Hardy-Flap’s kennel is owned by Carin Harde, Stefan Harde and Catarina Harde Åkesson (mother, son and daughter – yes, we keep it in the family!).
In 1988 we got our next bichon (LP SE CH Toy-Fozzie’s Super No’vae Azur) and the next couple of years we also purchased two additional males (LP SE CH Vitmåran’s Domino & LP SE CH Xanbos Trustfull Team). We began to work more actively with our dogs and competed a lot in obedience and some in agility, around the same time we also got interested in dog shows and we have been showing a lot in Sweden as well as in Europe ever since.
In 1993 our next boy, Hardy (MultiCH Xanbos Sir William Shakespeare), arrived and he was followed by Molle (MultiW MultiCH Chonfri’s Ghostbuster) in 1994 and with these two males we had a lot of fun at home as well as in the show ring. We now began to think about breeding bichons since we during our years with males had learnt a lot about dogs in general and bichons in particular. We got our kennel name in 1996 and about the same time a daughter of Hardy arrived, our own Bettan (MultiW MultiCH Chonfri’s Lady MacBeth By Shakespeare).
In May 1998 the first litter was born at Hardy-Flap’s kennel with Molle and Bettan as parents. In this litter we kept a bitch, Myrra (MultiW MultiCH Hardy-Flap’s Major Beth MacKenzie), and thereby our breeding continues to grow with new litters and new bichons. We’ve had the benefit to purchase nice dogs from other breeders in Sweden and abroad. These dogs have been a great asset for our kennel and for our breeding program. Especially worth to mention are Håkan (MultiW MultiCH Jittebop Last Laugh) and Kurt (MultiW MultiCH Yoannewyn See U At Hardy-Flaps). Both of them have been successful in the show ring and have also given really nice offsprings. We’ve also had the opportunity to use nice males who have fit our girls well and have given us nice offsprings. We thank all breeders and male owners whom have given us the possibility to expand our breeding program.
We are also very grateful for all our fantastic puppy buyers. Several of them have become our close friends and we have a lot of fun together. For us it’s most important that our puppies go to homes with lots of love and time (they aren’t left alone too long) and that their coats are well taken care of. It’s so much fun to hear what is going on in our puppies’ lives – it could be about shows, agility, obedience, courses, new tricks or just something from the everyday life. For us it’s important to have a good contact with our puppy buyers both before and after the dog has moved to its new home.
Catarina, Stefan and Carin with the breeder’s group that became BIS-2 at the World dog show in Portugal 2001.