really well considering their level of training and amount of experience their handlers have. So we can be proud.

Bitti did really nice. Her search was good after she got her diesel engine working. Line was good accept for me needing to stop her and send her forward again. The double marking was perfect. Out of sixty point we pulled together fifty-five :-)

5.4. obedience, shows & pups

How good idea is it to be out of the house for a week and next day start in obedience? Not very good. We did it but the work was not very well finalized. Speedy, Tiitus and Bitti started in our own club test last weekend. Speedy was the fast and inpatient himself and managed to pull together enough points to get a first prize in elite. Tiitus started in winners class (level three out of four), was a bit  unconcentrated in one moment plus got a zero in the jump. This together with some unfinalized moments he got enough points to get a good second prize. Bitti was her usual: very obedient and trying her best. Trying too much and that caused us to get a zero in standing because she lied down. But altogether enough points for a first prize.

In the same test R & R pups dam Mila got her third first prize in beginners and got the title TK1.Her son Otto, Redadict Rodeo Rider finished second best male pup in a show in Korpilahti the same day. Congratulations to both of them!

We also want to congratulate Toppa, Agrosofens Kastanjetta, who gave births to four beautiful girls and four handsome boys. Daddy Kössi and rest of the Redadict gang send their congratulations!

29.3 oona mated

Oona has been mated to quiz and now we just wait and keep our fingers crossed! Big thanks to Tina and Jörgen at Lövenborg for their kindness and hospitality!

29.3 bitti and speedy at a show

Bitti  and Speedy were shown to Raimo Louhio in Ruovesi. Speedy become second best male, Bitti got "just" VG.

23.3 josh safely into Canada

Josh and Jani had a safe trip to Canada via New York. Now Jani is back home after spending few days at Sue's place and few days in New York. A place worth visiting, I hear... Josh is doing fine in his new home.

16.3 winter hunting test and show

On Saturday Bitti and I participated in an unofficial hunting test in Middle Finland. Bitti started the search nicely, her own rather slow style but she used her nose pretty well. Her catch in the time allowed was four birds out of six. After the search we moved to another area to do the markings and the line. We had some serious discussions on whether to bring the seagull from the marks but finally she did what she was told. The line went perfect, though.

On Sunday we drove to Tampere Int show. It turned out to be a success! Bitti won the hunting class, an was selected best itch and was awarded her first CAC & CACIB. Ramon, Fireheart Kid Sundance was selected BOB and Bitti was BOS. Congratulations to Ramon! And thanks for the company Heidi and Ossi, who drove with us :-)

BOB Ramon (Fireheart Kid Sundance), judge Tapio Eerola, BOS Bitti (c) Matleena Kallio

12.3 Bingo in memoriam

We have received very unfortunate news. One of Kössi's sons, Bingo, had bit his owner badly and was put down. Condolences to Bingo's family.

11.3 on his way to a new home

This is a story of how there can be always something good in bad things as well: One and half months ago, Mila & Jouni son Toffe come back to me. One thing led to another and now he is on his way to a new home in Canada. His new name will be Josh and he will be owned and trained by Sue Kish at the Foxgrove kennels. Good luck to both Sue & Josh!

18.2 jing in shows

Mila & Jouni daughter Jing has been to two shows in Trondheim, Norway. Both times she was BOB puppy and become BIG-4. Perfect way to start lady Jing's carrier, Congratulations!

4.2. a date in Sweden

On Friday evening my friend Marja-Liisa and I drove to Turku and took a ferry to Sweden. The wind was awful and  the night a bit restless but we made it to Sweden :-) In the morning we drove to Tärnsjö, north of Uppsala. It was time for for Kössi and Toppa to meet and have their date. Everything went perfect. The weekend was joyful and we had a really nice time meeting some dogs and people of the Agrosofen "gang". Thank you all! Special thanks to Tico's "mum" Johanna who had fixed our accommodation and kept our hunger away. Now we are back home, tired but happy. We'll keep our fingers crossed for some more exciting news in nine weeks!

4.2 parkano SHOW: Bitti 4TH best female, Lyyli 3rd best female

While I was in Sweden took Jani and Nina took both our Bitti and Nina's Mila to a group show in Parkano. Big thanks to both of them for doing this and  for Nina for showing Bitti. Mila got VG and Bitti was second best female in working class and finished fourth best female. Lyyli was also shown and she finished third best female and go a res-CAC. Congratulations!

4.2 kössi veteran toller of 2007

Finnish Toller club gave out the "title" Veteran Toller of the year for the first time. It was Kössi who won the title for 2007. The old guy made us very proud :-)

2.4 toffe is doing fine

Toffe is doing fine here among our gang. He is getting along with the boys and Bitti really well. Only if they would melt little more and start playing more. So far just a little running beside. But they will melt...

Looks like Toffe has found a new nice family. We will know for sure in few weeks. Until that we'll continue with basic training.

24.1.2008 bitti eye examined

Bitti has been eye examined and the diagnoses was now confirmed to be cataract. I still had hope in my mind that it could have been something else - after all the chance was in an untypical place etc. Such a pity!

24.1. Five dogs...

...is absolutely too much! Even though that is the current number of red coats in this family. On Saturday is was informed that Toffe, son of Mila and Jouni had to move. Family reasons said the owner. The very next day Toffe was already here with us. He is getting along with rest of the dogs very nicely. He will be training basic obedience etc here with us until we find him a good home.

7.1.2008 past, present, future...

Few birthday congratulations are in order. A bit late but better late than never? Tiitus and his littermates turned four on December 27th, congratulations. Kössi and Itu -litter aka the Rockets' turned two on new years day, congratulations! And one congratulation already in advance: Small fetcher Idols after Kössi and Debi will turn one on January 13th.

This weekend we spent Kuopio and Kajaani. Up north that is... Oona, Lyyli and their half siblings Essi and Hulda from the Hulivilin litter attended INT show. Lyyli got res-CACIB and Hulda was third best female. Well done :-) Oona got VG and Essi EXC. Thanks to our host family, Essi's owners for the nice company and accommodation!

Our plans for next year? The plan is not to have plans. Oona's pups will be a big project for the spring. Then we'll see how Bitti develops in her "job(s)" and go from there. The boys will sure have something to do also. Maybe something new, who knows. Also a Redadict-training weekend is planned for the autumn. But the biggest and most important goal is to enjoy our time together and have as many memorable moments as possible :-)

11.12 winner show

On Sunday Bitti and Kössi took part in the winner -07 Show in Helsinki. Both got Excellent and Bitti finished third best junior bitch and Kössi second best veteran male. Damn, so much for the Winner tittles ;-D. We also took part in the arrangements of the show under toller clubs team. hard work, but nice chance to meet old friends and chat with them. See you all next year :-)

7.12 Kennel meeting

On Thursday, Independence Day of Finland, we had a little kennel meeting for the R & R litter. All pups living in Finland joined: Otto, Kairo, Nitro & Toffe. They had developed very nicely and I was very happy to see them nicely trained and obedient enough for their age. We did some exercises outdoors and continued inside with dog talk and show training basics. I want to thank everyone for coming. Special thanks goes to Mila's owner Nina and Jouni's owner Minna, who helped a lot with the training part. Some picks will follow soon, thought I'm afraid there wont be that many good due to an awful weather.

3.12 trip to sweden

A while ago we took a long weekend in Sweden. On Thursday we took the ferry to Stockholm and spent the next morning hanging around in a retail shop and drove up north to Uppsala. The same day we had the chance to meet few potential males I had been thinking about for Lyyli and also showed Kössi for few interested people. After that nice afternoon we drove down to Ljungby and spent the night there. Next morning Kössi and Tiitus were shown in a small show in Åstorp. Goal of this trip was to get a Swedish CAC for Tiitus. Unfortunately the "wrong" dog won, Kössi was BOB and Tiitus fourth best male. The CAC went to the second best male so we'll need to take a new trip later. What an excellent excuse to take trips ;-)

After the show we drove to Hönö, which is located outside Göteborg, to "inspect" Kössi's & Sushi's pups. They turned out to be energetic, lively and had a lots of the Finnish "sisu" :-D. On Sunday we had to leave back home. Altogether the trip was lots of fun! Big than you to everybody who made it possible. Picks will follow sometime (soon)!

25.11 obedience

Bitti started in our own clubs' obedience competition on Saturday. She did really good work in her own precise style and finished with 198.5 points out of 200 possible. Just a tiny fault in taking the position after the call-in.

Speedy started in elite on Sunday. Few faults, extremely eager dog and lots of fun. Result 307 points out of 320. Guess if I'm happy with the result :-)

Also Oona competed and got a third prize in winners lass (class 3) on Saturday and a first prize on Sunday. Congratulation!

Speedy competed in obedience last week and we visited Swedish friends few weeks back. More about those a bit later.

7.11 Show on Lahti 3.11 and teeth problem

Kössi & Terra son Bingo and Kössi & Helmi daughter Oona took part in a group show on Lahti last Saturday. the judge was Riitta Liisa Lehtonen. she found bingo too light and gave him a good. Oona was cute but her ears caused her to get Very Good. Also some pups from Kössi & Eve litter were shown in the puppy show. Eppu was BOS, Hulda BOB and second best bitch in her age group was Essi and third Rilla.

Kössi was entered but couldn't take part. It has turned out that a small fracture in one of his upper front teeth caused a problem. A bacteria had gone in and caused infection. The tooth was to be removed. When taking closer look and x-rays it turned out the inflammation was also in the next tooth so both were removed. Poor Kössi :-(

28.10 bitti passed BH

Yesterday Bitti passed the BH test which must be passed before starting in utility dog competitions in Finland. (We are faaaar away from competing, still) We decided to do the test now because usually tests are very full bit this time we had the advantage of being members of the organizing club. Test includes obedience part (miles long heel work, sit and lay down from movement, calling the dog and lying on place while the pair does the other parts. Dogs passing obedience continue to do the "city part" where joggers pass the dog from behind, dogs run by, etc normal life situations.

22.10 Working test weekend

Last weekend was full of work ;-) On Saturday we took part in working test training organized by Finnish hunting retriever organization in Hauho. Bitti did excellent job in the morning when we concentrated on markings and lines. Then I decided let her rest for the Sundays' test and trained Kössi in the afternoon. Mistake! He was totally terrible: noisy, too eager, not listening and we both totally embarrassed ourselves! Damn, he's not perfect after all...? On Sunday Bitti took part in the working test. Markings were perfect accept for one when she dropped the dummy few times (I'm sure it was greased ;-)) both search and line were something we haven't trained enough in the right way so they were not perfect but neither impossible. Total of the day was a second prize. I'm really proud of my young little darling :-) Oona took part in the same test and got a first prize! Perfect end for the season, congratulations!

While competing, my friend Nina took Kössi to Finnish retriever organizations yearly show. He got excellent but was beaten by the two other veterans Cajo and Jouni in the completion. Thanks to Nina for taking him!

Terra's and Kössi's son Bingo competed in Obedience and got a first prize in Beginners class. Congratulations!

1.10 Back in Business

Things are back to normal know that Tiitus and Jani are back home from their hunting trip in Lapland. There hadn't been that many birds to shoot, maybe better luck next year...

It needed just a little bit agitation and a free place in a hunting test -ad in a discussion forum before Kössi was entered. So we started in a open class hunting test on Saturday in Pomarkku. I'm very happy with Kössi's performance considering the amount of training. He made little noise, missed the other marking and could have done better search in the water area (partly my fault because I didn't send him there well enough) So we ended up getting a third prize. Most important: I'm really happy to notice I have an eight year old dog in such a good condition he can start in a hunting test in difficult terrain.

27.9 Health and Pups!

Few more x-ray results for Kössi pups: Ruffe's hips B/B and Lordi's A/A. Both had clear eyes and elbows. Still waiting for Bingo's results...

Thinking out loud pays off sometimes! Bitti's eye examination result in DogNet was market to be "sick, Cataract grade 1". I was a bit confused how this could be and called my vet. On the ECVO-form the cross was set on "suspicious". After a while I got a call back from my vet who had discussed the matter with kennel club and said there had been a mix up and the result in Dognet will be fixed. So Bitti wont have the "stamp on her forehead" yet at this point. ;-)

Sushi has given birth to four little princesses and three princes. the proud father Kössi and rest of the Redadict team congratulates!

24.9 latest news

Finally some news! First things first. The pups have moved into their new homes and our home feels rather empty and quiet. Good luck in the future for the new families of Otto, Kimi, Toffe, Jing, Kairo and Nitro!

Bitti and few Kössi ofsprings have done their health check. We are still waiting for some results but already we have the results for Eetu and Cava. Eetu had A/A hips and Cava B/C. Both had clear eyes, elbows and knees. Bitti has A/B hips, clear elbows and knees. Unfortunately she had cataract like chances in her eyes. We can't do anything else than wait to find out if it's heritable type or not. Waiting is definitely not one of my strengths but there is nothing else to do - accept surfing the internet and trying to find more info on different kind of HC's. Oona and Kössi were also eye checked and everything was OK.

Lyyli and Anu have started in obedience and got together 174 on class 2. Congrats for the first prize! Oona started in a hunting test on Sunday. The result was a round zero. The works just wasn't her thing at that moment. Women and bitches are sometimes so :-( and ????.

On Sunday I had the chance to visit Hulivilin kennel meeting and meet Eve & Kössi of springs Eppu, Rilla, Essi and Hulda. Thank you their owners for letting me see the pups work. Their breeder finds them to be champion quality and I must agree ;-)

10.9 pups and results

This is the week when the little angels with devils horns start moving into their new homes. We will miss them for sure. Good luck with them to their new owners (chauffers, think the pups ;-))

Kössi offspring's have done some wonderful results again. (I'm so happy with the fact that they have such nice homes!) Helmi-son Tihku got first prize in beginners class obedience, Terra daughter Lordi got second price in open class game tracking and Itu daughter Lyyli second prize in open class obedience and her sister Tiltu first prize in beginners class. But there is also very sad news, Kössi and Terra daughter Nesta is living on the rainbow bridge now.