Amor Felicitas Russkiy Toy (Petit Chien Russe)

Russkiy Toy (Petit Chien Russe)

We are a small family kennel with a huge passion for the Russkiy Toy breed. Breeding for us is an occasional hobby, an extension of our love for our dogs and our overall goal to promote the breed in Western Europe.

At Amor Felicitas, we want nothing more than to bring as much love and happiness to new families as we have experienced with our own dogs. The kennel name itself is inspired by the Latin maxim “ubi est amor, felicitas est”, which means “where there is love, there is happiness”. And truly, there is no greater love than the love of a Russkiy Toy, and no greater happiness, than to have a joyful four-legged companion next to you!

The Russkiy Toy is a small, elegant and joyful dog. Measuring up to 28cm at withers and weighing up to 3kg (according to the breed standard), it is one of the smallest dog breeds in the world. But do not mistake their small size and the word “toy” in the breed name for their identity: these are very big dogs in a concentrated small dog format 😊.

Russkiy Toys are loyal, clever, love being close to their owner and are very eager to please, which makes them an easy breed of dog to train. They make great companion dogs and thanks to their small size, can easily be taken along on any journey or trip, no matter how far from home! Our dogs love accompanying us while we run our errands to shops and the post office, or meet up with friends at cafes and restaurants. Our dogs also enjoy our weekends away in different cities and even countries, as well as our longer trips for holidays. These little dogs are very adaptable and easily travel by car, train and plane.

The breed standard describes the Russkiy Toy as “active, very cheerful, neither cowardly nor aggressive. Always curious of the outer world, strongly devoted to its owner”. While every dog is an individual and so displays its own variety of character traits, in general, one can say that the Russkiy Toy has the following character traits: playful, curious, clever (sometimes too clever and even cunning!), adaptable, energetic, and human-focused. Dogs of the Russkiy Toy breed also have a strong prey drive, though this can vary from dog to dog. In general, they love playing, exploring and also just napping on their owner’s lap. If not actively engaged in something, a Russkiy Toy is most often to be found in his owner’s bed or on top of couch cushions.

Our dogs are, above all, our pets, and members of our family. They live in our home, prefer to take naps on couches and cushions (and under the covers) rather than on dedicated dog beds, love going on walks and to the dog park, as well as to travel with us wherever we may go. Our dogs are a source of great joy to us: from their cleverness and ingenuity in getting treats, their friendly and playful nature, to their harmonious beauty that is so pleasing to our eye, our dogs make our daily life more fulfilling and beautiful.

We show our dogs at dog shows internationally, mostly to promote the breed, as it remains quite rare and very little known. Our dogs enjoy interacting with the public, going for walks in new places and getting treats and new toys at the show venue. And we enjoy watching them with members of the public that very often see a Russkiy Toy for the very first time! Winning is also nice, though this is not our main goal. It is, however, very reassuring when different experts from different backgrounds in different countries give our dogs high ratings and excellent descriptions, as it means that is more likely that our dogs are indeed excellent representatives of the breed 😊.

Our dogs’ titles number championships of different countries, as well as World Winners and a Junior European Winner.

As breeding for us is only a hobby, and we want to concentrate on raising our puppies with a lot of love and care and dedicate a lot of our time and resources to their socialisation, we do not have, nor plan to have, many litters. Our overall breeding goal is to produce healthy puppies, that conform to the breed standard in their appearance as well as character, that would make great companions and a source of happiness and joy to their owners. With each litter we hope to improve on the qualities of the parents and thereby contribute to the development of the breed.

The key element of our breeding program is a careful selection of the breeding pair based on several characteristics, including:

-   Health: our dogs are health tested by specialists

-   Physiological characteristics and compatibility: we assess each potential breeding pair for likely compatibility and seek to find a balance in their qualities, that we hope will be passed on to their offspring

-   Temperament and character: as temperament is to a large extent inherited, we not only select the dogs with the best possible temperament, but also select breeding pairs on the basis of the compatibility of their temperaments and characters

-   Genetic diversity: our selection seeks to improve the genetic diversity of the breed, which we also see as intrinsically linked to health.

While we love seeing a diversity of coat colours in this breed, we do NOT base our selection on coat colours, nor do we breed for colours or patterns that are not recognised in this breed by the FCI (e.g. merle).

Our puppies are raised in accordance with the following principles:

• Puppies stay with the mother for as long as they and the mother want (while giving the mother freedom to move away and relax when she gets tired of them);
• We do not promote early weaning: our puppies wean themselves when they and the mother are ready;
• Full vaccination of the puppies, according to their age, while they are with us;
• Foundation for good socialisation, especially for dogs of a small breed, which includes not only learning from the mother and their littermates, but also our family dogs and on walks and trips outside (only after vaccination) in different environments;
• Foundation for good home manners, including house-training (according to age), walking on a leash and without a leash, coming when called, eating meals at set times, play and downtime (naps), time on their own (with toys and treats) to promote self-soothing and emotional stability when not together with other dogs and people;
• Foundation for easy handling and hygiene maintenance, including brushing teeth, cutting and trimming nails, brushing coat (for long-haired).

Our puppies leave our home with:

• FCI pedigree
• DNA profile proving parentage
• EU passport with vaccinations
•  “Puppy welcome” starter kit
• Lifelong support from us on any questions about raising and living with the puppy
• Contract and health guarantee