FIN CH
Ilanja's Krechit

(FIN CH Sylvan Checkmate / INT, FIN, N, DK & S CH, BDSG-93, W-93 Ilanja's Demjana)

b. 14.1.1998

The present ruler of our kingdom is His Royal Highness Remu IV. He was born one month after Tami passed away. I went several times to see the puppies; boys Kaitar, Kolpic, Krechit and Krylat and their sister Krilatka. The sire of the puppies is an American import Sylvan Checkmate and the dam is Tami's sister Ilanja's Demjana. I wasn't planning to take a new dog until next autumn, but it was terrible to be without a dog, and the more often I saw the puppies the more I liked them. Remu was a beautiful red and white color until he was 1 year old and then changed. He is actually a sable and looks more like black and white as the roots of the hair are brown but the tips are black.

Remu is maybe the easiest dog I have had so far. He is doing great with almost all other dogs, no matter what their sex or breed is. He understands quite a lot of speech and sometimes he appears in the middle of the conversation after he has recognized a word, or a part of the word, which means something nice to him. All sighthounds are usually quite sensitive to pain, but Remu has made a real art of it. I don't exaggerate too much when saying that he yelps when he drops a hair! He screams like hell during regular vaccinations but I have learned to take some treats with me which seems to lessen the pain, so when eating a lot of treats the King can be vaccinated without noticing the hard pain.

As a youngster, Remu was very keen on everything which was made of wood, like window frames, doorposts, baseboards, and wooden furniture. To Remu they all tasted very good and he sure nibbled them! He also tried hard to educate himself by reading some books (Lord of The Rings was his favorite!) and painting with watercolors.

Remu has also done pretty well in dog shows. He became Finnish Show Champion quite quickly and even in his elderly days he has done great, e.g. in Helsinki Winner 2004 Show he was Best Dog-2. In Finnish Borzoi Club's speciality 2002 the French breeder judge Christian Magre (kennel Belouyeva) placed Remu to BD-4. At the beginning of the next year, Remu hurt his toe. The ligament was fractured so badly that the whole toe had to be amputated later in the summer. Luckily he healed very well, and no judge has noticed that he is actually missing one toe. On the opposite end of the spectrum, they have all considered his movements still excellent. Remu has two CACIBs but at the age of 7, he was neutered due to a prostate problem and his show career unfortunately ended.

He has never competed in official races but in unofficial lure coursing he has run pretty well. He doesn't have a great interest in plastic bags but he sometimes gives some speed training to the local elks in our forest and after a while returns to me looking very proud of himself. Remu also thinks that all squirrels, rabbits, cats in the neighbourhood and all other living creatures are so nice.

Remu has sired Ilanja's L-litter, you can see the pictures of his kids from here.

Nowadays, Remu also has the company of a little Crown Prince, a silken windhound called Kassu. Remu is the master of the house when they are inside but outside Kassu relies on his speed and light movements and teases helpless, poor Remu without a mercy! When I'm picking the berries and mushrooms in the autumn, Remu usually sleeps on the best places crushing the berries and mushrooms under him, and Kassu runs through them in full speed.

Remu's dearest hobbies are eating and sleeping, food becomes more and more important the older he gets. Earlier he took some of the leather bones straight from Kassu's mouth until I made it clear that he can not get them before Kassu has finished. And now Kassu teases him by collecting all the bones and lying on top of them. Poor Remu, sigh!