Levenland Kennels  is owned and operated by Shandra and Chris Oosterlaken on our Levenland Farms and is located 25 minutes northwest of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the "Land of Living Skies".  Shandra is the third generation from her family to be involved in showing and breeding. A forth generation was added on September 3, 2004, our son Luke James Oosterlaken. There are many reasons we wanted a life on the farm, but Luke is the most important.

Both our families have deep roots in farming -  roots that extend back to early years of Saskatchewan and across the Atlantic to Holland. The name of our kennel and farm is derived from the Dutch words for "Living Lands". When we look over this farm
   Chris, Shandra & Luke   the name seems appropriate.

Here at Levenland Kennels, our dogs are our extended family - sharing our lives - first and foremost, and being show dogs when they take time off from the couch!  I have been blessed over the years to have shown dogs in many breeds to Top Dog Awards as well as multiple Best in Show & Best In Specialty Show Wins.  Although we have achieved success in the show ring, our greatest memories have been the training, and day to day living with the dogs we have chosen to share our lives with.

In addition to conformation shows we also train our dogs for obedience and agility. We will be starting rally obedience in 2006 and look forward to competing in both rally obedience and agility along with our conformation shows.

Background information:

Shandra grew up on her parents farm located north of Saskatoon. She has traveled extensively across Canada and parts of USA.  Chris came to Saskatoon after servicing in the navy on the BC coast.  We now live on a mixed farm North West of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan just minutes from our International Airport.  We share our lives with a variety of critters including swine, chickens, a few goats and a donkey. We have spent all of our lives working with and around animals in one field or another whether it be work related or volunteer.

Shandra has been showing and working with dogs since 1985 as a young junoir handler showing there families Smooth Collie and on occasion her moms Doberman. Shandra got her first Shetland Sheepdog in 1987 and this was the start of her showing career. In 1996 her mom had bought a Belgian Sheepdog who went on to be #1 Gronendael in Canada and #4 Belgian in 1992. This boy produced a nice male that Shandra took in to her heart. She campaigned him to #1 Grenendaiel and #3 Belgian in Canada in 2000. He was a multiple group winner and BIS show winner, his name was BIS Can. Am. Ch. Taboo's I am I said, better known as Taboo. Sadly Taboo passed away in 2003, but his line lives on through progeny that are located on two continents. Shandra continued on in Shelties till 2003 producing Group winners including Can. Ch. Licorne's American Outlaw. (Licorne was her kennel name at that time.) In addition to showing her own dogs she had a few clients that she worked closely with while working for professional handlers.

Chris came into Shandra's life the first time as her parents hired hand on the farm and then started his own company in Security. As time went by Chris and Shandra met up again in 2000 and started dating in 2001. They got married on May 29, 2004. They welcomed Luke James Oosterlaken into there lives on September 3, 2004. Shandra at this time decided to cut back on the amount of shows she did to just one a month which was a big step from being gone every weekend.

We purchased our first Miniature Poodle in 2002 and of course was hooked.

Shandra to this day still Professionally Handles her clients dogs as well as Photography work which both Chris and Shandra have an interest in.

All our puppies or dogs that we have placed in homes are given every opportunity to reach their full potential whether it is as a loving companion, or a top show dog.  We take great care in selecting healthy parents of strong character and then use our animal knowledge in structure and behavior to help new owners select the right dog for them.  This process has allowed our dogs to be happy and healthy, but also has brought new people into our lives that share the love of our dogs.

We acknowledge that accomplishments in any field rarely happen alone. We have always had the support of our family and friends during the years, and for this we are very grateful.

We are members of the Canadian Kennel Club. 
 

Some of our Top Dogs over the years...