About the kennel

Kennel Blue Light was established in 1963 by Erling Strandheim. He is probably most known as a judge, but is in Norway the person who has worked most with Bedlington terriers and was in addition the owner of the Bedlington kennel with the most Champions in Norway.

In 1994 I received the great honour of taking over the name of the kennel; Blue Light, and at the same time the responsibility of continue the standard Strandheim kept. By that time I had had Erling Strandheim as a mentor and teacher of everything regarding the Bedlington terrier for over 20 years. Up until his passing he was pleased with what I had done thus far.

A little about physicality and mentality

Everybody wants to breed the perfect dog, but that is not always that simple. Every single dog has either a small fault or a great one, it is as simple as this; NO DOG ON THIS PLANET IS A 100% PERFECT, just like us they have their minor or greater flaws.

Not everyone are willing to accept that because it is as the old saying goes; Everybody thinks best of their own. And what is best cannot have flaws... or...?

The main objective is to breed dogs that are harmonic and sociable, that they can show joy and that they are steady "upstairs". Bedlingtons can be somewhat selective when it comes to strangers, but they are not supposed to shy away or show fear when strangers try to talk to them.

A Bedlington terrier is supposed to have a beautiful athletic, muscular body, where you can clearly see the topline and the underline, just like on a Whippet.

They are to have a breed typical head, in other words a wedge or pear shaped head, which has to be in contrast with the rest of the body. They are not supposed to have short, blunt heads.

Then we come to the movements. This is a breed bred for hunting, a dog bred to kill vermin like rats and such. To do this they need to be able to move at high speeds, they need to have good angulations. Better angulations mean greater speed and movements. What people seem most eager to discuss is knee angulations and over angulations.

I have yet to see a Bedlington with too great angulations and I have seen many. But som of them have really good angulations and with equally good movements.

Seen from behind I like them as broad as possible. Some Bedlingtons have tight hocks, but they CAN NOT be cow hocked. First and foremost this is a flaw and secondly it is hard to breed out of them.

I am very strict and thorough when I chose which two dogs to breed. I do extensive research since I need to find two individuals who are compatible when it comes to both the physical and the mental, I never use dogs with great flaws.

I would say that a Bedlington is one of the easiest dogs to rehome, even as adults. They are very flexible, they can become couch potatoes or go for a more active lifestyle, they follow their owners' lifestyles. This is a dog that goes well with everybody, young or old, large or small.

I hope to be succesful with my breeding, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback so far.