Italian Greyhound male FIN & S & LTU CH ELEGANTIN HOPEASIIPI "Dakota" 8.5.2000 - 24.6.2009 colour: grey size: 38 cm Pedigree - Shows - Gallery

Breeder: Tarja Matikainen, Kennel Elegantin, Helsinki Finland.
Other dog in the litter: Hopeasulka
Owners: Nanna & Timo Mäkelä, Nastola

• Eyes and knees tested on 27.4.2005, both OK
• Eyes re-tested on 15.10.2007, they're OK

In the middle of the 90´s we saw Kennel Pihlajavaaran Italian Greyhounds at the Lahti International Dog Show and were intrigued by those lovely dogs. Over the years we couldn´t get them out of our minds. Once we had the opportunity to get a puppy in the year 2000, we started contacting breeders. Luckily, Mrs Tarja Matikainen mated her beautiful bitch FIN CH Taikatytön Soraya and promised us the first pick of the puppies to be born. Nanna was very thrilled to get a phone call from Tarja and the news of two baby iggys. Over the phone we agreed that the grey one was to be ours. Thus, Dakota became our first Italian Greyhound.

We immediately fell in love with our affectionate and strong-willed boy. Dakota was a determined little dog with a mind of his own. The mood he was in any given day, also dictated the day for our other dogs. Indeed, Dakota had certain theatrical characters and he skilfully used heart-breaking whining to get things done his way - we certainly couldn't deny him anything! Dakota didn't wait and see if he might get our attention and affection, instead he just grabbed it. Most of the time we had a dog on the lap or heeling around the house. If unnoticed, Dakota scratched and stretched against one's  leg until he was picked up.

We had hoped for a dog that we could occasionally take to dog shows. Our Afghan Hound had proved to be less of a show dog that we had hoped for and his illnesses soon ended our desires to show him. When Dakota had reasonably good success in shows, attending dog shows became more regular for us. We haven't been able to get a happy grin off of our faces since he became a Finnish Champion in May, 2002. We have also been very lucky in other aspects; Dakota was in excellent health and he mostly visited the vet just to get vaccinated.

Dakota's litter brother, Elegantin Hopeasulka - "Viiru", has been very successful in coursing.

Once Dakota grew we wanted to get him a playmate and that's how Sinaidan Cascamorto became our second Italian Greyhound.

Thank you Tarja – Dakota was our dream come true!