How did I become a breeder?
I never intended to become a dog breeder. We had cats when I grew up and I was a total horse girl and went to the stables 5-6 days a week. After an accident with horses I wasn’t able to ride as well as I wanted to. After moving on our own me and my then boyfriend, now husband, decided to get a dog. I only wanted a small dog, either a phalène or a chihuahua. Neither of those breeds moved to us, and in 2010 we got an adult brazilian terrier who needed to have a surgery in her knee. After a few months we decided to get a friend for Assi, and we bought our first ever puppy, smooth collie Kiana. At that point we knew we would want a bigger dog, and had fallen in love with my friends tervueren and smooth collie. We decided to get a smooth collie as they are generally seen as an easier breed compared to belgian shepherds. We were also thinking of rhodesian ridgebacks, but we thought ridgebacks would be too difficult breed to own. Assi never got used to living in an apartment in the city, and she moved to the countryside to live with my mother-in-law and her pack of brazilian terriers. In early 2011 we decided to look into rhodesian ridgebacks a bit closer and after jumping from one breeders list to another, we finally found the breeder and litter that suited us perfectly.
In December 2011 our puppy was born, the one and only standard female in a litter of 10 puppies. Her breeder let me suggest an official name for her, and our puppy became Tarujen Xoxo, call name Keila. Keila moved to us in early February 2012, and after that we haven’t had a day without ridgebacks in our home.
With Keila I tried different dog sports but our favorite hobby was dog shows. Keila lost her mind every time she realized I had her show collar in my hand, she jumped up and down like a kangaroo and couldn’t wait for her favorite thing in the world – staring at a meatball and then eating it. As Keila was placed to us with breeders terms, her breeder started to plan her litter in 2014. Me being the stubborn donkey I am, I did want a puppy from Keila but not from the chosen sire. I started to entertain myself with the idea of becoming a breeder. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I never do anything with half an effort, but always give my everything. Would I be able to breed dogs that I would be proud to own myself? Could I handle all the stress, and take full responsibility of every decision I have made? It wouldn’t only be happy moments with perfectly healthy dogs. Every breeder has produced a sick dog, could I give my support to the owner of such dog and make better decision next time? After considering it all, buying all possible books about breeding, reading through every article online – I decided to go for it.
In 2015 I attended the Finnish Kennel Clubs basic course to become a dog breeder. I passed the exam and applied for my kennel name. Deciding my kennel name wasn’t easy but when it hit me – I knew it was that and nothing else. Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) approved my application and granted me my kennel name Kxoxo on leap day, 29th of February 2016.
My first litter was supposed to happen in early 2017. But Keila started her heat exactly two weeks before we would leave to Hawaii for a two week vacation. I would have been able to either take Keila to Poland for the duration of our vacation, or have someone here take her to insemination. I didn’t want my first litter to happen not being with it every step of the way – and had to decide to skip this heat and wait for the next one. Keila was a good sport and co-operated with me perfectly, she had her next heat months in advance and we travelled together to Poland to meet her chosen husband. The trip went well and on my 26th birthday Keila gave birth to 12 gorgeous puppies.
I had made plans to breed Keila one more time, to have 2 litters from her on my own kennel name. She was already 7 years old. Our vet examined every inch of her and gave me a green light to breed her. I decided on a male and arranged everything, we only needed to wait for her to come into heat. During my trip to San Francisco I woke up every night from a nightmare about having one more litter from Keila. I am very intuitive person and I have learned to listen to myself. I decided to cancel my plans about the litter, and immediately felt like it was the right decision. A year later Keila got terribly sick and after 2 months of testing and trying to figure out what was wrong, we found out she has a cancer. It was time to let her go. Maybe by cancelling my plan about her litter I had already given us more time to be together, who knows. She was my heart and soul, my everything.
Luckily my one and only litter from Keila produced many nice dogs that allowed me to continue breeding.
Who are we?
You probably already learned a bit about me. I live with my husband who I met in 2009, we got married in 2020 right before COVID was announced as an pandemic. We are in our early thirties, and have had ridgebacks from 2012. I always speak about ”we”, but on paper Kxoxo breeding is only by me. All our dogs are always only under my name, and the responsibility of our dogs is on me. My hubby likes to take our dogs for walks and runs, and I have to admit he has trained our youngster Kukui more than I have.
We used to live in an apartment in Helsinki, and our two first litters were born in Helsinki. In 2021 we sold our apartment and bought a house from a small town called Torppi. Torppi is located in Pukkila and our life here differs a lot from living in the city. We live an hour away from Helsinki. Here our dogs thrive and get to enjoy a much quieter life than in Helsinki. Our walks are most of the time off leash, and we have a big yard for our dogs to guard.
Me as a breeder
I am a perfectionist and very hard on myself. I like to say I am too lazy to do anything but my best effort, but I don’t think it is laziness really. I demand a lot from the dogs I choose for breeding, and I never have a litter just for the fun of it. Breeding for me is serious, and I do it to preserve the breed. I don’t feel like my job is to better the breed. I think Ridgebacks are perfect the way they are when they meet the standard by temperament and structure.
I take full responsibility of the dogs I have bred. Owners of my puppies are welcome to contact me any time of the day with anything regarding their dog. If I do not know the answer to a question, I contact another trusted friend with knowledge to find the answer.
My ideal ridgeback
This will be just a short description of my vision, if I would write up everything I look for in a perfect dog I would have to write a book. Every breeder has their own vision of the ideal ridgeback.
For me a ridgeback is a fearless and stubborn multi-purpose dog. A dog who can handle any situation and tolerate stress. A dog who is calm indoors and active outdoors. No reactivity, and no aggression towards other dogs or people. A dog who is happy to do activities with their owner.
By structure I like a balanced dog who has substance and at the same time is elegant, without being narrow in body. Ridgeback is an active breed and should have visible muscles. Correct head with parallel planes, tight lips and dark eyes.
My emphasis in breeding is a dog with balanced temperament with minimal to no fears, with a structure without any exaggerations.
Bavarian Mountain Hounds
I have always wanted a bit smaller dog in addition to our ridgebacks. After our Keila passed I started to look for a new ridgeback. Couldn’t find any interesting combinations, and I ended up on kennel Amber Hope’s website. I saw an ad of a litter born two weeks earlier and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that our next dog would be in that litter. Luckily there was a female puppy available, and so began almost 4 months wait until we got our Hula home from Russia.
Bavarians might be smaller, but they for sure don’t know it. They have bigger egos than ridgebacks, they are much more active and also loud. Bavarians are working dogs, but for us Hula is an active pet and we do tracking with her for fun.
I have so far bred 1 litter of Bavarians, and we are planning our next litter for 2024. I do put all the same effort into breeding both breeds, even I think of myself more of a ridgeback breeder.
Kxoxo team
Unity is strength. . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.
I wouldn’t be much of a breeder alone. I am thankful of all the support and criticism I have received from the people I look up to. There are three people who always hear my ideas first, my husband, my mom and the person who has always believed in me and has taught me so many things in the breed, owner of Keila’s sire, Tiina. They are the ones who keep pushing me to be a better breeder.
From my first litter I was lucky enough to get two special friends, Eveliina who owns Alma and her friend Petra. They are always there to support this journey wether we are in shows, puppy meets or just by helping take care of the puppies and dogs while I’m away. Without the cooperation of Alma’s owner Eveliina I wouldn’t have been able to make 4 of my litters. Eveliina now owns three generations of Kxoxo dogs.
A massive thank you goes also to Päivi from Kennel Feanor’s for your knowledge and always helping me with puppies evaluation and getting the perfect pictures of Kxoxo puppies.
Without my first ridgeback Keila and her breeder Anne from Kennel Tarujen trusting in me, I wouldn’t be a breeder.
I can’t mention everyone by name, but every single owner of Kxoxo dogs are important part of my breeding. Thank you for trusting in me when looking for your furry family member.
In the picture from left to right, Tiina & Ares, Anne & Miina, Eveliina & Armi, Petra & Alma.
Me with Peetu & Alma in Finnish Winner shows in 2018.
Kxoxo Vega Venom & Kxoxo Azalea Agera, both new Finnish Junior Winners!
Me with Ares & Miina in Finnish Ridgeback Clubs Specialty show in 2023.
Kxoxo Ain’t Misbehavin’ Best of Breed Junior & Kxoxo April Kisses For Tarujen Best Opposite Sex Junior.