Holy Paws Corgi Kennel

It all began with the simple fact that we wanted a dog.

There was just one small problem: there were three of us — my husband, our daughter and me — and each of us had different preferences. After a great deal of discussion, we discovered that the breed best suited to our family also happened to be my own favourite — the Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

All that remained was to choose a puppy. I had always dreamed of a tricolour, but in the only litter available at the time, the tricolour girls were not suitable for showing. And so a red girl named Eevee joined our family. At the time, we had absolutely no idea just how far the decision to get “just a dog” would eventually take us.

Eevee’s breeder, Mike, gradually became first a good acquaintance and then a friend. First, he persuaded us to try dog shows. Then he began talking about Eevee having her first litter. Meanwhile, I was still dreaming of a tricolour — and that is how Kaya joined our family. A little later, Mike offered us Tory, and our Pembrokes were joined by our first Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

Our first two litters — Eevee’s and Kaya’s — were registered under Mike’s kennel. But the deeper we became involved in the world of dogs and breeding, the less I wanted to do something simply because “that’s how it’s done” or “that’s what breeders do.” I wanted to understand why we were making each decision.

So I enrolled in the Introduction to Dog Breeding course of the Israel Kennel Club (IKC). My original goal was fairly modest: to gain a scientific foundation and finally understand what exactly I was doing — and how to do it properly.

Things turned out a little differently.

The more I learned, the more fascinating it became. Genetics, anatomy, behaviour, breeding, breed type, pedigrees — every new answer seemed to lead to several more questions. Gradually, we realised that we had developed our own ideas about what responsible breeding should look like and which decisions we wanted to make for ourselves.

And that is how we stepped out from under Mike’s wing and Holy Paws — our own kennel — was born.

Today, our dogs are still family members first and foremost. They live in our home, occupy the sofas, take part in everything that happens around them and have very definite opinions about how our lives should be organised. We plan only a small number of litters, carefully select breeding pairs, study health, genetics and pedigrees, and keep learning — because the more you know about dogs, the harder it becomes to believe that you already know enough.

Holy Paws puppies are born and raised in our home. Our goal is not simply to produce beautiful Corgis, but to raise healthy dogs with good temperaments and to find the family that is right for each individual puppy. And when a puppy leaves for a new home, that story does not end for us.

And to think that once upon a time, all I wanted was a cute little Corgi to cuddle.

Somewhere along the way, the plan seems to have got slightly out of hand. 😄