Welcome to the home of Grandville Cavaliers,
located in the beautiful tri-cities region of Washington State. As you visit our site, we would like you to meet our furry family, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Here we will introduce ourselves and share a bit of our story, tell you how we live with our Cavaliers, and share our goals and dreams.
My
husband and I, a French American couple, spent 10 years living in France,
from 1992-2002. While visiting the sunny beaches of Etretat, in the Normandie
region of France, I saw my first Cavalier! Completely taken by the dog's beauty
and love, I can truly say it was love at first sight! Since then I have never
been without a Cavalier by my side.
We
moved to America in 2002, bringing all our dogs,
one of each color! Upon arrival, we joined the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Club USA, (CKCSC USA) and registered our dogs with both the American kennel
Club(AKC) and the CKCSC USA. As a CKCSC member we adhere to their code of
ethics, which has as its goal to love, protect, and enhance the breed.
AKC Ch. Springs Teen of Woodville
We began to show our dogs in conformation, and have found this to be a very rewarding hobby. This is where we finished our first two champions, one shown here, AKC Ch. Springs Teen of Woodville.
At Grandville Cavaliers we continually strive for excellence in all areas, whether breeding, showing, or just daily life with our Cavaliers. We believe that LOVE is the key ingredient in all that we do! We hope that our site will give you a glimpse into the wonderful world of Cavaliers and help you along the way in your search for that special Cavalier! Please read on to learn more about us and our life with Cavaliers.
Many people ask if we “live with” our Cavaliers, as this makes for better socialized pups. My answer is a very happy, “yes!” All our dogs live in our house, are well socialized, receive excellent veterinary care, grooming, nutrition, attention, playtime, love, and lots of cuddles, especially from our children, for whom I am very grateful.
They not only love them, they also feed, clean, train, and participate in all the doggie chores of the family. They also participate in dog shows, competing in Junior handling. Here they are shown spoiling a pup with a basket full of toys!
All our Cavaliers share our life and daily activities. People often say, “Gosh, every time we see you, there is a Cavalier by your side!”
This breed thrives being with their human family, and does NOT do well left alone for long periods or kenneled out doors. So we have adapted, with covers for the sofas, doggie beds around the house, and baby gates to climb over. They do have a doggie room that is very practical for rainy weather, potty training and lots of other things one cannot imagine unless you live in a multi dog household. We raise our pups in our house, and newborns have a puppy nursery.
Cavaliers may be lap dogs, but they sure do love the outdoors! We have a large yard for them to run and play, exercise is vital to thier well-being. They enjoy fetch and tug-o-war and all sort of silly things like chasing bees (yikes) and butterflies! They remain close to us at all times, not only for socialization, but just because we love to see and cuddle our pups! Here is a photo of Princeton and me on a hike. Please read the section: “How we raise our pups” on my puppy page to learn more.
“I believe that the welfare of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed is of paramount importance. It supersedes any other commitment to Cavaliers whether that be personal, competitive, or financial.”
(This is the first line to our breed club code of ethics, CKCSC,USA.Inc.)
Although our hobby is showing Cavaliers in conformation, we do breed occasionally, and our greatest desire and goal is to breed happy, healthy Cavaliers, to conform to the breed standard, with beauty, personality, and longevity of the breed as our priorities. Yes, as said in our code of ethics, the welfare of the breed is our priority. To this end, we take great care in planning a breeding, by careful health testing by board certified specialists, and breeding away from health defects, with the hopes of breeding healthier Cavaliers.
Although progress has been made, and the Cavalier is a generally healthy breed, there remain some potential health problems, as with any breed. The two that remain of foremost concern are Mitral Valve Disease (MVD) and Syringomyelia (SM). Please visit www.aboutcavalierhealth.com to learn more about the breed health concerns. Although perfection may not exist, I can do my very best to ensure that the chances have been put on your side.
Health and beauty are not all that concern us; a true Cavalier personality is vital as well. Gay, friendly, non-aggressive, fearless and sporting in character, yet gentle and affectionate, are all qualities of a true Cavalier. Socialization is priority to us, as we hope to plant the seeds of love and joy in each pup born here. We also take time to explain to each new owner that all seeds need water and sunshine in order to bloom and grow! We encourage new owners to take their new pup to puppy socialization classes and obedience training, so that they can grow into their full potential and be polite members of society.
Princeton certainly has that melting Cavalier expression, typical of the breed. You can see his loving temperament in his eyes!
Butterscotch Kiss
A “whole color” Cavalier is either the Black-and-Tan or the Ruby color. I find that the whole colors are extremely elegant, with rich dark black and radiant bright ruby red. They are often endowed with a luxurious long coat, which is such a pleasure to my eye! The practical side to having a whole color is my favorite aspect: Since I love to wear black, I can cuddle them and not worry about white fur all over my clothes! They can also go out and play in mud and return and never look dirty, as do the Blenheim and tricolors. Its harder to keep white looking white, then black looking black! LOL
Although I have all four colors, it seems destiny has brought me a special love for the black and tan and ruby colors. Here is a little of our story.
Savane du C'Los de la Vieille Poutre
Our first Cavalier happened to be a beautiful black and tan female named Savane. She reminded me of a fluffy Teddy bear when we got her!
Our second Cavalier happened to be a very affectionate ruby male named Simba, who became our first Champion, receiving his AKC Title at still a young age!
AKC Ch. Simbab des Cavaliers
de L'Ancre Bleue Marine
He is also major pointed in the CKCSC USA. One of my favorite win photos of him is shown here.
Simba and Savane have given us many beautiful pups. Check out their progeny on my puppy page from past litters.
Ultra Spice of Woodville
Soon we were very fortunate to welcome our very beautiful Ginger (Ultra Spice of Woodville) to our home. Ginger has been a consistent Best Ruby In Show winner! She has the most endearing expression, with large dark eyes that make me melt!
So this was our start in whole colors, and we hope to continue to show and breed quality whole colors full of love and affection!
Gracie and Ginger
It seems that a quality whole color pup is not as easy to find as the Blenheim and tricolors of the breed. There are several breeders across the US and abroad who are passionate about them, where you can find a quality whole color. It helps to call around long in advance and be on a waiting list in order to make sure you put the chances on your side to bring one home! It will be worth the wait! It also seems that the whole colors are not seen in great number at the dog shows in America as they are in Europe, so you may have a hard time to see them in person.
One day it is my hope that spectators at shows will have the pleasure of seeing all four colors, even on T.V.! There was a beautiful ruby Cavalier, “Ch. and AKC Ch. Partridge Wood Laughing Misdemeanour,” who was the first Cavalier to win “Best of Breed” at the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. My goal is to work towards enhancing the whole colors, in the hopes of breeding quality black and tan and ruby Cavaliers. I hope to allow the public to see how precious and beautiful they are. Once you set your eyes upon one of these rich and elegant beauties, you will certainly be looking out for more!
Even though there are four colors in the breed, there is only ONE breed description of a Cavalier, and we should all strive to breed the best, always conform to that breed standard. People often ask me if whole colors differ in personality from the party colors, and I say, well they shouldn't. However, all Cavaliers will each differ a bit, they all have a unique personality, just as humans are all beautiful, and yet each possesses his or her own unique personality.
Please visit my new page coming soon: “Special feature: The Whole Color Cavalier!” Come back and feast your eyes on a beautiful selection of whole color photos!
We are grateful to all the breeders in Europe who have entrusted us with quality Cavaliers, thus helping us to realize a dream. Special thanks to Wendy Lhote of Woodville Cavaliers for her continued love and support.
Our hearts' desire has been greatly fulfilled as we go through life's journey with our Cavaliers by our side. May you one day discover this breed first hand! Until then,
“...now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:8
Always with a Cavalier in my arms!
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