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Kerry Blue Terriers in Russia Information prepare and photos: Marina Belijavzeva Text: Rainer & Tanja Sonnenschein The history of the Kerry Blue Terrier in Russia began in the later sixties of the last century. Back then several Kerries were imported from West Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and the breeding concentrated on just a few clubs. The most famous of them, named "collective kennel" Irish Hippy, bred up to 20 litters per year. Needless to say, that due to the political situation it was quite difficult to travel abroad or even have any contact with Western Europe. Therefore the newly imported dogs were used very carefully. In the early nineties already many Kerries had completely Russian ancestry pedigrees. Certainly we can say that "Irish Hippy" is the very origin of a brilliant development of breed in Russia. With the end of east-west confrontation the world changed, borders fell and a new era of Kerry Blue breeding started. Russia became a member of FCI and a lot of private kennels have been founded, today there are even more than 60 kennels with their own prefix. Several new breeders have recently emerged and it has caused a slight growth in breed. The gene pool continues to widen through the import of new dogs from Italy, Great Britain, Ireland, the US, Sweden and Finland, and the use of foreign sires. It is not easy within a little article to thoroughly inform the reader on the new Kerry generation in Russia. Nonetheless, we will try to mention the most famous imports, kennels, and the general tendency in breeding. Nowadays every newcomer can surf the World Wide Web and learn a lot about Kerry breeding and the breeders, but just ten years ago the situation was different. It is surprising then that Anatol v.d. Burg Forchtenau (Balboa Rollercoaster x Balboa Sweety Panja, Breeder - Mrs. Himeny Vesely, Austria) has been found at all and imported to Moscow. He was a son of Balboa dogs, but his background goes to the Arkama und Luisburgh lines as well. At the beginning of our century he became the influential stud dog in Russia
Among his famous offspring we can mention the winner of the National Kerry Championship 2000, Airishkream Akvamarin Butik (Anatol v.d. Burg Forchtenau x Ratelly Irish Hippy), BOB & BIG-2 Еvrasia 2000, Stenshel Chemberlen Silver, BOS Еvrasia 2002 and the National Championship 2004, Stenshel Belmondo, Aua Skif Brave Benjamin, and his sister Bellavicenza (Anatol v.d. Burg Forchtenau x Kerryhof Maybe). These dogs performed really well in show rings and brought a lot of excitement to the spectators because of temperament, colour and powerful movement. The next import worth mentioning is Aran Donaghmore (Aran Clonakolty x Aran Bailebrigin) whose background goes to Louisburgh and Clanciarrai. He has produced a number of champions, some of which are the now well-known Blue Joe Williams, his sister Urfina, Aua Skiff Julias, and the young Nash Avgust Brando.
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Some time later came another male from Italy, Beclau Blue Flit (Aran Foynes x Beclau Butterfly), a very nice and shot compact terrier type dog that sired in 20 litters with a total offspring of 105 in Russia, Estonia, Finland and Ukraine. His kinsman, Beclau Boywonder (Balboa Elfangio x Beclau Beauty), came to Russia for only one year, and also sired many excellent Kerries. .
In 1997 Kennel Braudag imported a lovely male from Germany, Olido von Landsberg, who is out of Louisburgh breeding too. A short dog with lovely head, coat and movement, he won numerous prizes and produced offspring worldwide. In 2005 he spent a year in Moscow.
Some Kerries were directly imported from Islands: Arkama in Command (Kamaghan All Mighty x Arkama California Dreaming) to St.Petersburg, Kamaghan Thriller (Sign Seal and Deliver x Kamaghan Jezebel), Edbrios Jazzmen (Edbrios Bohemian Ivanhoe x Glenfitor Clodagh at Edbrios). These have been used in different kennels for breeding. Another turning-point in the modern history of Russians Kerries was the import of Ch.Torums's Stormin Norman, who lives in Finland but has been widely used by his co-owners, Vera und Misha Lavrenko in St. Petersburg, and Torum’s Smokey Chisholm (Torum’s Tunde Bayou x Dasumianko Shockwave) of Lena Pachomova. The latter is a strong producer, one of those few dogs the type of which can still be recognised in 3–4 generations after him. Mention must be given to two other new imports from last year, Bhelliom El Nino (Balboa Ben-Hur x Bhelliom Ambra), and a very nice young male from Braudag’s kennel, Uragan Braudag (Edbrios Blue Ivanhoe x Jacqueline Braudag), Res CAC World Show in Stockholm 2008.
Due to this huge wave of imports it is at present quite difficult to find a dog with pure "Russian" origin. Some of these are still alive as grandparents and great-grandparents on the dam side. Some of those on the sire sides were mentioned above. We now turn our attention to the breeders and particularly to those with an important presence on the Russian scene since the middle of the nineties. What are they doing with all the new foreign-born Kerries?
"Iz Goluboi Legendy" is the kennel name of Moscow breeder Marina Belijavzeva. She once started with Aua Skif Bellavicenza (or "Vita" in short), a daughter of the above mentioned Anatol, as foundation stock and had an outstanding success with her first litter: the well-known Danaja and Domingo iz Goluboi Legendy (Airishkream Akvamarin Butik x Aua Skif Bellavicenza). Altogether Vita produced 24 offspring, 7 of them have a title of International Champion, 12 champions from various European counties, the US and Canada. We would like to name MultiCh Iagudin Lancaster (Beclau Blue Flit x Aua Skiff Bellavicenza). MultiCh Lambliel and his brother, the Top Dog 2007 in Norway, Link to Shyloch iz Goluboi Legendy (Beclau Boywonder x Aua Skiff Bellavicenza). As we can see, the road to success of this kennel was the choice of the best Italian and other external bloodlines. Marina is the chief editor of the "Moscow Kerry" magazine, a regular quaterly, where Kerry lovers can find a host of useful information about the breeds and show results, and interviews with the best breeders, judges and handlers all over the world.
The kennel "Blue Joe" is owned by Svetlana Romanova and is well-known due to Blue Joe Williams, a son of formerly mentioned Aran Donaghmore – MultiCh, the winner of many a prestige show, World Winner 2006 and the first Russian Crufts participant. As the dog with the highest profile he is the sire numerous good Kerries (mainly with name prefix "Blue Joe") and apparently stays as a main stud male in the kennel's breeding program.
"Absolut Triumph" is the kennel of Julia Chernova who is importer and owner of Kamaghan Thriller, Edbrios Jazzmen, and Bhelliom El Nino. All these males are used as stud dogs in different combinations. Undoubtedly the best Kerries she has bred are the two outstanding bitches Absolut Triumph Pagan (Kamaghan Thriller x Dienilaissa Stewart Triumph) and her daughter Absolut Triumph Villinilli Forest Bell (Torum’s Smokey Chisholm x Absolut Triumph Pagan). Tatiana and Michael Leviny with their kennel "Aicheneck" appear to be less active in visiting shows abroad. Nonetheless they remain leaders in the Moscow region with Kerries, whose background goes to back to Louisburgh and has already been mentioned above. The kennel "Nash Avgust" started with an offspring from the very well-known Kerry MultiCh Avgust Strong Sensibility. Its owner, Lubov Kolosova, did a lot to improve the quality through using foreign sires from Italy and the Czech republic, e.g. Joelmatador, Kamaghan Mr Bombastic, Edbrios Blue Ivanhoe.
Natalia Fomichova-Volkova, owner of the kennel "Avalanche Eire Kerry", well-known as an excellent groomer and participant in different groomer's championships throughout Europe, started with her own Avgust Strong Sensibility. To achieve another style she continues with the outstanding daughter of Torum's Stormin Norman, Nutlee Sabeline. Up to now it is possible to find in this kennel Kerries with prefix Irish Hippy in their pedigree. One of them is a beautiful bitch Avalanche Eire-Kerry U-once again (Irish Hippy by the Way x Avalanche Eire Kerry Miracle of Mirrow), she achieved 4 places on World Show Posen 2006 and the same again in Stockholm 2008. Finally, we would like to mention kennels from St.Petersburg: “Bjorkezund", owner Vera and Michel Lavrenko with their World Champions Nargiz 1998, Bjorkezund Wellspring 2002 and her granddaughter Bjorkezund Zarisha 2006; and "Nordic Kerry", owner Olga Reshetnikova, who, regrettably, rarely comes to international shows, with her Euro Dog winner 2006 Nordic Kerry Lanselot (Kordes Just One x Hitano Ladoga).
There are many very really good Kerries in the Russian province, too, and the enthusiasm of the Kerry owners there can be outstanding. However, this would be the subject of a separate article. Here it suffices to say that on her first European show the little nice bitch Lasti Delfina, from the kennel Volzhskiy Arkos, easily won BOB by CACIB 2008 in Luxemburg. In Zagreb last year there was a group of people from Perm – which means about 5 days on the bus together with their dogs! Today, Kerry Blue Terriers are very favoured in Russia. And successful: among the winners of the World Show in Stockholm, judged by Jeoff Corish, one can find many dogs from Russia. Certainly, Russians were the most strongly represented on this show and come in large numbers to other great dog events in Europe as well. However, the general quality of Russian breed undoubtedly is very high, and Russian breeders today take full advantage of travelling freely all across Europe for show and breeding. This assessment is confirmed by many foreign judges who have been to Moscow or St. Petersburg. Russian Kerry fans really appreciate the friendship and contact with their colleagues abroad. For them, obviously, the future of successful breeding depends of these human things, too. |
