But - I needed a new corgi in my life. Målfrid had no puppies available at that time, but she lent me a tricolour corgi girl named Ursula. Ursula stayed with us for nearly 9 months untill Leitegårds Elvis (16846/96) was old enough to leave his mother. Elvis was not a showdog. It turned out that he had long fur, so he looked like a Colliedog...Well Elvis and I went to several obedience courses, he was amazing. In 97' me and my husband, John bought our first house together in Kverneland just outside Sandnes. I was still working as a beautician in a perfume shop, we were planning our wedding and - I got pregnant with my first daughter May-Helen, she arrived in April-98' Sadly my son Marius struggled with headaches, the Doctor said he was allergic to dogs. Luckily my parents suggested they take Elvis, he lived there till his time came to cross the rainbow bridge.

Then followed 2 years without any dogs in my house. I got pregnant again with my second daughter Elly- Mari, she was born March 2000. I struggled with depression but kept it to myself. I avoided leaving the house, I saw no reason to go for walks without a dog. Marius had started school and my little girls had "nannys" who came and took them out to play every day.

I needed a dog. We decided to try again, hoping that Marius had grown out of his allergies. Målfid let us borrow Uni for a few months, so we could examine if Marius had any affect from having a dog around and if I could cope with the extra work of having a dog again. Needless to say I was in heaven! Marius did not get sick and I just loved having a dog in my home again.
This time my husband got a say in the matter and we bought a grown lady Rottweiler named Emma (10127/96) She was an excellent dog and after a year we had a litter on her.
6 pups lived up, 2 girls and 4 boys. We decided to keep one of the girls for future breeding. Her name was Amber (17248/02)
Her name was Amber. When Amber was 7 months old we moved to Hellvik. The man we had bought Emma from called us up, and asked if we wanted to take in Amber's big brother (from a earlier litter) Bosse. He was 2,5 years at that time. I was not sure at first... a Rottweiler male is no joke... but after meeting Bosse we were convinced. He was calm and well trained as could be. For nearly 2 years our house contained 3 big Rottweilers, and it got to be my job to train and care for them.

Amber got to be 3 years old. We had done all the tests on her and we decided to have a litter on her that year. There were 3 families that were waiting for puppies from that litter. Amber did not take and deveoped a hormone-dissorder instead. She was no longer to be trusted, we had to put her to sleep before she hurt somebody.

Emma was getting old and had retired at a lady's home in Egersund. She stayed there and was taken well cared of for over a year. Emma died when she was 10 years old, just a couple of months after Amber. But we still had Ambers big brother Bosse. He tragically died at the age of 5 1/2 years from pancreas cancer.
We were paralysed! Our home was empty. After one month, we bought a cat. Her name was Peanut and she was a Holy Birma.
I thought long and hard about what breed of dog to get next, I then remembered the fascination I had with Basenjis. I had seen them over the years whilst showing corgis at dog shows, but I had been told basenjis were a difficult breed. But- I thought that I had enough experience with dogs to handle one. So I bought Shaka Savoy Eyla (03432/06) She charmed us and stole our hearts! We entered her in 2 obedience courses, in the beginning I had to re-think everything I had learnt about dog training. A basenji is not like other dogs.
Eyla is the perfect dog for me. She is clever, kind and well behaved. She listens to my commands, we are more like friends, than dog & owner. 
After about a year we bought one more basenji girl. Her name was Azanias Rosegarden  (02973/07). Pia was 6 months old when she moved into our house. She tragically died a year and a half later- she was sadly hit by a car.

Eyla had her first basenji litter in our basement at that time, and I decided to keep a little girl named Demani (NO32763/09)
And of course, I just had to have a new corgi. My basenjis are so easy to have around, that I felt there was room for another dog. So, last fall when Målfrid phoned me to say she was going to have her last corgi litter ever (she is 79 years now) and that she really wanted me to have a puppy from that litter - well how could I turn that down? Leite-Gårds Hertug Harley came to us Feb 2010 -  he is the latest addition to our family.
I hope to be able to breed and own dogs as long as Målfrid. A life without dogs is dull and grey.
I also use my experience to help people with dog training at our house and I give help and advice to customers at my work, as a manager in a petshop.


28. November 2010
Elly-Mari and the Children' s quire at Egersund Church performing at  Bakkebø kirke