Our Dogs

La Brisa's Serendipity in Scarlet CGC TKI (Lyra)

La Brisa's Serendipity in Scarlet (aka Lyra) is our first family dog, our first Toller and our foundation bitch. We were looking for an active, intelligent, beloved pet to go on outdoor adventures with and a competitive sports dog to learn agility, obedience and other training activities alongside us as a hobby.

Lyra has exceeded our expectations and introduced us to the world of competitive dog sports, dog training clubs, best breeding practices and many lovely Tollers and their owners.

Lyra was born in Maryland, USA in 2019 and is one of a litter of eight happy, healthy puppies. She spent the first year of her puppyhood living in a 9th floor apartment in Washington D.C. Big city life was an ideal environment to socialise a puppy into. She met a wide range of people, dogs and children. She became accustomed to settling by our feet at cafes watching the world go by and weekends hiking in places such as the Appalachian Trail.

Lyra's sire is GCH La Brisa’s Blue Barley CDX, DJ, RN, CGC (Barley) and her dam is CH Avatar’s Pirouette in Red at La Brisa (Peach).

Lyra loves to retrieve and is an alert, intelligent companion. She learns quickly (both good and bad behaviours!) and will have trained most visitors to our house to throw a ball for her within five to ten minutes of their arrival. She is keenly interested in new people and new places. She can sometimes be picky about which dogs she enjoys playing with. She lives with two cats who have taught her (with some input from us) to respect their boundaries.

She is intensely active and has the independent streak characteristic of many Tollers. Daily physical and mental stimulation are a must.

Like most Tollers, she loves water and has a keen interest in birds. Like most dogs she loves sticks, bones and a good snooze.

In late 2020, we put Lyra on a plane to New Zealand. She has adapted to all the new places, people and flora and fauna with remarkable grace and ease.

We have trained her to entry-level in several dog sports (conformation, obedience, rally-o and agility). She is consistently let down by her handlers (Flint and Nancy) who can be a bit slower to learn than she is.

She can be aloof with people outside her close family - she prefers that people do things with her rather than time spent (aka wasted!) on pats and cuddles from strangers.

We believe that, with training and support, Lyra would excel at any task asked of her.