Markéta Sousedíková – Sousedík Kennel
The love of my life used to be a horse riding- showjumping and dressage to be exact. I spend more than 20 years of my life training and riding horses and I always had a dog there as well. Yet it was only when an unexpected borzoi came to my life (it was Aprelka Lenel Slovakia) I instantly knew that sigthounds will be the passion of my life. She amazed me with her lovely character, elegant beauty, calm mind yet lively temperament. After few years of dog shows (we have passed sixteen European countries and we have achieved success at the most prestigious exhibitions, World Dog Show Amsterdam, Moscow, Leipzig, Brno, 2x Crufts, European Dog Show Warsaw, Wels and Paris where Aprelka won the title of res. BEST IN SHOW veteran, then also Donaueschingen Sighthound Festival, European Championship Slovakia, European Championship Denmark, European Championship Estonia) and coursing (she was amazing there too) I decided to found my own kennel and start breeding dogs. Breeding dogs just for money was a big no go for me, I knew I will breed dogs to keep the breed high quality. And because I care more about quality than quantity I have only three dogs in my kennel. We do sports and shows at high level, yet my dogs are my friends and I am not ashamed to say I rule my life around the them. They have a big garden and own room in our big house. But when we are not somewhere outside they lay on my sofa or sleep in my bed. To treat every dog in individual way to make sure the dog has everything that is needed.
Breeding:
Many of victories and plenty of international titles of Aprelka is just prove how special she is and I decided for breeding so I can have her offspring. That’s the reason of any litters I plan- I just want to have puppies from my own dog to join our pack. I choose father of litter very carefully- I am not interested only in his results as show and racing dog, I study pedigrees as well and make sure to choose lines that don’t carry any risk to my future litter- in health way or in character. By the way prove of my dogs great character is the fact that both of my borsoi girls are certified Canisterpaeutic dogs.
I choose new families for my pups carefully too. I am always happy when the new owner decides to do dog sports or dog shows with borzois of my kennel, yet it’s not the most important thing for me. I prefer new owners who understand the breed well and know what to expect from borzoi. They are wonderful big dogs, but are not for everyone. They can match your lifestyle perfectly, but you should keep in mind that these dogs are hunters and people spend centuries to breed them as independent animals. Thy still have their own opinion on many things (like classical obedience training is) and it’s simple to raise them, but please don’t think you will train them. If you know shepherd dogs, don’t expect borzois will be the same.
Puppies will leave fully vaccined, wormed, chipped and with all documents. Socialization is at high level, puppies are born into loving family, live inside the house, have own garden and are taken by car on daily basis to run free in meadows outside the Prague. I feed my dogs with quality food and use a high profile supplements to make sure puppies grow into strong, balanced dogs. Owners will of course get a starting package and lifelong consultations are guaranteed.
Filming:
Kennel SOUSEDIK
bears a name of my grandfather. Josef Sousedík lived in the first half of 20th century. He was visionary and a manufacturer with a strong social conscience, honest municipal politician and real partiot, who was adored by good people and feared by the dictators. He was persecuted, hated by comunists and executed by nazis. His name was planned to be forgotten forever. He was very important Czech electrotechnic ingineer and inventor with many Czechoslovak and world patents. He founded famous electrotechnical factory in Vsetín, he was succesfull businessman, wel known and trusted local politician and humanist. Press of that days often called him “Edison from Moravia” and whole Europe envied us his skills. First Czech president T.G.Masaryk called him his friend and famous shoe-manufacturer Tomáš Baťa gave him his personal plane and started to build a railroad from Zlín to Vsetín for him. British and American scientist wanted to work with him. Siemens offered him a great fortune to make him stop ingineering his electric motors. But he refused all those proposals, because he was big partiot and he belived in “his Czechoslovakia”. Communists wanted to burry his name, but he was not forgotten and he got a Medal for bravery from the Prezident of the Czech republic himself – it was given to him in memoriam.
You can find the interview and an article about the breed in the magazine Esprit 7.2.2018
