To honor the memory of our Tootsie

I started my kennel in March, 1990, although I bought the first poodle in 1985. Dogs have been accompanying me throughout my life but after the birth of my son I had too many things to worry about and buying of a dog got postponed further and further until he grew up and started asking to buy a little brother, a little sister or a large dog. Of course, I understood perfectly that a fascinating picture suggested to him by his imagination - "I go out into the yard, my left hand rests on withers of a large trained for obedience dog, everyone is impressed - I'm in the center of attention" - would cost me a great labor of raising, nursing, feeding (there was no dry food then), walking and training my boy's future dream.

I decided to visit Moscow dog shows in order to find a compromise variant. There were few shows in Moscow at that time - only 2-3 per year. I chose a dwarf silver poodle. Instinctively I wanted a girl to spend much time over her puppies later on. In Moscow Poodle Club I was given only one phone number. Owners of puppies didn't want to show them for a long time and I asked for a puppy from another litter. That evening my husband and I took our girl home. Her name had to begin with a letter "D" and I could choose it myself. That time no one gave Russian names to puppies. People preferred abracadabra in unknown language with no meaning at all. But such were rules and so I named my baby Jolly (merry), Tootsie (charming) Tos (male's prefix). Our family immediately fell in love with her. She was a very nice bitch for those times and her shows were rather successful. In summer when we went on holidays we took her with us and we had never encountered any troubles with the stuff of hotels and rest houses. The Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, Crimea, Georgia, Lithuanian lakes - everywhere she became a center of attention and an object of admiration. Many people asked, what animal was it and were surprised to know that such a kind of dogs existed. And how beautifully Tootsie swam!

At last it was time to select a male for her. I was a volunteer for dwarves' section of Moscow Poodle Club and I decided to mate her with a wonderful dog Sherry-Martin owned by Mr. Vdovin. Martin belonged to completely another phenotype than my bitch. He was considered to be very large (34 x 35) and that's why he hadn't been mated yet. At that time owners of bitches didn't take part in pair selecting, but received a list of three candidates arranged by a person responsible for breeding according to color. Everyone tried to produce as small-sized poodles as possible. Small-sized poodles were very much in fashion. But I decided to mate my little one with such a large male - I was not understood, but received a permission for mating. We had three puppies: two males and a female. Their birth marked the beginning of my life as a kynologist and later the kennel itself appeared. The litter was so excellent and successes of my puppies encouraged me so much that I felt the taste to breed further.

That time Elena Alexandrovna Antonova was a director of "Dwarf Poodle" Club, she was an expert on the Debut Show of my first litter. Since rude Jiffony Sher took the first place in junior class he hadn't ever let anyone else take it on any other show (in those times 18-30 dogs participated in silver rings) until the arrival of Silver Kolja of Twist Castle. His brother Jotto Sher was a great success as a stud-dog. He had his mother's size and temperaments of his father, excellent body, energetic movements. After the end of the show Elena Alexandrovna complemented by juniors saying, "Ludmila Mikhailovna, your Jiffony was noticeably better-bred than all other dogs in all rings". His father Sherry Martin immediately became a very popular stud-dog.

The next three Tootsie's litters with other studs were not so outstanding, but the only daughter of Tootsie from the first litter Jolly Sher owned by Marina Smirnova gave birth to several outstanding dogs.

My higher education as an economist - specialist in international affairs (I graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Affairs) had nothing in common with my chosen kind of activity. I had to get professional knowledge in kynology and I asked governing body of the Club to give me a recommendation for matriculation to kynological courses. We had five subjects and we had to pass exams in each of them. I always liked to learn and I had already understood that my breeding would be special. The courses were very difficult and lasted practically a year, I have passed all exams with flying colors and of course started feeling myself more confident. Now after the lapse of 15 years I consider myself to be an experienced breeder with a solid reputation and I think that besides kynologic education you must have a feeling for choosing two dogs for mating. Nevertheless quality of puppies too often depends on His Majesty CHANCE.

Big changes in our country affected the whole kynological world and turned it upside down. All poodles were joined into All-Union Poodle Club, then - into Union of Poodle Clubs (UPC) and now there is a National Poodle Club that unites several separate-existing national breed clubs and kennels.

I registered my kennel in 1990. That same year the first puppies under the name of the kennel appeared. Many bitches were mated with my stud dogs Silver Kolja and Wonderboy. From the very beginning I insisted on including the first letters of the kennel's name "RD" in future puppies' names. That is why nowadays these two letters are present in pedigrees of some puppies. Later while changing old pedigrees for new ones Russian Kynological Federation without warning me rejected part of my contribution in development of this breed abolishing prefix "RD" for males. But Silver Kolja is a sir of more than 250 poodles and Wonderboy was used with 52 bitches and is a sir of more than 160 puppies!

Silver Kolja, his son Malchik s Palchik (toy) and his grandson Dymchatyi Adamas (owner Chicheva)

I dreamed about creating my own kennel long before its appearance. I was trying on sonorous names for it. I wanted to find a simple but sedate name that wouldn't resemble any cliche. I love Russia. I love and appreciate my native language and I think it deserves being used by Russians with pride. I had many variants of the kennel's name, but I didn't want it to be connected with such variables as color or place. They come and go while Russia is constant. Name Russky Dvor (Russian Yard) suited me perfectly. My country-house in Kokoshkino near Moscow which we chose as our permanent address in September, 1992 I named after the name of my kennel: country estate "RUSSKY DVOR". But dreams not supported by a basic high-quality number of poodles could remain only dreams if not for… If not for the arrival of Silver Kolja of Twist Castle from Switzerland, if he weren't a male of the highest quality who turned upside down all our club ideas of European level of dwarf poodle breeding. I also understood that without an excellent pair for him I couldn't dream about high-bred offsprings and my kennel would scarcely leave a trace in the poodle world. Each kennel is built on bitches not males and it can't consist of males only. If a male is of an excellent type with a good potency he can become a founder of a line. But only a bitch can pass her "last name" and give birth to puppies. We, those people who bring up puppies, are called breeders. The main dream of each breeder is producing a poodle phenotype recognizable by appearance and character of movements.

I imported a silver dwarf bitch Silver Windsong of Twist Castle (Dushechka) from Switzerland as a pair to Silver Kolja. Now in the kennel as a result of the last mating of this pair there is a very beautiful bitch Anutiny Glazky of Russky Dvor, her son Pravilny Patsan iz Russkogo Dvora (city of Taganrog) and silver Seraja Sheika iz Russkogo Dvora who is a granddaughter of Kolja and Dushechka. Patsan and Sheika were received from my new silver male Prince Charming of Twist Castle imported from France. Now Silver Kolja is 12 years old and Dushechka is also not young - she is more than 10. They are still in good shape and enjoy a quiet life of pensioners.

At the same time with silver color I am engaged in breeding black dwarves.
I became interested in black color long ago. Among the main reasons there were a stability of black color in comparison with variable color of silver poodles and the fact that black poodle's silhouette in show cut is more winsome than other colors. To the beginning of 1990-s natively bred black poodles demonstrated in Moscow Dog Shows were sad to look at. That was the most unfavorable and neglected color that was considered not fashionable and was left without a drop of new blood. Foreign experts working on the 1-st All-Union Poodle Show in Krylatskoe in 1989 (1200 participants of all sizes and colors) regarded black color as not meeting international standard requirements.

It was evident that without interference of an excellent stud-dog we wouldn't be able to correct the situation in 1-2 generations. Solving a problem of how and where from to take a dog without making a mistake is always very difficult. Buying puppies from foreign kennels is very expensive and I didn't want to receive a male only because there was no demand for it in Europe. My breeder from Switzerland frau Ruth aus der Au conscientiously helped me to solve this problem. Thanks to her recommendation I got a small puppy Piccadilly's Wonderboy (or simply Bantik) - a male whose father Bordenberg Macaroni Mouse (a toy poodle) I had often seen in my dreams. Just like Silver Kolja Bantik turned out to be a stud with a good potency. I was very lucky again. Specialists in breed and black color know his straight offsprings, grandchildren and great-grandchildren very well. Wonderboy's breeder Mrs. Susan Baldinger wants to renew Bantik's line lost by her and to buy a bitch from Russia that has a blood line of this excellent male. On his credit side there are 7 Interchampions and about two dozens champions of Russia and other countries as well as one Vice-World Champion-2000. His blood phenotype can be distinguished among modern poodles that are even not his straight offsprings. The most famous of Wonderboy's sons is Vostorg Nochy iz Russkogo Dvora (Interchampion, champion of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Finland, Bulgaria, National club, RKF).

Konjachnaja Karamelka Russkogo Dvora

I left in my kennel several bitches - offsprings of my black pair Piccadilly's Wonderboy and Russia Love Edition v.d. Foxmountain (my bitch was imported from Holland): my favorite Black Melancholy and Boogie-Woogie (the city of Kazan) that are their daughters. Their granddaughters from one litter Fitulka and Fintiflushka, young Ljalja the Black, great-granddaughters Iriska and Konjachnaja Karamelka (St. Petersburg) are also excellent females. Black Melancholy's son Chingis-Khan iz Russkogo Dvora (city of Kazan) successfully performs on the part of the kennel. Big hopes are connected with my young dogs: Ljalja the Black and Lakomy Kusochek iz Russkogo Dvora (city of Kiev) from the same litter. These are the first puppies from my new stud-dog who was imported by me after the whole year of waiting from the world-famous kennel SUPERSTAR'S from a famous breeder and international-class expert Mrs. Lisbeth Max.

Mrs. Lisbeth Max produced 52 Interchampions and 23 World and European Champions in her kennel. Hopes connected with this young male start coming true. Before his second birthday he became a champion of Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, 7 CAC, 3 CACIB and 3 BOB. His daughter from Black Melancholy Ljalja the Black iz Russkogo Dvora at the age of 9 months got a title of the Best Junior on her debut UPC show. When she was 13 months old she became the Best Junior of Eurasia-2001 judged by a very strict expert from Finland Mr. Jaarveenen; her brother Lakomy Kusochek at the age of 11 months became the Best Junior of the 9th group on the International CACIB Show in Kiev.

His name - Superstar's Black Unexpected Joy - I invented myself and Lisbeth kindly approved of it. At the same time I bought from Mrs. Max a black bitch. She was Joy's half-sister and was named Superstar's Black Totoshka. She was a toy poodle. Joy and Totoshka have a common father - twice World Champion and champion of more than 10 countries Fidel Full Fart Mickey. Totoshka's mother is a well-known bitch - World Champion Superstar's Sweet Black Smoky offspring from a brown bitch with further brown dogs in her pedigree. It is possible that puppies received from Totoshka in "Russky Dvor" will be brown, too. Maybe this color will join the other three colors already present in the kennel.

Nowadays it is considered stylish to join one's Russian kennel's name to a name of a kennel of a dog imported from another country. In this case you add your not-known kennel's name to the results of many years of other people's labor. I understand the justice of this method in those cases when dogs belonging to both kennels took part in breeding, but unceremonious usage of another's name is wrong and vicious. It is not clear who is a breeder: a Russian kennel with a three-year history or a kennel that has been successfully producing champions for 20-30 years. Only a professional familiar with the breed can understand this reshuffle. It is even more sad that this method is used by people from the governing body of the club, the same people that we elected to preserve purity and development of the breed. This method is a sort of kynological plagiarism.

I've got a special attitude to white color. I don't take a great interest in it. In 1994 I visited the World Dog Show in Bern, Switzerland where I got directly acquainted with my breeder Ruth. I was looking for a white male for a kennel's white family from Blansh Belle Bijou v.d. Molenvlate (Holland). She offered me to look at a 2.5 months-old puppy. Iana Gavrilova and I weighted all arguments pro and con because it was very easy to make a mistake at this age, but we came to the conclusion that Marlon of Twist Castle would be a good stud-dog. I don't regret buying him. He produced 4 Interchampions, 8 champions of Russia and other countries, his daughter and granddaughter became Junior World Champions. His direct offsprings can be immediately recognized by their phenotype on all rings. Using Marlon as a stud-dog produces much better results than using his offsprings. Being mated with several bitches Marlon produced toy females. Two of them (alimony) were left in the kennel. Dikovinka (27 cm) lives in Ufa and I left Melkaja Monetka (Small Coin) (27 cm) for myself. These two excellent bitches wonderfully reproduce Marlon's phenotype.

Junior World Champion Melkaja Monetka

Both have titles of Interchampion, National champion, champions of different countries. I was not planning to work with white color, but so it happened. On the World Show in Helsinki, 1998 Monetka became a Junior World Champion competing with 10 poodles from different countries. That very summer Dikovinka was sent to far-off Spain to the famous kennel Del Zarsoso. An exceptionally beautiful white toy male World Champion Del Zarsoso Desperado lived in that kennel. We saw him on World Dog Show and were impressed by his beauty and movements. His and Vika's son Vanka Vstanka iz Russkogo Dvora got 2 CACIB by the age of 2.

In summer 2000 Monetka gave birth to a toy female Tantsujushaja Denejka (Dancing Coin). Her farther was rather a small dwarf having toys in his pedigree Sporrence Blaste-Off (imported from Sweden). I think that our puppy is very promising and it has a glorious future ahead.

Tantsujushaja Denejka Russkogo Dvora

These toy poodles are very proportional and well-built with right strong movements, wonderful modern heads and excellent behavior. They are radically different from those tiny creatures that are called toy poodles only because of their size. Unfortunately this latter type can often be seen on rings.

Several years ago our poodle society watched with admiration multiple victories of an invincible pair - full brother and sister Snejnaja Anutiny Glazky and Ay-Malchik iz Russkogo Dvora. These two snow beauties (Anuta became an Interchampion) were the most outstanding offsprings of Blansh Belle Bijou v.d. Molenvlate (owned by T.P. Ivanova). It is regrettable that the owner of Anuta didn't use this excellent bitch for breeding and she left no offsprings.

Now kennel "Russky Dvor" (officially "iz Russkogo Dvora") consists of 13 poodles. Four of them are pensioners. These are a pair of silver Swisses Silvel Kolja and Silver Windsong and a pair of black dogs Piccadilly's Wonderboy and Russia Love Edition (Holland). Several poodles of the kennel have joint ownership and live in different Russian cities. I don't want to name all my nurslings and to describe their advantages and disadvantages. I could tire you with a list of each poodle's victories and titles, but this is not what I'm aiming for. I want a common reader to read my story about creating not the largest but the oldest and the most honest Russian kennel breeding dwarf and toy poodles.