FIN & S CH
Ilanja's Alexander

(INT & NORD CH Romanow's Nikolai / INT & NORD CH Kaznan Ilanka)

9.2.1982 – 28.1.1991

The first King of Tsaarikon, Alvari I, was born in Eeva-Sinikka Waldén's Ilanja's kennel in Helsinki. This was the first litter in this kennel and consisted of six puppies. Alvari and one brother called Aleksei and four sisters: Alexandra, Anastasia, Andruska and Anna.

Alvari moved in when he was a mere 8 weeks old. Quite soon we had a couple of hard fights with him. He thought that NOBODY should tell HIM what he should do, he did what he wished! Alvari was a real Ruler. He was of a very strong character and we fought once or twice. But after that, he never questioned who the boss was in our house. He did like to boss my sister's around however. For example, on the weekend mornings he would conquer my younger sister's bed and growl and flash his teeth if she tried to move him away. Usually Kati gave up quite easily and left the bed voluntarily to Attila the Hun.

In Alvari's younger days I was studying in a town called Seinäjoki. Alvari stayed weekdays with my parents and I would come home during weekends. A couple of times I would take him with me to Seinäjoki where he adjusted to my small room in student housing without any difficulties. He was quite a calm pal who didn't get scared very easily so he was very easy to travel with. However, in the car he never agreed to lie down. No, he would stubbornly stand the whole trip, no matter how long it took. When he got very tired, he rested his head on top of the driver's head in order to see what was happening ahead. I guess I don't have to say how unpleasant the driving was then!

Alvari had my father's dogs for company, but his best friend was a borzoi bitch called Akaasian Tigre (Polongain Feisal/Akaasian Asovskaja). Alvari and Tigre had a lot of fun together until we moved to Turku which was a couple of hundred kilometers from our hometown in Mänttä. In Turku we had the pleasure to get to know Anssi Kantola, who had a borzoi bitch named Polongain Olegia, aka Kiia (Polongain Fjor/Polongain Heureka). Anssi and Kiia were good company for our walks for several years.

I wasn't thinking about dog shows when I bought Alvari, but I got very interested in them after we participated in our first dog show. That was on May 7th, 1983 in Tampere. Alvari had excellent success as he won his first CAC in the Youngsters Class and was named Best of Breed-2. His sister Andruska also won CAC and was named Best of Breed-3. After a couple of months, we participated in our second show in Ähtäri and were equally as successful as in Tampere. Alvari won his second CAC and was placed Best of Breed-3. Alvari won his third and final CAC in Jämsä, on July 29th, 1984 and became Finnish Show Champion at the age of 2 years. We also attended dog shows in Sweden. Alvari won the Swedish CH Title in Nyköping in September of 1985 and CACIB in Ransäter in 1986. In 1987 the Finnish Borzoi Club organized a trip to Skokloster, which is the largest sighthound specialty in the Nordic countries. The judge was a Dutch breeder by the name of Anita Gielisse. She had about 80 borzois to judge there. Alvari was amazingly Best Dog-5, and his mom Ilanka was BOB Veteran. Other Finns were also quite successful! What a trip! I also enjoyed getting to know new people and seeing other borzois from the Nordic area.

In autumn 1990 our kingdom got a little prince. His name was Tami, an 8-week-old borzoi puppy. Alvari played with the little one, but wasn't that interested in going full speed. Luckily, Tami wasn't teasing him too badly. I couldn't let Alvari go free in his elderly years, not because I was afraid of him running away, but because he always turned around and went straight back home! He was awaiting me and Tami behind the front door, so sometimes our walks ended far too quickly.

Regrettably, Alvari passed away in February of 1991, only a couple of days prior to his 9th birthday. I was really happy to have Tami by my side as he made my period of mourning much easier. That kept me from thinking of Alvari all the time. Tami still had Kiia as a friend, so our life didn't change completely.