The Eusanit Kennel was established in 1987 with the showing of our Irish Red & White Setters. During this time we had two show champions in Purdy and Bingo.
In the 1990’s we had some success with our own homebred Red & Whites until, in 2006, we finally retired from the breed. In 2003 we went looking for a new breed to show and, together with my work colleague Jackie Johnson, purchased a Foxdown Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who we also named Purdy.
Despite initially showing the least promise of the litter, to our delight Purdy went on to take best Toller bitch in 2005. In that same year, we turned our attention to Canada, particularly to Nova Scotia, the home of the Toller. We contacted one of the oldest and most established kennels, Littleriver, and arranged to purchase a dog from the owner Doug Coldwell, an honest and trusted breeder of fine show and working Tollers. Littleriver’s Colonial Boy With Tollyhimmel was run on in Canada and shown extensively, gaining his Canadian Champion title at thirteen months. After much paperwork (and considerable expense) we imported Colonial Boy (or Raggs as he became known) into the UK, and he became a much-loved member of our family. Raggs made an immediate impact on the show scene and was rarely out of the top three places. In addition, he was one of the few dogs of this breed able to be shown in the championship stakes, thus bringing Tollers to the attention of a wider audience.
In 2006 we bred our bitch Purdy with Babs Harding’s top dog Arnie, and in March of that year she gave birth to four pups – two of each. We established a new kennel name to include Jackie’s involvement and formed the new name Eusanit Tollyhimmel (Toller heaven), reflecting Jackie’s German heritage.
Jackie kept one of the pups – Maddie – Eusanit New Kid in Town with Tollyhimmel. We kept the other pup – Snuffles – Eusanit Take It To the Limit (or hell on legs!). The two boys, Sonny and Finn, were sold and shown on a regular basis. Purdy, Raggs, Maddie and Sonny were shown at Crufts 2007 and the entire kennel qualified for Crufts 2008.
In late 2007 we imported a new pup, Misty – Alliance De La Vie So Fantastic With Tollyhimmel – from Annemiek Nuijten of Alliance De La Vie kennels in Holland. Misty was cared for by Ellen Oosten and Arie Dekker in Holland and was shown in several events before she was imported to the UK. In 2010, we retired Purdy and Snuffles, and we acquired a new pup, Summer – Alliance De La Vie Summer Dream To Eusanit.
In 2011, my daughter, Sky, joined me in the Eusanit affix. In addition to handling dogs at our show appearances, she is now joint assured breeder with myself. Sky also has help from Roxanne McDonald and Rebecca Blair during shows, so we can have more than one dog in the ring at the same time. You will also see the other half of the Eusanit name, Sue, doing the behind the scenes work. She has been there since 1987 when the affix was put together.
In July 2011, Misty triumphed at the World Dog Show, Paris, to become our first World Champion Toller. It was an excellent show for us as Raggs also won a 2nd place in champion class. Both dogs also gained 1st place results at the French National Dog Show.
We currently have 17 dogs listed in the Kennel Club Studbook and have received a Kennel Club Breeder Experience Accolade for breeding more than 5 litters.
– Tina Westwood