I got my first beardie in 1988. That was such a special day. I had been watching different breeds at shows and my dream was to have an English Old Sheepdog. For some reason, beardies stole my attention at shows. Mrs Sirkka-Liisa Salmi (kennel Ceetan) was my first connection to the beardie world. My first beardie Rovinon Alex was a true beardie in many ways. We entered some shows and had a lot of fun but not a lot of success in the show ring. He got killed in a car accident when he was only 4,5 years old. At that time I thought, I will never again have a dog as saying goodbye was one of the hardest things to do.

In 1994 I saw such a lovely dog at a show in Finland. That dog was Firstprizebears Dennehotso. What a beardie! He was totally different from what I had seen ever before. That was when I got familiar with Conny (Loest) and Joop Hartman. In 1994 I travelled to Holland to get my first Firstprizebears male and that was “Oliver”, Firstprizebears Joe Cocker. When Oliver was around 3 years old it was time to have another beardie and that was when “Kalle”, Firstprizebears Vanderbilt, came. He was such a happy and joyful puppy. Oliver was more serious in temperament and Kalle he was like laughing all the time. They were a nice couple together. As Oliver was 10 years old Conny offered me a brown boy. Well, that was when Uno came into our life. This means I have been very loyal to the Firstprizebears quality and I must admit I am always proud to carry the Firstprizebears flag in Scandinavia.

Below is my dear Kalle at the age of 12,5 years.