My Golden and My Flat

Genco Dolores

I've always had a great passion for nature and animals, but dogs have truly stolen my heart. I had my first dog at 21, when I got married and went to live with my husband Vittorio, who is also passionate about dogs (after all, it couldn't have been otherwise). Before getting my first dog I did extensive research and, in the end, I realized that the breed most 'akin' to me was the Irish Setter. I looked for a book that would talk about this breed both from a morphological as well as a character perspective. I called all the most well reputed breeders listed in the book and eventually my final choice went to the kennel "Of Primroses Red" in Prato. It was 1985, but I remember as if it were yesterday the day I met the breeder, Bruno Chemeri. I will be eternally grateful to him for giving me "Zimba" a lovely 2-month-old puppy. From her I learned everything: the extraordinary sensitivity of dogs, their language, their amazing abilities. The most emotional aspect of life with a dog is that they always know how humans feel; namely they can read your soul. The only downside is that dogs stay with us for too short a time! To help me overcome this painful loss I got Penelope, the beautiful and charming daughter of Zimba, whom just out of love and dedication for me, and only for that, accompanied me with great success to my first Agility courses and to the practical tests of the exams to become a Dog Trainer. But Penelope had never wanted to be a mom and so over the course of time and through acquainting myself with lots of Italian and foreign professionals and training courses in the canine field I have gotten to know and appreciate Golden Retrievers. I could not resist! I got my third dog, Kukkola Champagne Pick Me Up from the " Kukkola " kennel. What I learnt is that Golden Retrievers in addition to all those beautiful qualities I had found in my Setters, 'live to please you'. It is said that they have the famous " will to please ", and it's true: they do what you ask, for you, and they have fun and rejoice in seeing you happy. My first Golden Picky was fantastic! We had a phenomenal life together and enjoyed endless experiences from Obedience competitions, television, and advertising shootings, two litters and countless holidays together because we both deeply loved the sea. Then my work and my passion merged: I abandoned the cold and boring office work and devoted myself solely to dog breeding, training and other professional canine activities. Soon after I turned my passion to another fantastic breed, the Flat Coated Retriever thanks to my encounter with a truly knowledgeable and passionate breeder Minna Sihvonen, who taught me to love and appreciate this breed. Compared to the Goden Retriever, the Flat Coated shows a livelier temperament as well as being in general more determined and resolute; two characteristics that make it a tireless worker.

Now I am living in the countryside with Flat Coated and Golden Retrievers, cats, horses, goats, geese, turtles, chickens and rabbits and we are all very happy. In a nutshell I realized my dream! Ah ... in the meantime I have also had two children, Nicolò and Ludovica, who love and respect all animals, know dogs deeply, especially because they were patiently educated and tolerated by them...