ABOUT ME AND MY THOUGHTS
I am Outi Huuskonen, born in 1968. I live an breathe dogs.
I have had dogs since I was a kid. My first dog was a Carelian beardog. After that I bought a Siberian Husky. My first Vall came to me in 2000 and after that there was no return. Valls are "my" breed. I do love my BC but Valls are still something special.
I do lots of things with my dogs. I love to have well moving, functional dogs. I like them to be more on the lighter size because I compete in agility. Our hobbies are dog shows (in small scale), agility (main hobby), rally-O, tracking, obedience and nose work. I started to do dog dancing with Ruri in 2019 so that is our newest hobby.
I have taken my dogs to herding, since they all are bred for that. I don't mind if the dog has a will of its own, or is a bit willful. Valls are bred to be cattle herders so they should have the pondus and power to drive big animals.
I have competed in agility since my first Vall, Jonni. I have taken part in Finnish championships, both in team and individual, and lately in World Championships. The latter in paragility in which I started competing in 2013. In Paragility I have had the greatest success. Four times gold in JSP SM, three times silver and twice bronze and once a victory in Open JSP SM. My greatest acchievement has been World Championships Silver (PAWC), that was with Ruri in Austria 2015.
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I have trained four dogs through rally-O novice level, one dog to obedience novice class and one of my dogs has passed nose work scent test (eucalyptus). All of my four Valls have been herding instinct tested, results have been E, 2 x VG and G. Three dogs have undergone bear test and gotten great praise. My MMP did a wolf test. Three dogs have undergone Mh-test, and also four have been character tested. Silja has done BPH which is Svenska Kennelklubb's own mental test. She passed it with secure to shots. She is the first Finnish Vall to do this test. Also two have passed the Finnish Kennelclub's official ability test for sheepdog (traditional style).
Aki, my MMP bitch, has done a SmartDog small personality test. It resembles BPH and MH. Andy, my MMP male, has done SmartDog cognition test and Jarra, my Vall bitch, SmartDog puppy test.
My priority is a good mentality of the dog. That is my main aim in my breeding. Also I want to keep the breed viable. To add more genetic variability into the breed. I do not like matador breeding. For me dogs are companions first, competition partners next. The dog comes first!
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My dog hobby has taken me to abroad many times: either to dog shows, agility competitions or importing a dog from there. I have imported three dogs from Sweden. And when I am not training myself I train other dogs and their owners. I own a dog training facility Koirakoulu Positiivisesti where I train mainly rally-O. My pupils have had great success which I am very proud of. I myself train in Kuopio, Pro Perro, under Harri Katainen, who is my personal couch. I also have taken part of Top Team, a team that is chosen for one year at a time by our Agilityliitto. I have taken part in TT for four times now. I also go to seminars with trainers like Mark Douglas, Pavol and Martina Vakonic, Jonathan Watts, Lee Gibson, Jenna Caloander, Janita Leinonen....
In agility you are never ready. You will learn new every time you train.
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I am planning to breed Swedish Vallhunds in the near future. I hope to produce nice dogs of a good breed type and with great working ability. Dogs that have what it takes to be great companions and also good at whatever you choose to do with them. A Vall is a versatile dog and so it should be. We owe the breed that. To preserve them as a jack-of-all-trades, a dog that can do many things. Guard the house, herd the cattle, be our closest companion and kill the rats from the yard. We should not reduce the breed to mere pet dogs. Many people in the past have worked so hard to preserve the breed. It is up to us to follow their lead.
