We made the decision to pair Olivia with Valek one final time before Olivia’s retirement because their previous litter gave us exactly the qualities we hoped to preserve in our Russian Salon Dog program.

Olivia and Valek complement one another beautifully, both in type and temperament, and their first pairing produced puppies that reflected what we value most in the breed. Alina, whom we retained from that litter, has continued to develop into a lovely example of that combination and gave us even more confidence in repeating the breeding.

As preservation breeders working with a still very rare breed, every pairing has to be made with the future in mind. Sometimes that means exploring a new combination, and sometimes it means recognizing when a pairing has worked exceptionally well and giving ourselves one final opportunity to preserve those genetics.

With Olivia approaching retirement, we felt this was the right time to repeat a pairing we already know, trust, and love. After this litter, Olivia will retire from our breeding program, making these puppies a particularly special final chapter in her legacy at Petit Bijou.