We have always been dog lovers, having grown up on a farm in Michigan, but we went many dog-less years due to work schedules and small children in the house. But, when my son Andrew was 11, we felt he was ready for a dog. We researched different breeds, and settled on the Cavalier because of their beauty, gentle temperament and manageable size.
We had no idea that our first Cavalier - Don Diego De La Vega, or "Diego" - would start us on our journey into showing and breeding these extraordinary dogs. We had Diego about two weeks and we knew we needed another one. Diego was a puppy mill dog, and we realized right away that despite his sweet personality that he was not what we'd imagined - so we began our search for a show breeder and found them in Texas. Once we found "Sophie", our love of this breed was solidified.
My father bred prize cattle on the farm, so it was only natural that I began to think about showing Sophie. After a year, we found a trainer and handler for her, who showed Sophie with some success. We became acquainted with Scott Sommer, a BIS handler and Westminster winner, and he showed Sophie to her Championship and a national ranking! We were hooked!
What has ensued since then is careful breeding, with new dogs introduced into our group from time to time, and a slow but sure progression into showing our own home-bred dogs. We love the English look in our Cavaliers, and strive to improve upon all aspects of the dogs in each breeding - health, temperament and conformation. We are blessed with these small family members and are grateful for their success in the show ring and the recognition they have received.
We moved to McClellanville, SC last year to provide more space for the dogs to run and play.
After a very difficult pregnancy, my lovely Ch. Poppie (pictured below) whelped 4 beautiful puppies. Sadly, one did not survive, but we now have three absolutely gorgeous boys on the ground. I am so excited about them! I'll make my final decisions on “running them on” as show potential puppies when they are 10-11 weeks old.
We are super excited about our newest litter on the way - Poppie (shown below in my post when she achieved her championship) and Chantismere Fearghal - a beautiful Blenheim boy from Ireland. Babies are due mid-July, so stay tuned for photos of the expected tricolor and Blenheim puppies in a month or so!
Maggie is my crazy girl….busy as she can be and getting into everything! But, she pulled it together and is my newest AKC Champion! Way to go Maggie! Her handler, Michelle Jones, is amazing and steered her to her championship in just a few weekends. Now she's home again….and getting into trouble every single day! We love our Miss Maggie!
My lovely Olivia has given us three beautiful babies. All tricolors, 2 boys and one girl, born on March 1, 2025. All are thriving and two have gone to their new homes. Our third sweet boy goes home July 7! We will miss them all - they were a joy to raise!
I always knew Poppie was special! She finished her AKC championship in 3 weekends. Such a thrill! She deserves a vacation now for a while, and then maybe next year she will get the chance to be a momma!
We were so blessed to have six puppies from Simon and Olivia! At this point 4 are spoken for, with two possibly left. These are adorable puppies - 5 girls and 1 boy, 4 tricolor and 2 Blenheim!
Its been quite a while since I posted an update. My last litter was a bit of a heartbreaker - we lost three puppies out of five - and the two surviving puppies needed major care for the first few weeks of their lives. Fortunately both survived and are the love of their pet parents lives now! But it took a toll on me and I've taken a break from breeding until now. We have a litter of probably five puppies out of Simon and Olivia on the way and due August 24 (if she makes it that far). So far so good, so fingers crossed that all continues to go well and we have some big and healthy Tricolor and Blenheim puppies coming! See my page for Boys to see Simon and Girls to see Olivia!
We are so thrilled with our latest litter - born 6/2/23 - out of our Ch. Mockingbird's Alleluia and Chantismere Fearghal (Ireland). Just beautiful and so busy! There might be a couple of them available soon, so let me know if you have an interest!
Well, we have good and bad news! Good news is that Gracie is expecting a small litter - she is high-risk, so we are hoping she will hang on to them through full term. The bad news is that Olivia is not expecting this time. No one ever said that breeding is easy! But, we keep moving. So, our next breeding is in March. Allie, our newest champion pictured below, is being bred to a really beautiful Irish boy. And, we will also be breeding our lovely Luna (pictured on our “Girls” page) to a lovely triple Champion - UK, AKC and CKCSC - in March as well!!
Last fall we were honored by the AKC with the designation of Breeder of Merit. What this means is that we are an ethical breeder, doing all of the recommended (and more) health testing for all of our dogs, make sure that all of our puppies are properly registered and that we have shown a number of our dogs to their championships. We have worked hard for this recognition and try every single day to raise the best puppies possible in every way - health, conformation and temperament!