I was practically raised among puppies. My mother have always been surrounded by dogs and bred alsatians but gave that up when she got pregnant, since training alsatians took up too much of her time. My mother decided to breed West Highland White Terriers, which are a lot easier to breed than alsatians. Margaretha Lindström (my mother) in time became known in Westie-circles for her well-bred dogs and above all for the very successful Bushie´s Magic Storm who, among many other titles, became Dog of the Year in 1982.
Her successes naturally aroused my interest in dog shows, although my main interest back then were horses and I competed for several years, mostly in Show Jumping.
 My interest in dog- and dog shows continued though alongside my equestrian interest. I came to discover that I had quite the talent for handling. This talent led me to eventuallyatt win the Swedish final in junior handling which in turn led me to finish 2nd in the World Final at Cruft´s.
JI was now 16 years old and extremely tired of school, so when the opportunity arose to go to the United States and work for one of the US top handlers I jumped at it. I stayed in the States for a couple of  years and it was during my stay there that I first came into contact with Wheatens. A breeder of them showed me a young Wheaten male who was for sale by the name of Legacy Star Crossed Lover, called Romeo. As I had a few contacts in Sweden it fell upon me to broker this male to Rigmor Hallén. As it happened, due to different circumstances, Romeo came to stay with me in the US for six months and that was enough for me to fall completely in love with Wheatens.
After three and a half years in the States I decided to move back home again. I then started to show dogs for various breeders at dog exhibitions, with great success! Through this work I came to know Lars Croon and his Wheaten kennel, Movin On. He had a very fine Wheaten male, Movin On Bugatti, whom he wanted me to show, which I was delighted to do. Rambo (as he was called) became that year´s top Wheaten and over the next few years came to dominate the race. Lars and I not only became professional collegues but also later a couple. We moved to Sala and successfully bred Wheatens under the Movin On moniker. Although we no longer are a couple I owe Lars a great deal; he taught me everything I know about Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers.
In my professional life it is also all about dogs. I run a dog salon, where I trim all kinds of dogs, though mostly terrier breeds. I have two locations, one each in Västerås and Stockholm. |
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I haven´t grown up with animals all around me in the same way that Heléne has. I have however, always had the same kind of fervent interest in animals. While my parents weren´t too keen on the idea of having dogs, we lived in the country so there were a lot of  opportunities for me to help the local farmers out (whether they wanted to or not!). I don´t think that there are too many people who can brag about having been dressed up as "Emil i Lönneberga" while walking with a pig to market day.
How did I come into contact with Heléne then? Well, Lars and Heléne had too much to do so they decided to advertise for some extra help. I heard about this and immediately saw my chance to work with animals, which would be a dream come true. We met, got off splendidly and even though I did not have any experience with wheatens, I soon grew to adore these critters running around. My love of animals quickly helped pick up what needed to be done to take care of the dogs: to comb, bathe and tend to them. The most important thing I picked up fast though, was being able to understand them, to communicate with them, a necessity when you'll have to take them for walks, sometimes 20 at a time!
Quite soon I went along to every dog show and helped out. When Lars and Heléne separated I was given the great honor of taking care of Movin On De Soto (Tara) and a while later also given charge of Movin On De Tomaso (Acke). Heléne took care of Movin On Knuckle Head (Buster). Since we had become such good friends we continued to visit dog shows together. After some talking we decided that what we really wanted was to start our own kennel, and that was how Kennel Cameron saw the light of day!
Me and my husband Andreas live at a small farmstead about 10 kilometres outside the little city of Sala about two hours´drive from Stockholm. We have two children, Sandra and Robin as well as (for now) 5 Wheaten Terriers and some West Highland White Terrier.
 My faithful mongrel spaniel Zackho also lives there.
He has been quite successful at mongrel dog shows, even managing to become BIS 5 out of 6 times exhibited. A big part of this success is no doubt owed due to the fantastic trimming abilities of Heléne.
Some rabbits, turky and fish round out our little menagerie at our farmstead. |
