ABOUT US
 

I got interested in dogs in the far 1978. I had a German shepherd, as a lot of Soviet teenagers did. The dog got versatile training, and, while working with the dog, I got through a good school of cynology myself. Those were the days of careless youth, years, completely devoted to shows and trainings. At the same time, in 1981 I completed my studies at the cynology course and started training to become a judge.

It seems that was the time when I became attracted by sighthounds. Unfortunately, there were only Afghans, Borzois and Italian Greyhounds in Latvia then; but in 1984 I was working at a big dog show in Riga and I saw an Irish Wolfhound for the first time there. I would say, that everybody, who has once seen an Irish Wolfhound, is going to remember that moment forever, together with the sense of something unreal the moment creates. The dog was brought to the show by our colleagues from Leningrad and it took part in a joint Soviet-Norwegian film, «I na kamnyakh rastut derevya» (Trees Grow on the Stones Too). After the show I had a talk with the owner of the dog and it all ended in my burning desire to have an Irish Wolfhound, too. However, there was still the “iron curtain” in Latvia and the dream to bring in a dog from abroad could be not more than a dream. Nevertheless, I started looking for at least any sources to learn about the breed.

I must say that our dogs and our genuine interest in them give us a lot in this life – if we did not have them, we would not see and learn a lot of things. This is how I got to know the history of Ireland and the folklore of the country. Moreover, I got interested not only in the breed, Irish Wolfhound, as in a “cynological specimen”; I was fascinated by the dog as the hero of ancient sagas and legends.

Five years passed since I first met him, the dream was still only a dream, but life went on. That was a very tragic period of my life as my very close friend passed away. However, that was the time when one acquaintance of mine (a dog fancier and a judge) called me and said, “You were dreaming about an Irish Wolfhound, weren't you?” My answer was positive, but I did not expect anything to happen. However, in the next few moments I learned that the next day I had to meet the train as another acquaintance of mine was bringing me a puppy! Hallelujah to the brotherhood of dog owners!

This is how I became a happy owner of my first Irish Wolfhound, a brindle bitch Donora Grandis from Poland and it happened at the beginning of September, 1989. This is how dreams come true! In spite of my large (as I thought then) cynological experience, I learned very much from Nora. I called my friends and I was so enthusiastic, saying the things the owners of my puppies keep telling me now, “It is more than a dog, but not a human being yet, but she understands everything as if being a human!”  

I have had Irish Wolfies since then and I can not imagine my life without them. In 1991, I had my first litter under the prefix “Tower’s”. The kennel “Dwarfs’ Valley” was registered in 1999 only, as Latvia joined FCI in 1996.