About me: how it all began

I'm Elisa Kangaskoski, a 29-year-old (16.12.1980) master of economics and business administrations from Jyväskylä, Finland. I've always loved animals and especially dogs but because of my diagnosed asthma my parents never allowed us to have any pets. In 1994 after serious discussions we decided to give it a try and bought a short haired German pointer puppy Rocky. Rocky had no papers because of a bad bite but he was a good hunting dog and a loved member of our family. Rocky was put to sleep because of epilepsy in January 2004 at th age of 9,5 years. He must be running fast some where over the clouds watching our daily life.

I had never needed any regular asthma medications and Rocky didn't cause me any reactions. It was soon discovered that the asthma diagnosis was wrong: a doctor told me that I had no asthma! I was thrilled! At that time I started to dream about having my own dog. I read all the dog books that I could find from the library and planned things from daily routines to training a dog. From a dog breed book I finally found a picture of a black & white cocker. I simply fell in love with the cocker's sad expression and good size! I guess there's nothing worse than choosing a breed by its looks but that's how it happened and I started looking for a puppy.

At first I just wanted to have a cocker and it made no difference if the dog had papers or not. My purpose was only to get a companion. But when I started to make puppy enquiries I realized how little the price difference between a registered and a non-registered puppy was. So I decided to pay more for the papers just in case. I started to work and collect money for the puppy. I even sold Christmas papers door to door. I worked as hard as a determined 15-year-old could.

Finally I found the right coloured puppy. The day before Christmas Eve we drove to collect my puppy home from Jukka Kuusisto, kennel Lecibsin. A better first dog I could not have had! I'm forever grateful to Jukka for trusting me to have Make! Who would have known what a dear hobby I started that day! Make is such a wonderful dog and we've been to shows, obedience competitions and done blood tracks. Make even helped me to recover from a serious disease. He was always there when tears were falling down from my eyes. Make became my best friend and I will love him forever. I shall never forget him.

I received the kennel name Claremark in January 1999. I wanted the name to remind me of Make because my plan was to have Make as the sire of the first Claremark puppies. I began to look for a suitable bitch to start my breeding with. I wanted to bring some new blood lines to Finland so I decided to import my foundation bitch. In the fall 1999 I met Elizabeth Craig from kennel Rancecraig, Scotland. In the fall 2002 after three years of waiting I finally got the puppy I wanted from Elizabeth Craig (Rancecraig cockers) and I travelled to Edinburgh to take my precious home. Unfortunately during these three years Make had become sterile caused by an unknown reason. Make sired two litters but I myself never got Make's offsprings. This was devastating to me because Make was the reason for me to start breeding.

Because Make was sterile I decided to import a dog puppy from Scotland. So, in September 2004 I once again travelled to Edinburgh and brought Muzzy from kennel Rancecraig with me to Finland. I've been very pleased with Muzzy and he truly is a perfect gentleman. There isn't a hole small enough to stop him from getting close to me for cuddles.

I've had cockers for over 10 years and during this time I've made lots of good friends and memories. My breeding is very selective and small in scale: 1-2 litters/year. All my dogs live in the house with me and are beloved members of our family. Our hobbies include shows, obedience, agility and tracking without forgetting the daily exercise.

My aim is to breed healthy, beautiful and always so merry cockers who have sustained their original instincts and are therefore suitable for hunting as well. Temperament is very important criteria to me. My breeding started in October 2004 on the local government election day when Monna received the first Claremark litter.To see the litter page click here. I hope you enjoy your visit here. For further questions please don't hesitate to contact me!