Updates, 2022 (Yes, the whole entire year, apparently..)
Finally have a hot minute to sit down and do some News updates, which are so, so soooooo overdue! So much has happened since the last News Update (back in December '21, lol..) that I really hope that we remember most of the major stuff.
At our last News section update we announced that Esper had her litter with Iceman Dakmat in late 2021, 3 boys and 2 girls! They have all gone to their new homes obviously, and they are all doing really well. They turned a year old in December 2022 and we have updated on the puppies here. We kept back La Belle Epoque, call name Ibris, who becomes our second bred-by keeper along with Ashira from our A-litter. Ibris has been a really good, easy puppy and we started her off right away with a series of general group classes in basic obedience with our local OB chapter which she finished easily.
In the meantime, WE MADE HISTORY!! At the end of 2021 Ashira went Group 1 at the AKC Coyote Classic in Tucson, Arizona, going on the win BEST IN OPEN SHOW for 5 full points, finishing her AKC Certificate of Merit in just 2 weekends. Ashira is the first ever Czechoslovakian Vlcak CM, and we are so proud of her! Our first bred-by <3 Since then, in 2022, Ashira has racked up points with two more Group 1s and yet another Best in Open Show. What more can we say 🙂
Belias then started off 2022 with a bang, going Group 1 twice at the February Silver Bay Kennel Club of San Diego AKC Open Shows, then going on to win BEST IN OPEN SHOW for 5 full points, also finishing his AKC Certificate of Merit! In doing so, he became the very first male Czechoslovakian Vlcak to earn his CM. We are beyond words and so so proud to be home to the first two Czechoslovakian Vlcak to hold this title.
Esper went V1 Excellent first place twice in the Honour class. It was a pleasure to attend these shows and see the strong competitors and quality dogs. What a treat it was for us! Ibris grew up so quickly over the duration of the trip, by the time September rolled around she was already as tall as Esper when she was shown in the FCI International Dog Show series in Bratislava, Slovakia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic and Tulln an der Donau, Austria, where she became 2022 Junior Bundessieger Winner and 2022 Junior Danube Winner. Esper started on her FCI Czech Republic Championship, placing 1st with a CAC out of the Working class in Ceske Budejovice. We are satisfied with how the girls did among strong breed competition and we are looking forward to seeing how our breeding program can incorporate what we have learned and seen.
We really had so much fun in Europe with the girls, visiting castles, vineyards, outdoors markets, and of course, friends! We made a little roadtrip through Austria, up through Germany and then back down through Czech Republic, visiting our friends along the way and dining at all sorts of restaurants, from dim sum to traditional Czech pub fare (all dog friendly establishments, of course!). We really appreciate all our friends who hosted us, kept our company.. you guys are really the BEST. Towards the end of the trip we tried for a two-sired litter with Esper, but unfortunately, she didn't carry the litter to term, but, well, you win some, you lose some.
Returning stateside in mid-October, we packed up the crew again and hustled off to the AKC The Kennel Club of Riverside series in Perris, California, where Ibris picked up her very first AKC CM points, going Best of Breed and a Group 3. Besides conformation, Ashira and Syrak did well on the dock in 2022 and earned the first DNX and DNA titles in the breed, respectively. All in all 2022 was really successful for our kennel and although we didn't have any litters, it gave us more time to go on roadtrips and other fun things, like, hosting our friend and professional photographer, the amazing Alicja Zmyslowska! Most of the professional art photos on this site are Alicja's work and we just cannot get enough of her talent and vision.
Unfortunately, there is also one teeny dark spot I do have to write about, and that is that we have ended our relationship and membership with the Czechoslovakian Vlcak Club of America (CSVCA), with whom we have been members in good standing for years now. Despite the inertia and lack of events - the CSVCA has not held a specialty or even a club meeting in over 10 years - we decided to sever our association with the CSVCA when Sharon diGennaro, a CSV breeder in Florida, who was voted to the board earlier in the year, unilaterally suspended my account with no explanation for nearly two weeks. We contacted the club president without response. Almost 2 weeks later I received an email from Ms. diGennaro stating she had suspended my account because we had posted about an AKC event that was coming up with a lot of CSV entered, which the club was not supporting. However, I was never informed of that, it was never publicly announced anywhere, and the club has no policy on posting about events that the club is not involved with. Ms. diGennaro also followed up by stating that I could open a complaint against her if I wanted to (lol, wtf.)
On top of that, as a member in good standing, I had repeatedly asked for minutes for the club meetings that had taken place, particularly since I had heard that there had been a hearing for Code of Ethics violations concerned Ms. diGennaro. I never received any response back from anyone, and I have never received the minutes. Due to the secrecy, the behind-the-door governance, the lack of transparency, the tolerance of COE violations and obvious abuse of position we have decided to direct our energy elsewhere to better promote the breed in a responsible and transparent fashion, while upholding quality and ethics. At this time we are working with the Czechoslovakian Vlcak Society of America (CSVSA), a new club established last November. Despite its short presence, I have seen a lot of group effort and I am looking forward to what this club does in the next few years. Onwards with the new.
Anyway, no time to linger on negativity, I think that the CSVSA has opened membership applications now and the more members, the more easily things get done, so if you're interested in CSV, please consider it.
I believe that I've managed to remember the highlights of 2022, and 2023 has already been a whirlwind of events for us.. We will try to update in another post very soon! And yes, we are planning litters this year - both in our kennel and beyond 😉