Available Puppy and Young Adult

Lala is a very sweet, 3 month old black and white tan pointed tri color. She is available to the right home she is a lovely girl and will do well in a performance, juniors or pet home.

Lampa is a one year old black and white female cardigan. Unfortunately, she has decided she does not like some other girl cardigans, so she will do best in a home with either boy dogs or large breed female dogs. She had spent quite a bit of time at a friends home with several large Leonbergers and hadn’t had any issues. She had drive and would excel as an agility prospect. She loves to play catch, and be with her people.

Please call or text 312-714-0723 for more information about these sweet girls.

My personal experience with importing/exporting dogs.

I have, in the last 5 years, imported three cardigan welsh corgis and exported one. The first time I imported, everything went fine. The paperwork was fine, the travel was fine and the puppy was lovely. She came at about 5 months of age. She finished her Am. Championship within weeks after she started showing. She was sweet and had a lovely temperament. She was from a great breeder.

I exported a puppy about two years ago. I was worried, but I did wait a bit to get to know the person I would be sending my dog to, and she has proven to be a wonderful home, keeping me updates with photos and wins. It was a good experience, and we waited for each other.

This summer I again decided since I had such difficulty finding a good black boy and I’ve have weak fronts and a few things I’ve had trouble fixing, I wanted to try to import again. And, so I did.

Here are some things I came up against and what I would do differently. Now, these are my opinions. I’ve left names out of course.

 

1. NEVER ship your puppy before they are legally able to be shipped. A breeder from Russia told me this is something they do all the time, and it is fine, but it is NOT fine to ship your puppy before the age the airline allows. My two puppies first came here with a transporter – who had other dogs with her as well – she and the dogs were sent back to Russia. It was an ordeal. I felt awful for her and the dogs, but I was also frustrated because I felt the breeder shouldn’t have pushed. She had said there was no reason to wait until 4 months, and she would charge board if we did that. I never found out the actual reason the dogs were sent back to Russia. If a breeder is pushing to ship too soon find a another breeder; and clarify this before you send ANY money to ANYONE!
2. It’s expensive to import, and you deserve to pick your puppy after careful evaluation and video. Some breeders overseas want you to choose a puppy and place a deposit basically at any point after birth. There are breeders that do it this way, and breeders who will wait until the appropriate age. When I was planning to export my girl, I took extensive videos and weekly photos and did not collect payment until right before she was sent. If a breeder is not sending you photos or is unwilling to send video or photos, it’s impossible to see how your dog is growing. Red flags all around!!
3. Contact references! Just because you see a breeder is friends on Facebook with a bunch of people you know, it doesn’t mean they are reputable. Find out who is reputable, and go from there.
4. Cargo is the ONLY way to ship safely. Unless your transporter is bringing over ONE dog only, it is very risky. Cargo was successful 3/3 times while transporting was successful 1/2 times, for me. If a breeder is not willing to handle their paperwork for shipping, thats a problem, IMHO.
5. You don’t always have to handle customs. Some airlines – like SWIS air in Chicago will get your puppy through customs for you. I’ve not had to get a puppy through customs yet, thanks to this airline! Talk to the different airlines and reach out to other people who have imported and exported. Find out the challenges you might face at your local airport.
6. Why import? There is definitely a lot to gain by importing, when using the right breeder and one who is knowledgable in shipping. Short pasterns, lovely heads and beautiful bone is what I received in one of my puppies. In the other, she will be placed as a pet. I saw videos, but I didn’t ask for the stacked photos I should have. I think it’s okay to politely ask stacked photos as the puppies grow, and if they can’t deliver, I would wonder why.
7. There’s a whole big world out there. In retrospect, there are some things I would have done differently. Sometimes it can really feel like you are NEVER going to find the puppy you would like here in the US, but there are some breeders who will work with you. It’s expensive to import… but working with the right breeder the right way is the best way to go about it.. I should have asked a lot of these questions ahead of time, and I didn’t. I hoped for the best. I was halfway lucky things worked out the way they did.  There are some really great breeders out there, and others who breed simply to make money without thought of improving the breed (just like here!).

 

Be cautious. Ask the questions. Find the right people. If it’s what you want to do, be patient and it will work! 🙂

Updates!

I finally starting to update our page after a very long time and before the new year comes in full swing.

 

We had some lovely wins at the St. Paul shows this year and a fun trip with the kids.

We have an 8 month old puppy we will be seeking a pet/performance home for (see “Available” page)

We have a new litter arriving on January 25th!

We have  NEW CHAMPION – Elyan Bluefox River Magic! (pending AKC approval)!

Litter Announcement!

Available Cardigan Welsh Corgis

We currently have a 5th-month-old puppy available. She is a lovely black and white with brindle points. She is happy and very active. She would be an outstanding performance dog or wonderful for a very active household.

Please email for more information: ataraxiscardigans@gmail.com

 

The Drama Litter Has Made Their Dramatic Appearance

On Tuesday, February 27th Abby delivered 4 healthy puppies, 1 boy and 3 girls, via C-section. They are beautiful, strong puppies with two already over 1 lb on the first 48 hours of life.

Puppy time!

We are about to get BUSY! Abby is due for her litter in just a few days, so the whelping box is up and reading, heating pads are on standby, and all my supplies have been cleaned, restocked and we’re just about ready to go. Abby will tell us when it’s time. Progesterone blood draws tell us that she ovulated on 12/26, so we expect her due date to be on 2/27, 63 days post ovulation.

The kids are excited to have puppies in the house again! I’ll have to post updates as they roll out!

 

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Lovely 3 Month Old Puppy Available

*****LEIA IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. 🙂

Leia has been my favorite puppy almost from the moment she was born. As she has grown, she has shown to be very intelligent, sweet and loves people. She would be an excellent obedience prospect. She is not a high drive Cardigan, so she is not in need of a busy life, but is very biddable. She would do best in a household with maybe one other dog. Some Cardigans are very assertive about getting attention, but Leia can get lost in the shuffle a by because she is so sweet and laid back. She is not shy, but just non-domanent. She is DM clear, clear for PRA, carries fluff, and her sire is OFA Fair and Dam is OFA Good. It was a very difficult decision decideding to find her a home, but as she is growing, I have found that she is not going to be the most ideal show prospect of the 3 girls I had been growing on. This is always a difficult decision to place a puppy in her forever home. Applications will be screened carefully.

Please email me at annekowalczyk@me.com with any questions.

She is lovely!

Puppy Available/Our Busy Year

****Update, Spider Man has gone to his new home 7/28/17***
We have had a busy year here with puppies! After two years with no puppies, we had two litters and that kept us pretty busy over the summer. I am exhausted, but hopeful. I decided on my keeper from our TimberxNaveen litter, but still deciding on my HolmesxThatcher girl.

One of the things I take great care in is the placement of my puppies in the right homes. One of the homes that I had planned did not turn out to be a good fit for my puppies, and so this this boy will be available to a pet home on limited registration. He has a lot of energy, and is very sweet, but also independent. He is not going to be an excessively drivey dog, but he will make a very good best friend for someone.

Spider Man is out of our HolmesxThatcher litter. Holmes is GCH C-Myste the Games Afoot at Elyan CGC TDI RN BN CD and Thatcher is Ataraxis Fox Confessor (TimberDory). Both sire and dam are OFA Good, and these puppies will not be at risk for DM (Holmes clear, Thatcher a carrier); both parents PRA clear. Spider Man will just be 8 weeks this week, so he will go home when he finds the perfect fit. He is a beautiful tan pointed black and white. Please fill out our application on our page if  you are interested in Spider Man. 

Introducing our “Star Wars” Litter…

TimberxNaveen babies were born yesterday, May 17th.  I can’t thank my fellow breeders enough for all the advice I received while I was home with the kids whelping puppies by myself! Thank heavens for my sitter and her sister!!

We lost our little white headed beauty today. My husband was kind enough to bury her under my new Yoshino Cherry Tree, and also plant my tree which I hadn’t had time to plant yet Yoshino means “respectful” in Japanese. Bless her tiny heart.

 

All puppies are spoken for. Naveen is a wonderful mom, and all the puppies gained today.  Zoey helped me take pictures. Star Wars seemed to fit for this litter, although Smoke was considered as a theme since I almost lit my kitchen on fire warming towels in the microwave (they will BURN if you microwave them for too long – FACT.) For more information about pedigree for this litter, please view the Puppies/Available page (though they already have homes waiting for them!)

Light Blue Boy Brindle Boy – Last born – Obi-Wan

Black – brindle boy – Anakin

 

 Yellow – Brindle Girl – Rey

Grey – Brindle Boy – Chewbacca

Orange Girl – Brindle – Ashoka

Blue Boy – Brindle – Luke Skywalker

Purple – Brindle – Princess Leia – 1st born girl