We live 2 hours drive north from Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Suinula is situated 15 minutes drive north east from a city called Tampere (http://www.tampere.fi/english/index.html). We live in the countryside. Helena's house is just a stone's throw from a big lake. In the summer months the dogs can swim as much as they want and in the winter time Helena and the dogs go for long walks on the lake's ice. Helena is currently in response of the breed club's (Golden Ring r.y.) mental tests for golden retrievers. She is also judging these tests.

Heidi lives five just minutes walk from Helena's house. Heidi has three children; Erik, born in October 2001, Nora, born in May 2004, and Katrin, born in February 2007. Apart from dogs Heidi has rabbits (French lops), sheep (Finnish cattle), cats, chicken (an original Finnish breed) and Nora has two gerbils.

We show our dogs regularly and train them for the retriever qualifying test. This test needs to be passed in order to gain the Finnish Champion title. In Finland there are no SHOW champions. The retriever qualifying test is a cold game test. The dog has to retrieve from water and land and track & fetch a rabbit. After passing this test a dog is approved to take part in a retriever field trial test.

Our goal is to breed healthy golden retrievers, not forgetting that they should please your eye and have a lovely 'golden' temperament! We also strive to breed dogs that are easily trained and that like to please their two-legged family members.

We only breed from dogs that have been screened for breed relevant health problems, i.e. hips, elbows and eyes. We also strive to that all Karvin bred dogs will be hip scored, elbow scored and eye-checked by their owners. To gain this goal we have, as the first breeders in our country, introduced a practice to ensure that these tests will be done before the dog turns two years.

On our website we introduce dogs that we have either bred or owned during the past 30 years.

Link to -> Our other four legged family members

Helena got her first dog as a young girl. It was a doberman which she bought in 1962. Unfortunately this bitch was hit by a car as a puppy. The next two dogs were Finnish Spitzs. The breed was chosen because Helena’s father wanted to have a dog which would be of help during the shooting season. These two spitzes were always running away from the home as well as stubborn, and very hard to teach anything. Typical hunting dogs!

  In 1967 Helena wanted to try again with a true working dog. She got another Doberman bitch called Kuosman Grace. She became both a show and working champion. Helena also became a (working test) judge during these years when competed with Grace. 

  Heidi was still a baby at the time and sleeping in the car while Helena trained Grace out in the woods. At home Heidi slept in the same basket with Grace and ate the same "dog biscuits" as Grace did.

  Grace had a couple of litters.  The first Karvin Doberman puppies were born in 1970. When Grace died in 1976 Helena didn't want another Doberman as she felt that Grace had been once in a lifetime dog for her. After reading dog books and talking to breeders she became attracted by the flat coated retriever and the golden retriever. Eventually she chose the golden retriever after judging a golden at one of the working tests. At the time there were only a few golden retrievers in Finland.

  In spring of 1977 Karves family, Helena, Seppo, Heidi, Kim and Laura who was a baby at the time, got a new family member. She was a golden retriever puppy called Hiekkakankaan Arina. Her sire was an English bred dog living in Sweden, Ch Caliph of Yeo, and her dam was a Finnish bred bitch called Leavenworth Leonita. Arina did well both in the show ring and at the gundog working tests. Arina had clear hips and eyes and was mated in 1980 to an Irish bred dog called Whitewater Columbanus. She had a litter of nine puppies which were the first "Karvin-goldens". Heidi got her first dog from Arina’s litter, she was called Karvin Ira-Bella.  From Arina's second litter (by Ch Gildas Midnight Sun) born two years later, Helena and Heidi kept a bitch called Karvin Karell. She did very well in tracking, obedience and the showring.

  In 1984 Helena saw a photo of a young dog called Garbank Special Edition of Lislone in The Dog World magazine. Helena contacted Mrs Kate Black to enquire  for a puppy sired by this beautiful dog. Later that year Helena travelled to Nothern Ireland to pick up a bitch puppy called Cheeky, named after her lively temperament. Fin Ch Greenglen Golden Gown of Lislone would later become the mother of several succesfull Karvin-goldens.

Mrs Kate Black ja Helena & Cheeky pentu

  The same year Heidi bought her first own male dog. He was the Swedish bred Fin Ch Gildas Touch of Gold. Touch was a joy to own, being both clever and beautiful. The next year Heidi travelled to England and brought back another dog, he was called Fredy. Fin Ch Linchael Ravel got his title already as a youngster  and became the top winning golden retriever in Finland in 1987. In the future years Helena and Heidi imported some more dogs from mostly N. Ireland, England and Sweden. Some of the most important for their future breeding were a bitch called Ch Chevanne Snow N’ Ice who can be found in many Karvin goldens pedigrees these days. Another very special dog was Ch Lovehayne Darter who like “isis”, was born in 1987. “Danny” has meant a lot to the Scandinavian golden retriever breeding. One of the most winning English imported dogs was Ch Almerak Pipers Dream. Many of us who were involved in showing in 1980-1990 remember “Dusty’s” showmanship and his wonderful character.

 Karvin Goldens website was one of the first dog websites introduced in Finland. This happened in 1997 and since then our dogs, news and happenings have been on the web for all of you to see. Hopefully there will be many more years to come!