Samsara Irish Wolfhounds is jointly operated by Drs. Christiana C. Hartenstein and Nina Spadte. We are located in rural Batavia, OH and currently share our home with 8 wolfhounds. We don’t have a kennel establishment as it is detrimental to the soul and spirit of this breed.

Christiana has been involved in the breed since 1998 when she purchased her first wolfhound while still living in Germany. She started out as handler for several large, foundational kennels in Europe and moved to the United States in 2003. Here, she raised Irish Wolfhounds under a different kennel name for a decade, producing numerous American and Canadian Champions, including multiple Specialty Winners.

In 2019, she received her AKC judging license. She has since judged multiple specialties in the US, including Rocky Mountain, Delaware Valley, Northstar and Northern California. By training, she holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, overseeing a large leadership coaching program in the federal sector. She also maintains her own private practice for psychological evaluations and therapeutic services.

Nina fell in love with the breed in 2018 and joined the operation the same year. As inquisitive as she is, she has brought a fresh set of eyes to the kennel, questioning the development of the breed, pointing out emerging trends, evaluating breeding stock, and making breeding decisions. By training, she is a retired cardiac surgeon. She is very interested in a holistic approach to animal husbandry and contributes greatly to the health of our hounds due to her medical background.

This combination of expertise and looking at the breed in a more holistic way make Samsara Kennels unique, and it shows: We are successful at both All Breed Shows and Specialties, and enjoy companions who are robust and sturdy. Our foundation stock from Sweden finished their American Championship and is still active and healthy as Veterans, and we thus far produced 5 champions on our own, including 2 Specialty winning females. Our puppy buyers are impressed by the type and temperaments of our hounds, and many are “repeats.” Having had our first litter in 2020, we are very proud of what we accomplished in just a few years.