About Us

About me and my dogs

We live in East Sussex where there are certainly plenty of nice walks to share with my dogs. I am a native speaker of Finnish but have lived here for more than fifteen years. However, I often go to Finland to see friends and relatives as well as to Finnish Spitz breed shows to keep updated on what's happening in the breed's home country.

In the year 2000 I made my first move and travelled all the way to Scotland to get my first Finnish Spitz called Hilla (Arcuilean Hillakka Tuulia of Valokki). I am very pleased to say that she is of extremely good temperament and healthy.  She is ten years old and getting more playful each day.  Hilla was shown occasionally before her two litters. From Hilla's first litter with our Finnish import dog Parri (Tihun Parri to Toveri) we kept a bitch called Helmi (Valokki Helmi). She is a first generation Valokki Finnish Spitz.  Helmi is one of very few Finnish Spitz in the UK to have successfully passed and trained up to the standard of the Kennel Club Good Citizen Gold Award.  Just to mention some of Helmi's show successes – at Crufts 2004 she won 1st Junior Bitch in breed. In 2005 at Bournemouth Canine Association Championship Show she won her 1st CC and BOS. In 2006 at Windsor Championship Show she won 1st Limit Bitch class and BOS. At Crufts 2007 she was 1st in Good Citizen Dog class for the second time.

I occasionally have puppies available for selected homes. So far I have only bred three litters (which are all KC registered) during ten years within the breed. I am trying to retain the original appearance and characteristics as seen in the breed's home country. My interest in Finnish Spitz is a hobby for me which I am sharing with you on this web site. Above all they are very much loved family pets and live in the house with us. They are not kennelled outside although they spend much of the daytime outside. However, I show locally a few times a year and I get great enjoyment from my dogs.  I spend time with them at home and out on long walks on the Sussex Downs, in the forest, or on the beach.  I like to attend training classes rather than keeping them on benches, or in cars at shows for long period of time.

I am passionate about animal welfare issues and about promoting the importance of early socialisation and training. I believe this is the cornerstone of a well mannered dog.

I hope you enjoyed reading through this.

In the woods, Skipton, North Yorkshire, October 2007

The Valokki Kennel Name

Valokki is our Kennel Club-registered ‘affix’ and this word will always precede one or more other words as the registered name of your puppy.

So why ‘Valokki’? Well, it is one of many Finnish words for the arctic cloudberry. This much prized berry is a red-gold colour like the Finnish Spitz and is also to be found at its best in the forests of Finland.

Other words for the cloudberry include Hilla (our bitch’s name) and Lakka (Hilla’s mother’s name).

I was born in Helsinki, Finland but spent my childhood summers at my Grandmother’s farm in the countryside of Central Finland where Finnish Spitz and cloudberries were both familiar features of everyday life.