Louis is my gorgeous French boy! Much planned and hoped for, he is truly an international treasure, born in France, raised in the USA, of a British sire and Danish dam, with some of the loveliest Finnish breeding behind him!

Still a young boy at the moment, he shows a great deal of promise, with lovely type and structure, and true showmanship. He has already had some great success in the show ring and I am looking forward to many more as he matures. He is super enthusiastic about everything he does, which is making for a lot of fun in the different discipines I am training him in.

Louis was born in Normandy in France at Chevaloupsgreg Kennels, but was taken by me to Michigan USA, where he was then raised by Kit Brillinger of Calaban Kennels (and his Aunt Journey - sister to his dam Jokkaa) until old enough to come to Australia in December 2007.

I had my eye on Louis's sire Oiva, Jnr Lux Ch Oberitz Oivallus, for a long time. His sire is the stunning and hugely successful UK born and bred Fin Ch PMV-01 Chelville Tapio (Jukka), and his dam UK born Dizzy (Elbereth Noki), daughter of one of my favourites Fin Ch FinW02,01 NordW-97 Lumiturpa Nörri (also grandfather to both Emmi and Alaska) and Toni Jackson's famous Echo (WW-02 Sulyka Mishka).

But having seen photos of the beautiful Journey whose pedigree I also loved, I started to keep an eye on her sister Jokkaa (Gottorp's Danish Jokkaa) as she grew, finally asking Véro if she would ever considering breeding Oiva and Jokkaa together. It was with much excitement that I discovered that she was indeed planning on such a litter, and would consider selling me a boy puppy.

Jokkaa's dam is the lovely Int Ch, Dmk Ch, Sw Ch Lumiturpa Saana, sister to one of my favourite girls, the big winning Fin Ch JV-99 V-01 V-05 PMV-05 Lumiturpa Simsalabim. Saana and Simsalabim are also Nörri granddaughters, and sired by another of my favourite males Pätkä (Fin Ch Staalon Lapinjoiku). Jokkaa's sire is Shacal Benetton (Uffe), another boy linking back to some older Lumiturpa lines.

During my trip to overseas in March and April 2007 I was able to pick up Louis (along with his sister Ciowa who is owned by an American) and fly them across to the USA. There I was able to spend a few days getting to know him and showering him with plenty of affection before coming home. Although it was certainly very hard to walk away and many tears were shed.

Louis finally arrived in Australia in December 2007, just in time for Christmas, and it was lovely to have him back in my arms again. He very quickly became my baby-boy, a role I am quite sure he will keep, long after there have been many more youngsters come up behind him. Despite that, we frequently muse that he was named incorrectly, and that his call name really should be Napolean - for he really is a French man who is small in stature, and very big in attitude!

For more photos of Louis, CLICK HERE