My  name is Susanna Lindqvist and I live in Nousiainen with my husband Timo and our children Lassi and Etta. Nousiainen is located in Southwest Finland and the biggest town near us is Turku, about 20 km from our home.  

When I was nine years old my sisters and me got our first dog. She was a very alert skyeterrier, called Tove. In her papers her name was Young Girl Of Skyeline. She was very stubborn and quite reserved dog and unfortunately got sick and died in 1981. At that time we were living in Helsinki and our neighbours had a lovely Golden retriever Viktoria. “Vicky” was born 1978 and soon after we had lost our own dog, she became my best friend. Vicky’s owners were quite busy with the growing family and I was more than happy to take Vicky out for long walks. Later I took her to dog shows and obedience training. Getting to know this wonderful dog was the start to my “dog hobby”.   

In 1984 we moved to Lieksa and I had to leave Helsinki and Vicky behind me. My parents, wisely, promised me a dog in compensation for this heartbreaking move. At that time it was very difficult to get Golden Retriever puppies in Finland. In Sweden things were better and my first Golden was born there in February 1984. Twinkle Early August “Vanja“ turned out to be a very special dog. Hard headed and clever, she truly was a challenge for a young girl like me. But we certainly did have fun together. We tried obedience; dog shows, working in field, agility etc. Sometimes with success, sometimes without it. Vanja died in 1998, 14 years 8 months old.

In summer 1985 I got the opportunity to spend some weeks in Sweden, in kennel Twinkle, working in the kennels. I learned to know Per and Ta Aschan and their family. The next ten years I had the pleasure to spend all my holidays on their beautiful farm as a member of the family. I will always be grateful to Per and Ta for taking me to their home and family and shearing all their knowledge about dogs with me. Lots of hugs and kisses to them :) This friendship gave me even possibility to start my career as a breeder. Spring 1990 Per asked me if I would like to have one of his bitches and try breeding. Why not? So instead of taking a new puppy I went to Sweden and came home with a beautiful mature bitch, Ferryside Fashion for Twinkle. “Gill” was a dream come true. It’s hard to find a sweeter dog. Gill won 4 CC’s and did very well in veteran classes. Most of all, she was excellent mum to her children. Sadly we lost her 1995, 11 years old.  

My first litter was born 1992. The father for this W-litter was EUJW-91 Waterloo’s Roll Over Beethoven. Next litter G-litter was born 1993 and this time the father was Ch Lovehayne Darter. In both litters there were two CC winners. Unfortunately I had bad luck with the bitches I kept from these litters and my career, as a breeder was finished for a long time. 1999 I got a healthy, beautiful and nice bitch puppy Karvin Champagne.  “Lotta” has had a litter under prefix Karvin and has proved to be a loving and caring mother for her puppies.

Life with Golden retrievers and breeding them has brought me lots of joy and happiness, but even some sad moments. This hobby has even given me many true friends during these years. Thank You Viveca, Vicki and Heidi for being there for me for almost 15 years!

At the moment we have 3 Golden Retrievers living with us, Karvin Champagne, Karvin Tia Maria and Gill's Dolce Vita.