Hi list, So, then it's my turn to introduce myself. ;)
My name is Helena Bona, and I have been a member of this list for about a year, but sometimes when I don't have time to read, I have to admit I have set "no mail" for a while. I live by the coast of the Baltic Sea in south east of Sweden. Me and my hubby since 6 years, share our home with five Cavalier girls and three cats. Both me and Richard work in the Swedish Air Force, my job is to take care of all papers conserning maintenance of our fighter jets. Some of our friends says we're nuts, as we "collect" Cavaliers instead of getting children - I have no idea of how we ended up with five dogs, they just moved in here one at the time! Anyway - when I was a kid, I dragged home all kinds of animals, and my Mom always went crazy when she found out. I don't know how many times I have heard "Get that rabbit/hamster/rat outta here at once!" Finally, when I was 14, she gave in and let me have a dog of my own - probably because she wanted to see me around the house a bit more as she said I almost lived in the stable. I even managed to convince her I "needed" to have a second dog, it was much easier than it was to make her get me the first one as she had fallen in love with the Cavaliers too!! My first generation of Cavaliers were boys, one Tri and two Blenheims. I showed one of the Blens alot, and I also competed in obedience and agility with them. After being without dog for about a year in 1996, it felt natural for us to get Cavaliers once again - but this time we adopted a Ruby girl. Today we have three Rubies, one (spayed) B/T, and - believe it ot not - we couldn't resist to get a little Blenheim girl this spring! Now we only miss my favorite color, the Tricolor - maybe we will have a little tri girl one day too? We got our kennel name Cucciolo in 1998, hoping to breed one or two litters each year. As we have had some trouble on the way (patellas, eyes...), we have only bred one litter this far, as we prefer to breed quality, not quantity. Also, it seems like our girls don't want to have any puppies(!) as we have done several tries to get them pregnant with zero pups as result! We will give it another try this fall, and hope to have the house full of small feet around Christmas time! *cross your fingers for us* If it don't work this time either, maybe it's not meant we shall have wholecolored pups - maybe we are bound to wait until our little Blenheim gem is old enough! I have always been a "freak" when it comes to pedigrees. I had a whole box of handwritten peds from the old days, which I have added into the Breedmate database - these things got so much easier with a computer! I have no idea of how many hours I have spend at the computer since I got Breedmate some years ago, but it's so very fun to work with the database, I just can't keep my fingers away! I'm also very concerned about Cavalier health, and compared with the happy 1980'es, I think we are on our way to get a healthier breed as so many are aware of the problems these days. In the "good old days" no one had ever heard of MVD, the vets didn't even know how to check the patellas, and Hip Dysplasia was something only conserning Great Danes and German Shepherds. Today we know better! This list - and other lists - is a good way to get to know more about our presious breed, to listen to what others think and to share knowledge with each other. Thank you for listening ;) All the best, Helena Bona, Sweden www.cucciolo.com ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
