I got to know giant schnauzer breed at the end of 80's - especially the pepper and salt -version. I did follow the breed very actively about ten years before it came the right moment in my life situation to have one of my own. It was not so easy to find a suitable p/s puppy because the breed was so rare and it still is. In the autumn of 1998 I was able to visit at des Hauts de Longuante kennel in France and also to watch the French Specialty. It was really unforgetable visit and I saw many great pepper and salt giants there. At last my first giant schnauzer - Odessa - came from France in January of 1999.

Odessa was really excellent specimen: Odessa was very self confident, she had a big desire to fight and a big capacity to function and she loved to work. Besides her great show success in Finland she was succesful abroad too and she got during her show career NordW-99-title from Stockholm (Sweden), EstW-00 from Tallinn (Estonia) and Word Winner 2000 from Milan (Italy). Odessa was invited twice to the Champion of Champions -gala in 2001 and 2002. I trained with Odessa a little bit seaching, tracking, obedience, agility and dog dancing. We competed in obedience and got a result TK1 and we also passed the BH-test. To become a Finnish Champion then the giants needed passed result in open class at working trials. Odessa got JK2 from forest tracking with Anu Purola, who was also Odessa's groomer. Odessa's handler was mainly Pirita Kuusela (Kukkula), but also Anu Purola and Katja Karjalainen. Many thanks to all of you! My second giant Giga (Spanish import) came in August 1999. Giga was really handsome male and he got his CACs very quickly. In the beginning 2002 came my third giant - Lola - from Russia. Lola was niece of Odessa. Also Lola had her own qualities. Life with these three different dogs gave me a lot and my desire to breed strengthened.

Odessa 9 months, 1999

In 1999 we established IPSRA (International P&S RiesenSchnauzer Association), and I have many duties there. Besides that association, I am a member of the Finnish Kennel Club, SSSK - the Finnish Giant Schnauzer Club and VSPH - local working dog club. Now-a-days I am also member in the Breeding Committee of the Finnish Giant Schnauzer Club. I am naturally a member of the Finnish Kennel Club too. Today I am also the president of Botnic Working Dogs - BWD ry, which is a local working dog club. In 2004 I joined in HETI ry (Society for Canine Genetic Health and Ethics) and in SuKoKa (the Finnish Dog Breeders).

Giga & Odessa, 2000

Qualifications: breeding advicer basic course passed 25.01.2001 trial functionary basic course passed 24.11.2001 trial functionary extension course passed 13.01.2002 (obedience) training instructor course passed in 2002 breeder basic course passed 07.04.2002 breeder extension course passed 08.02.2004 graduated to Dogsitter 30.11.2004 trial functionary extension course passed 05.05.2008 (working trials) trial functionary extension course passed 26.03.2011 (character test)

At the moment I live with 3 pepper and salt giants - Sara, Kirka and Essi and ofcourse with my dear fiancé Tuomo. I am trying to keep French blood lines in my puppies, those lines which were behind my first giant Odessa. Our location is in the city of Kurikka, in a small village called Sarvijoki, 40 km East-South from the city of Vaasa and 400 km North-West of the city of Helsinki.

Kennel Diudi´s aim is to breed beautiful, healthy and good natured Pepper and Salt Giant Schnauzers - giants with working abilities and in show quality. In 2003 I was awarded for a bronze medal of the Finnish Giant Schnauzer Club. In 2007 I was awarded the silver medal by the Finnish Giant Schnauzer Club. Our Breed Club's annual meetings kennel Diudi's was awarded for 2nd placement the Giant Breeder of the year 2007 and 3rd placement of the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. In VPSH's (local working dog club) annual meeting in 2009 I was awarded the silver medal of the Finnish Working Dog Association.
My » breeder interview (pdf 350kB, in Finnish) has been published in Riiseni-magazine 2/2005 and introduction of my kennel in Russian Schnauzer Today-magazine 3/2007 » page 1 (pdf 324kB), » page 2 (pdf 323kB).

General Information:
The pepper and salt giant has a limited gene pool which can cause problems in the breeding of them. That's why world wide cooperation with other breeders and owners is very important. I have imported dogs from France, Spain, Russia, Australia, England and Germany, but also exported to USA, Italy, Poland and Russia. We are all working to expand the gene pool. One way to do it is to mix black and pepper and salt giants and some breeders abroad have done this in the past years. To get the correct balance, good character health and type I believe the following are needed: health examinations with the results recorded for the breed, character testing through working trials and show entries to get type, conformation and movement assessed. To archieve this we need cooperation of every owner and breeder. In the future gene technology will help and that's why in 2004 I have started to collect and to store DNA samples of dogs which are owned and bred by me.

I mainly work with my dogs in obedience and forest + field tracking - just for fun. I am also trying to exhibit at shows a few times each year.

Odessa, Giga & Lola, 2003

When my puppies are born, they live indoors but play outside as much as possible. They then become used to the noises of everyday life. They are well socialised with people of all ages in the order to give them the best possible start in life. Before the pups are ready to go their new homes, they are wormed a minimum three times, are checked by a vet, registered with the Finnish Kennel Club, tattooed or micro chipped and vaccinated against the Parvo Virus. Most of the Diudi's puppies are also temperament tested at about 6-7 weeks of age following the Wendy Volhard's puppy test.

The puppy comes with a puppy pack containing pictures of the parents, pictures of the puppy at different ages, feeding instructions, information on our Giant Club and many good articles on training. The information is mainly in Finnish, but I am working on translation into English. New Diudi's puppy owners will automatically become members of the Finnish Giant Club. I am trying to arrange "Diudi's Days" once a year and prizes will be awarded to the best Diudi's dogs of the previous year.

If you want further information about my dogs, litters and plans for the future, please contact me by email: jaana.fors@gmail.com.