Myself
My name is Lauryna Kudirkiene. TAI FANZA is my kennel name and we are situated in Kaunas, Lithuania, North East of Europe. I was born in the non dog-interest family, however my parents let me have the puppy of my dreams which I got as a gift for graduating The primary school with excellent results in 1996. It was a Yorkshire terrier actually, i started showing him with the encouragement of the breeder and got interest in this hobby which turned into a passion very quickly. In my teens I also owned an Afghan Hound, so I had been interested in a quite a few breeds before I committed to Lhasa apsos. The first one arrived in 2006 and I never turned back. At the moment I have ten Lhasas, showing and breeding them is a great part of my life.
Attitude
So I have ten dogs in the house, I am a wife and a mother of two children, I have a job and other hobbies as well. Anyone who has as many dogs or more knows that balancing between a regular family life and doing this hobby at a more serious level can be tough, but I try my hardest to be able to enjoy "the best of both worlds". We have small kennel facilities integrated into the house such as a grooming room and a roofed exercise area outside. I consider my dogs my family members and love having them around in the day time. We are the family who loves outdoor activities, we normally take a few dogs on weekend trips and vacations when possible, regardless the need of maintaining their show condition. This happens when your hobby becomes your lifestyle.
Teamwork
Beside the family who is my greatest support, there is also a circle of special friends who help me a lot with the dogs. While importing new dogs and breeding a couple of litters a year at an average myself it has become impossible to keep every puppy I love. Naturally i have started keeping my best in co-ownership with some of those special people. Co-ownership means teamwork. Teamwork means lots of fun, show trips, joint breeding projects sand haring of ideas. I am happy to see my children start showing a bit of interest in the hobby too.
Breeding
Having been around purebred dogs for nearly 15 years i eventually found interest in breeding. I am architect by education and I feel dog breeding and architecture share so many common things. This is about creating the beautiful construction for certain function, knowing the story behind it and the Identity as the essence of it all, or "type" as we call it in the world of purebred dogs. It's just more complex as your building materials are live and health issues must be taken into consideration as well. I have been breeding Lhasa apsos under prefix TAI FANZA since 2012. To date I have bred 16 litters.
Showing
Dog showing bit me as young as 11 years old! With the support of my parents I could enjoy showing our family pet in my town shows, we did not set the world on fire. The real thing has begun as soon as I started living on my own and bought my first show dog in 2002. In my twenties when i was free to do what i please, i spent 3 to 4 weekends a month showing dogs all over the place. I used to show Lhasas for others and my own as well. Nowadays that my way of living has changed, i still enjoy this hobby very much. We mainly do shows in the Baltics, a few further trips a year and try to attend the major events such as European and World shows. There have been quite a number memorable wins over the years... All in all, i have handled different Lhasa apsos to the total of 52 all breed Best in Shows, countless Group and BOB wins, Champion and Winner titles.
Travelling
Showing dogs has much to do with travelling. We love both and we try to make the most of each trip. This is also my quality time with a dog, a real personalized attention, no household duties included. They just love it. Together with the dogs, either by car, plane, ferry or train, we have shown or visited USA, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Moldavia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Belorussia, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Let's see where dogs bring me next!