Dogs have always been my passion. Initially I preferred the larger breeds and was convinced they were better than the smaller breeds. In fact before I converted to the Bolognese I had a Doberman that I looked after until the end of his 12 years. Then I had an adorable Bobtail who grew up with my daughter Madellana, He was beautiful and we used to take him to shows in the Perugia district. While showing my Bobtail, I noticed the Bolognese in their rings, but never saw a dog, which reflected the standard.

Frequently I saw dogs with wrong proportions, which were large, with long bodies and large heads. Eventually in 1990 at my umpteenth show, I found the dog who finally had the features I was looking for … he was ‘Tommy’ a L.I.R. 1st generation. As soon as I saw him I asked the owner if I could have a daughter of Tommy’s.

In September of that year I had my first Bolognese; the daughter of Tommy … ‘Emma de San Miliano’ who later became a World Champion.

I was immediately smitten with this sweet puppy, she had incredible intelligence and she interacted with the family in a different more ‘human’ way, compared with other dogs that I had experience of. From then on I decided to stick with this breed, and I dedicated myself to breed them, and bring them back to their former beauty.

I did not imagine the enormity of the work involved to constantly breed dogs that corresponded to the standard. After working for years with blood relations descending back to Tommy, today I can confirm with all certainty that all the puppies that are born in my kennel comply with the breed standard.

They are square built with well-proportioned heads, (check Standard). It took me 10 years to get these results, and with lots of hard work I have brought the Bolognese back to its former beauty and helped to save the breed from extinction. I did all this for the love and respect of the breed and not for any money gain.

Unfortunately this breed in general still faces severe difficulties. In fact on the whole the Bolognese type in the ring is not sufficient, and also there isn’t enough knowledge of the breed standard amongst judges asked to judge them

Maria-Luisa
Radamantino Bolognese