Mrs. O'Leary is our very own Mika. It is quite the story as to how we came up with her name. Please enjoy the pictures and info below and throughout the site. Click the button below to see more about "Mom", Mrs. Mika Bestina O'Leary.
Mika and Odin are the most amazing dogs we have ever met, let alone had the privilege to own.
Ben and I found and fell in love with this breed almost 7 years ago. We were at the point in our marriage that we wanted to add another member but weren’t quite ready for a baby. So the search began to find the perfect dog for us.
The list of qualities we were looking for:
1. Large breed
2. Little to no shedding
3. No drooling
4. Hair, not Fur
5. Intelligent
6. Not lazy
7. Trainable
8. Sweet
9. Loyal
10. Protective
11. Good with children (for all the future children we someday planned to have)
The Black Russian Terrier fulfilled them all! Historically, they are well-known as Russian prison guard dogs and police dogs, and we've found them to be great family dogs as well.
After Ben and I both added to the list. . . . it ended up looking a little bit impossible.
So, we searched and searched, finally we stumbled across these big awesome dogs that looked like a black bear!
Neither of us had even heard of Black Russian Terriers (BRT's). Which is quite strange in its self since Ben's whole family breads dogs; his Mom bred Yorkshire terriers, his sister bred Labs, and now Beagles. They had a number of German Shepherds growing up. . . you get the point. So to find an AKC recognized large breed dog that we had never even heard of was shocking.
We studied for weeks all the info we could find on their temperament, grooming and exercise needs, looked up dog shows to see if we could see one of these dogs in person, etc. Lying in bed many nights looking at pictures of the scientifically engineered perfect dog. All the while dreaming of owning our own.
Finally the day came when we were read to get our little girl Mika. (Follow link to her page and watch her as she grew up)