Testimonials
Below are some testimonials from new owners of Kelda puppies. Keep scrolling down to see them all.Hot-Mocha
Kelda Hot-Mocha sold in 2011 and went to his new home in America. Photographed in water and with ball in his mouth in this article happy with his life!
Article excerpted from the september 2012 issue of showsight online magazine.
Milou
Here is the story sent to us about Milou a Kelda puppy purchased from us in 2002 by Gwendoline Mok.
Here is a little report on the mini monster!
Milou Mok Wolter, born May 2002 in Devon [England], now resides in Berkeley California,
enjoying abundant sunshine and numerous opportunities for play dates and play
mates in our neighbourhood. She lives with Rick and Gwen in a 1909 Craftsman
House, 2 storeys, with a large, fenced in yard, full of fruit trees and
flowers. Her best friend is Murray, a Lakeland who is just a month younger, who
came from breeders in Portland Oregon. There are several other Lakelands in the
neighbourhood; Sam and Moose who are both 8 and 9 years old respectively,
white with a grey saddle and we just recently heard that the 'Best of Show
Lakeland' ( Westminster? 1993) who is now retired, resides nearby in Martinez.
Milou weighs about 19 lbs and is 14 inches tall. She is a gorgeous colour;
apricot with a light saddle and has carmel colored eyes and a cutie nose. She
has a huge personality and is loads of fun, but can also be quite mischevious.
When Gwen was away in England, visiting with Milou's mother and grandmother,
Milou took her revenge by eating part of the sofa and chewed up the ignition
wires while Rick was in the grocery store. Now, 16 months old, she is full
grown, and starting (we hope) to calm down.
She is most sociable, very diplomatic when it comes to larger dogs and wants
to play all the time. She is fantastic with children and is so tolerant of
their little hands. We hope to breed her sometime in 2004, or early 2005. Since
we are both teachers, we need to time it with our holidays.
The below testimonials were received September 2006, relating to puppies bought in 2005 which would be about 1 year old.
Dudley
Here I will endeavour to describe the very eventful 8 months since we've had Dudley.Dudley arrived here and immediately appeared to be at home; in fact he became 'Lord of the Manor' and life has changed dramatically for us as a result. Of course this is only because we have let him but he is a very forceful and independent character whose will can sometimes be stronger than ours due to the fact that he has the most appealing face with the most mischievous yet utterly benevolent eyes we've ever seen on a dog. He assumed alpha male status very shortly after arrival and decided to chase anything that moved; the Hoover, hairdryer, leaves, cars, dressing gown cords and the guinea pigs, he also found it great fun to catch and eat bees until he was stung in the mouth. This chasing instinct has been our greatest challenge so far and is now much curbed. We spend many hours playing football with him, in August he learned to swim in the sea which has proved very good exercise and one of his favourite sports is chewing up cardboard boxes. He also likes to take hair bands out of our hair (very gently) and ping them between his paws.
At a very early age he was taken to Puppy School classes where he learned every basic command far quicker than any of the other dogs there and as a result we are confident to let him off the lead when we are out, he always comes back when called albeit sometimes 'in his own time' which can be a little annoying but part of this problem is the effect he has on other people who seem to think he is the sweetest looking dog they have ever seen and will pet, feed him treats and generally delay him. In fact, now, Dudley wholeheartedly believes he is the most beautiful dog in the world and if he meets someone who perhaps doesn't notice him he will go to great pains to rectify the situation.
We have decided not to have Duddy neutered unless necessary for behavioural problems because we like him with the spark he has and naturally intact. He has occasionally been aggressive towards other dogs either to assert his dominance or to protect me (Lesley) from their advances but so far these have been minor incidents. He is a possessive boy but he knows when he oversteps the mark.
Duddy is the friendliest little dog we have ever met, he loves people of all ages and it is a pleasure to be his companion. He knows he is loved very much and derives great pleasure from provoking a reaction from us, for example, if he thinks life has been just a tad dull he might roll in fox poo, come to the back door, give an impatient yap and wait to be called a stinky boy, be chased around the garden until caught and given a shower (oh bliss), dried, brushed, all attention on him coz what's life about but him?
We thank you very much for breeding such a characterful and charismatic puppy, our lives revolve around him in the best way possible, he filled a gap we didn't know was there, he has improved our fitness and challenged our intellect because we have to manipulate him without him suspecting, he has become a devoted and hugely affectionate boy and life would be empty without him.
Kindest regards from Kevin, Lesley, Callum & Bea
Ludo
Ludo had quite an eventful first year. He managed to break his hip when he was only 20 weeks old and had to have orthopaedic surgery to put three pins in the ball joint. He was extremely brave throughout the injury, operation and recovery and made quite an impression on the vet as a plucky, uncomplaining, loveable pet.Unfortunately this injury prevented us giving him proper lead training early on as he had to remain in the house for some time, therefore we are still now having to be quite firm with him on the lead to stop him pulling.
He has a brilliant nature with the boys and will play all day with them. Like Issy he loves a ball, especially a football, and the boys will often come in tired, leaving Ludo in the garden still chasing the ball around. I have heard there are ball skills competions for dogs which I may be interested in training him for.
As you can see from the pictures, I haven't got to grips with stripping, so I have clipped him this once as he was getting rather untidy. I will attempt to find a local dog grooming service that provide stripping.
Ludo has been on a canal for a week, and ended up jumping into the water three times, which he actually seemed to enjoy. He also loves the beach, but obviously in the Midlands we don't get to go very requently. Like Issy he has a passport, and we too are taking him to France next year where I agree he will be truely doted on.
We were in Northumberland 2 weeks ago and I was stopped in every town by someone asking about him. I even met a young girl who had a liver and tan Lakie at home called Alfie. It's a shame I didn't get to meet him. I have also met many Airedale and Welsh Terrier owners who have been very interested in him.
We missed the first Midlands show as it clashed with 3 other events and I lost the vote. I haven't received information about this months yet, What time does it start? I would love to take him along if I am free.
Helen
Issy
I thought you'd like to receive a progress email on Issy as she comes up to her first birthday. Issy is everything and more that we could have hoped for. She has a superb temperament and loves being cuddled. Her favourite position is on her back having her tummy rubbed!She has a passion for stem ginger cookies and and will do anything to get hold of one. We have taught her so many things with the aid of these. She is very obedient and can sit, stay and even resist picking up the precious ginger biscuit until given the command. She loves going for walks and behaves well on the lead. She enjoys going into town and meeting people. Everywhere we go people stop us and fuss our 'adorable little dog'! As an example of how well behaved she was we were able to take her to Fowey and have a lunchtime meal outside the restaurant overlooking the harbour in the middle of summer. She sat patiently waiting for little titbits and everyone commented on how well behaved she was. She has a pet passport and next year will be going with us to France next year for the summer. The French (who are even more devoted to their dogs than us) will love her to bits! It goes without saying that she loves travelling in the car, especially my soft top sports car - I think it's the wind on her face. We have a boat moored on the canal and Issy treats this as her second home. She has a healthy respect for the water , gets on well with all of the other dogs she meets and loves trying to play with the ducks.
Issy adores being outside and is ball mad. I think we must possess about 30 balls of varying colours and sizes. Issy chooses which one she wants to play with and we get no choice but to play! Her favourite place is the beach. She loves paddling in the surf and chasing her ball on the sand. She doesn't like swimming though. We had to rescue her from a Lakeland shoulder deep puddle on the beach on holiday in Cornwall! As an early birthday present she has been given some agility jumps and a tunnel for the garden. Her favourite game is chasing the tennis ball around the circuit and it keeps my son fit! We have struggled to gain access to a Good citizen class but we keep trying. I've no doubt that she would have no problems.
There can be times when she gets grouchy. When she does she sulks. She will go to her crate in the kitchen - get in and pull the door shut behind her! At first we thought the door was shutting accidentally but then we saw her pull it closed with her paw!!
I can't thank you enough for the work you have put in to breeding such a stunning companion. We have always had Labradors before and wanted a more intelligent and independent dog in our lives. Issy has certainly fulfilled this and exceeded it.
Regards Michelle
Clem
Rachel Thanks for your email, apologies for not responding sooner I keep meaning to write to you. Interesting to read about Issy as we appear to have a completely different dog!!!Clem has turned out to be quite a character, he's a handful alright! He is practically on the go all the time and the only way to settle him down is to leave him quietly in the kitchen, if he disagrees he has a habit of chewing anything he can get his teeth into.. so far my kitchen door, the door frame and 2 kitchen chairs!
Right from the outset, even the very first puppy class, he wanted to tear around the hall and cause havoc whilst the other little puppies were sitting quietly too timid to move from their owners feet. We have taken him to training and whilst he will sit and lay down, everything really is on HIS terms. We have had 1-2-1 training at home with a professional dog trainer who trains dogs for the blind and her description of Clem was spot on... "he has a VERY low willingness to please anyone other than himself"! Every day is almost like he wakes up and says "right it's MY turn to be boss today"... he's as smart as anything but INCREDIBLY stubborn. Just when we think we've trained him to behave a certain way, the next day it's like it never happened!
He loves running off the lead, he'll chase and retrieve anything but likes to have a good game of tugging at the end of it all. We take him to the river, there's a nice spot locally where the Thames has a shallow bank and the dogs go mad running in a out of the water. Clem LOVES swimming but has given us a couple of scares going quite a way out.. we panic but he seems totally in control! That's the thing, we never really feel 100% in control of him and so we are careful to watch him like a hawk because he does like to wander and ignore any calls to come back.. we've had a couple of scares when he's just put his head down and run off out of the park... We are lucky though in that he will walk nicely on the lead, the trainer recommended a "canny-collar" which seems to keep him in check...
The relationship with the cat is interesting... Clem wants to play, the cat wants him disappear and most days there's a bit of a squabble but eventually he leaves the cat and peace is restored. But he does have a habit of preferring cat food to his James Wellbeloved, so mealtimes have to be carefully managed. Clem also likes to find out all the places the cat has been sleeping then "mark" it as his own territory so to speak, so far I've had to have my duvet washed professionally 4 times!! Have to go now, dinner, but I will take a photo of Clem and send it over to you tomorrow.
Regards Debbie