Kennel Caipirinha's (formerly de la Maison du Garde-Barrière) is located about 25 kilometers eastern from Vienna.

Love for animals, especially the love for dogs, was laid into my cradle. Since my earliest youth dogs had always been part of the family besides some smaller animals - first mix breeds and then German Shepherds. My heart was attached to this breed for a very long time, and today I still admire the one or other most dignified representative of that breed, but years ago I have decided for another breed, the BRIARD, and I have never regretted it!

Marko was very devoted - nearly "pathological": until the time he came here he had had four different owners - too many for such a young dog. At the training place I could watch that when Marko was joined by other dogs he did not continuousely search for me, and so I made up my mind: a second dog was needed, so off to see and find one. I intended to take a Dobermann, but at an international all breed show in Vienna my eyes were caught by a breed that I had not known until then: the BRIARD. Addresses of breeders in the country and also from outside were asked, information from lots of countries were caught and finally I decided for an Austrian kennel: von Anitzberg. In October 1990 the S-litter was born there and in December the second dog came to this home, SÁNDOR von Anitzberg, a male.

Marko was with me in the office from beginning on and naturally it happened that also Sándor joined us when going to work with train and subway. Marko was - some might think this is incredible - a dog without any mistakes. So Sándor could only learn good things from him, at home as well as in the city.

In summer 1991 I had to put down my cat (a British Blue) because of an indefinable virus - I had her since seven years. Both dogs searched for her everywhere in the house, so I decided that another cat had to come here. Within 3 days I found a rescue cat, a three year old Persian male, who had lived together with a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd. Remo stepped into our lives - from beginning on there were no problems between him and the dogs.

In October 1992 the first litter after Sándor was born - he had sired in Slovakia. Out of this breeding we decided for a girl that moved to our home in December. That was ARWA Betkin dvor, black like her father. Since it was impossible to take three dogs to the office, Marko and Sándor stayed at home since then - each day from noon on attended by my parents - and Arwa travelled with me to the office. She was so very funny and furry in the train, that I had to decide on the spot to go with the car and just take the last part of the trip with the subway. Arwa, too, turned out to be a safe dog in city traffic.

In August 1993 the breeder of Arwa had decided to get rid of her dam - Arwa Zevar CS; she wanted to put the 4.5 years old bitch down because she did not have the expected and desired success with breeding Briards. I did not hesitate a minute: Arwa Z was welcome in the gang. Seems she had not had a good time in Slovakia as she jumped into the open car immediately and did not even turn her head when we left. Having reached home she was integrated to the gang immediately. For her best friend she did not choose one of the Briards, but Marko. This friendship lasted until the much to early death of Marko - even afterwards Arwa Z's eyes were star-spangled when she got sight of a German Shepherd.

From now on Arwa B as well stayed at home. To prevent fights while nobody was at home the dogs were seperated: Marko and Arwa Z shared the ground-floor, Sándor and his daughter Arwa B shared the upper storey. At noon my parents came for walking them and then have playing time.

Arwa Z, Marko, Sándor & Arwa B

End of 1993 I began to take a look at aquarium life. I bought reading matter to study and then the decision was made to buy an aquarium. I was a lucky one with the fishes: the water was well prepared soon in the fish tank and I nearly had no cases of death. The only thing that has been changed is the aquarium itself: it has turned to be much bigger.

In 2008 we decided to stop this hobby and not buy any more fishs. After the last fish had died in 2010 we removed the tank. It was a nice time, something very beautiful to look at and to relax, but too much work.

In January 1994 the first litter of this hobby kennel (de la Maison du Garde-Barrière) was born: 5/2 puppies from Sándor and Arwa Z (1/1 tawny and 4/1 black) were raised. Mother and daughter Arwa shared the education as soon as the puppies started to walk. For Arwa B this was the pure delight. One male out of this litter was here in the gang until spring 1996: Aristide.

Something else that I always had in the household were various birds, beginning with budgerigars, zebra finches, love birds up to a lori and a white head amazone. My dream has always been a Kongo Grey parrot, if possible hand raised but at least tame. In May 1994 it happened that I heard about an approximately four year old Timneh Grey parrot, which had been given back by his owner to a pet shop because he had to move to an old people's home. Off I went to look at that bird: he was confiding and he whistled. I did not know if he was able to talk, but the decision was made without this certainty: Otto whom we called Gunki entered our life. After a short time of settling in I could realize that Gunki had a big vocabulary. He was very teachable and learned lots of new words and sentences.

Gunki was not really hand tame, but he flew around loose - of course being watched - and sat down on shoulders from time to time. As long as he was in his cage you can even pad and tickle him, but as soon as he was "free", that wasn't possible any more - then he liked to peck. We presume that he must have had bad experience in this direction, but we had no problem to live this way. In case he had to go to the vet we always found a way to catch him in a "soft" way. Gunki never showed any signs of illness. Therefore, his unexpected death on July 6, 2002, caused by cardiac arrest, was kind of a shock.

There were never problems in companionship between the dogs, the cat and the parrots. All of them accept the territory of the others, non of them ever tries to chase a hairy or feathered member of the family.

For a long time I had thought about importing a Briard girl from France. Since Marko turned to feel worse because of his hips I did not want to bother him with another puppy. Unfortunately the condition of Marko turned worse rapidly and so I had to come to the decision to release him from his pain. I think to serve pain killers for a long period of time is nothing lasting. In my opinion an animal shall be able to die in dignity, and that is why I decided to lead Marko to his last "trip" as long as he could tolerably walk on his four legs. It was not easy and the worst thing in this matter was, that I had to fix the day for good-bye already some time in advance, because Marko should be released at home, on the quiet in his well known area. My vet for such matters has Greyhounds and is showing them as well as going to races. So we both had to find a weekend that she had time: Day X was on September 15th, 1995.

I don't ever want to go through such a time - it is hell when you start counting the weeks first, then the days and finally the hours. Still it was the right decision: because of a surgery on his hips at an age of about 18 months Marko was always very stressed at vets, and this kind of stress was what I wanted him not to go through. Never in his life Marko was so calm and well-poised, and since months he had clear eyes again for the first time, without any sign of pain - as if he knew that he was released. Marko was lying in my arms when he started his trip over the Rainbow Bridge. This was the moment I wished that I could say good-bye to all my animals in this calm way when time has come.

Even the ones who have never met Marko personally can see in this picture that the pain was not easy to bear.

The last photo from the pack leader with his Briard family
(from left to right) Aristide, Arwa Z, "Boss" Marko, Arwa B &  Sándor

The Briards helped to get along easier with the painful loss of Marko. This four pawed friend has a very special place in my heart, the more so as he had been the first dog after nearly nine dogless years.

To be busy all around the clock and to be attached completely I decided at short notice to import a black girl from France: On October 1st, 1995, Yazoo came to this home and with her more life than with all the others put together. :-) This "lady" was a very special Briard - she was the one who put my experience around Briards up side down and taught me new things about this breed. Yazoo cannot be described - you had to meet with her to know what we mean.

To enrich the family with another kind of animals, at Easter 1996 two Chinchillas entered the house. That was not really planned, it just happened. I felt sorry for the two in a pet shop where I stumbled upon them. Their crate was placed in the middle of the shop, which was absolutely against nature of these night active animals. Oh well, they were bought and at home I hurried to build a huge cage to be placed in a calm room. These two were tame and so they were allowed to run around. A short time later we adopted four more - two mothers with their sons, all of them neutered. I don't know how old these animals had been, and last year I lost two of them. The other ones are healthy and active as soon as evening twilight hour comes. To watch their jumps and gymnastic exercise was lots of fun.

For Aristide, the male from the first litter, who was still with us, we found a great home completely unexpected - but with a tragical background: A couple had met Aristide when having come here for information around Briard - and they had fallen in love with him, but I did not want to part with him. They got a Briard male from Germany, but that puppy died with Parvovirosis at the age of 16 weeks. To have a new puppy in their house was impossible because of the infection risk, and so I decided after a long talk with the vet and some prophelactic treatment to give Aristide the chance for a calmer life, not being one among several dogs, but only the second one besides a German Shepherd girl. Aristide had gone through Marko's "school" and was therefore attached very tightly to German Shepherds. The girl and he met and were a heart and a sould from beginning on.

Probably I was missing something or was not owned fully by my Briards, because in spring 1996 I heard about a Briard male in Belgium - nearly the same bloodline as Yazoo. I did not have to think for a long time, and as soon as I heard that both parents were grey the decision was definite. On May 1st, 1996, a second male came to this home, Samson, with the mental reservation to probably have a second stud, which even was fitting perfectly to Yazoo.

Yazoo was thrilled about the new little playmate and tried with all her means to teach him how funny life is here. She did not succeed completely because Samson allowed us human to "influence" him.

In fall 1997 another black stud came to this kennel as an enrichment. This boy was nearly five years old at that time and had been rather successful in showing. He was out of the kennel of my friend Monika from Slovakia: Ch. CAMIL Kasiterit. This stud has then turned to be the most successful Briard of Austria ever at the age of 6 years. The pain about his tragical loss in his prime on June 26th, 1999 - in his seventh year of age - is too much that I can write about it. At this point I can only say that Camil has left behind a big hole in some lifes, and this hole will only be filled partly time by time.

End of July 1997 girl Arwa B was bred to Dartagnan (Samson's grey sire) in France. Unfortunately the litter out of this breeding, born on October 4th, 1997, the second litter in this kennel, was only a single puppy, but a very lively girl - Batida de Coco. And to make this litter a very special experience for me, Batida had to be given birth with a c-section, and besides that Arwa B was spayed by the vet - I still don't know the reason why. Not only Batida is now living with a family with long time experience in Briard, and also her mother Arwa B had decided herself to go there. The circumstances about this fact: In December 1997/January 1998 Arwa B spent a 3 weeks vacation with her daughter Batida and their owners. When she came back home she was no more the one she was before - she was silent and sad after having spent a wonderful time during those 3 weeks with attention for 24 hours a day, and she was the alpha dog there, not only one besides several in our gang. It was a hard decision to imagine that we better let her live with her daughter and these kind people, but we believe it was the right decision and the best we could do for a wonderful Briard girl which has brought lots of fun and luck to us for more than 5 years. Knowing that she's cared about perfectly, and that I can see her any time together with Batida makes it a bit easier.

Arwa B DID have a wonderful life in her new loving home for more than 5 years. She loved life and was a funny and happy dog till her sudden unexpected death. Thank goodness she did not have to suffer - she went to the rainbow bridge nearly as fast as her dad Sándor.

In March 1998 the first litter out of Yazoo and Samson, the C's of kennel de la Maison du Garde-Barrière (3/3 black), was born. Out of this litter only two males remained in Austria, the other ones are scattered over the world. On August 26th, 1998, one of the two Austrian males - Chivas Regal - came to death in a tragical way. His litter mates in the foreign countries were shown successfully, and with this litter we had the first champion in this kennel, Celine in California. Her sister Champagne chez Cacharel in Australia has turned to be Champion as well, the second sister Chloé turned to be Canadian Champion in August 2000. In the beginning of October 1998 I got the chance to visit Chloé in Canada, and in May 2005 I visited Chaos and his wonderful family in Sweden. Unforgotten visits and adventures.

Shortly before I went to Canada a parrot owner who had turned to have a baby parrot without intention searched for a nice home for a hand raised youngster who was handicaped a bit from birth on (two missing toes and two missing nails on two toes) and probably a bit clumsy. This is how a second parrot came here, this time a Kongo Grey who was called Nurmi (born on April 17th, 1998). He was very funny and receptive, you could hardly see his handicap. In case he really dropped from his branch or dropped when climbing up and down he did not see a problem in it - he got used to it since he was born. Nurmi's vocabulary is enormous. He loved to imitate Gunki and the older one had lots of fun to teach the "small" one nonsense, and he could say all the dog names perfectly.

Again there were no problems in the relation between the hairy and the feathered members of this family, as can be easily seen in the picture of Samson and Nurmi.

In October 2004 Nurmi turned to be sick seriously and had to stay in the Vet. University Vienna for 21 days. During the first days we really feared for his life as his condition was really bad, but he got through it and came home healthy and funny. Since April 9, 2005, Nurmi lived together with a parrot girl who lost her partner. Although we loved Nurmi dearly we also wanted to offer him a life which he could not have here. Therefore a friend tried to "nationalize" him with her parrot girl Jakobine and it worked from first second. Nurmi had a beautiful and free life as the huge cage was open all day long and he could - whenever he wanted to - go out to the veranda which has been made for the parrots.

Unfortunately Nurmi could escape through a window one day - even though the curtain was closed, but with his handicaped feet without nails ..... Nurmi never appeared again even though he was "called" by Jakobine for many days.

To do the breeder of Camil a favor, we imported the tawny, 3.5 years old girl ELLIS Kasiterit, which did not get the Slovakian breeding conformation, and with her - since she fulfilled all the necessary conditions for breeding in Austria - we had the D-litter (born November 25th, 1998) after Ch. FALCO Kasiterit: 6/1 tawny puppies. Non of these puppies has remained in Austria - one boy, Dubonnet, went to Canada and joined Chloé, the other ones have been splitted up in eastern Europe. Some of them were show dogs, some pets and beloved family members in their new homes.

Gizmo was with me in the office daily - she brought sunshine to the one or other cloudy working day. In summer 2000 my junior boss all of a sudden told me to crate Gizmo when clients come to the office. I would not do that - so she stayed at home joining the Briards, but I missed this little sunshine very much during office times.

Something fascinating in this small breed is, that they have a heart like a lion (well, it's a Terrier). But we should never forget to think about a fact when these tiny dogs meet huge breeds: to watch the signals of the big ones. If not doing this a tragedy can turn up very fast, especially if it is a dog like Gizmo, being allowed to live the life of a dog and not being banned to be a lap-dog.

On May 18th, 1999, the E-litter was born, a repeat breeding to the C's, which means Samson and Yazoo being the parents. Some of these puppies have also made a trip over the big pond to get to own their new families: El Ninjo Noir and Escada Noire were living with a couple in New Hamshire/USA; the two Briards of them had died within 48 hours (the girl with epilepsy and the boy - as it seems - died with a broken heart). Ecoute-moi chez Bailywick and Ecstasy Noir were each with Briard breeders in Pennsylvania/USA and Elysée Noire made the trio in Canada to be complete. Esprit stepped into the paw prints of Chivas Regal and lived in Carinthia/Austria with a vet, Einstein went to join Arwa B and Batida de Coco, and Excuse-moi Whoopy stayed here in the gang.

With these two dogs the founders of the kennel de la Maison du Garde-Barrière were gone, an episode has ended. Only memories of a most wonderful time remain, and lots of pain. We are grateful that we were given the chance to be owned by these two ...... but the time with them was way too short.

And only some time later, on March 7th, 2001, I had to lead another senior to the last journey: Remo, the Persian, was from one day to the other paralysed in his hind legs and died at the age of 13 years in my arms. He had been attached very much to Sándor and on the day when that boy died he moved to another floor in this house - it seemed as if he retired and prepared himself for his own farewell.

In November 2000 we heard incidentally about a grey (born black) adult female that should be placed. We took the chance immediately since a grey Briard was a long desired wish. On December 10th, 2000, Sél. Oh-Lala des Monts d'en Crauzille entered our lifes. She was selected in France and has had two litters with her former owner. She was a happy and funny dog, and besides that a most interesting addition to this kennel.

On December 24th, 2000, another litter was born: the F-litter. Sire was Ch. Sél. NESCAFE des Pierrailles (grey, born black), dam Yazoo. It was 6 males and 2 females. Out of this litter one boy went to Germany, one to Switzerland, one to Italy and a girl also to Germany. One of the boys, FRIZZANTE FURIOSO GRIS stayed here.

A special event of this kennel: On October 24th, 2001 the NEW member of the Austrian-French-Connection moved to this home. Finally - after 10 years of owning only black and grey Briards - a twany puppy arrived: ALOA ZABOU du Noble Nid from Belgium. She was meant to be the new enrichment for the kennel de la Maison du Garde-Barrière and the Austrian Briard breeding.

On April 8, 2002, the G litter de la Maison du Garde-Barrière was born. The parents of these puppies were Sél. JOLLY JUMPER GRIS des Monts d'en Crauzille (grey, born black) and OH-LALA. This litter was - according to the genders - what lots of breeders wish to have: 1 boy and 5 girls (1/4 black, 0/1 tawny). From the black born one girl has turned to be grey.

Another cat entered our lives on July 3, 2004: Tarzan a Persian. He had been crated all day long in his home and we felt sorry for him. We offered to take this three years young boy and keep him if things went fine with our dogs ...... and of course our dogs loved the new family addition. Even though having been without cat for some years, they accepted Tarzan immediately.

Unfortunately Tarzan decided to attack our hairless dogs, though much later than they had come here. We had to make a decision for the sake of our dogs and found a nice home for the tom cat. As long as we have hairless dogs no other cat will come to this home, we are too scared about serious injuries.

Another big loss was the unexpected death of Samson - this boy had never been sick in all his life. On Feb. 28, 2005, he turned to be 9 years old, on March 15, 2005, he died on the way to the vet - he had a stroke. We always had thought that this boy will live "forever" and all of a sudden we fell into a big hole ...... missing a wonderful friend and a wonderful stud.

14 months we have enhanced this good soul his eve of his life with lots of love, after he had been torn out of a full and marvelous life at his owners at the age of 11 years. He passed away on July 1, 2006.

We hope that we were a good substitute for you, dear Apollo, for the beloved people, for which you had been the focal point of their lives 11 years long.

The last litter of kennel de la Maison du Garde-Barrière was born on July 12, 2006: the K litter out of Zabou and the French stud Ch. Talismanik de la Chaume du Bois Dieu. We had 2 males and 6 girls, unfortunately 2 girls died in the first week - a new experience for us, we had never lost puppies in any of our litters.

Our new kennel name Caipirinha's was registered at FCI in 2006, mainly because the Austrian Kennel Club made a limitation of letters for the registered names, and we could not any longer continue with our favorite names having this long kennel name de la Maison du Garde-Barrière. This name is still registered but we will not continue with it.

This is the history of our breeding under de la Maison du Garde-Barrière. The continuing breeding is found in the homepage, same with the dogs that are here and the ones that we lost since Samson passed.

We called our former kennel also the Austrian-French Connection ...... Where the best of the past is bred to the excellence of the present. Of course we strive to continue this way.