We have owned Cavalier King Charles Spaniels since 1978, when Katie inherited Winston, an unbelievably good and lovable Blenheim male.  When she inherited Charlie (the other human in the house) two years later, he too fell in love with Winston and the breed.  We first joined the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA in 1981, and have always had at least one Cavalier since then.  Today we have a wonderful Cavalier family, pictured below.  The foundation of Blackfire Cavaliers was acquired through the help and mentoring of Anne Eckersley-Robins, whom we consider to be one of the premier Cavalier breeders in the United States today.  We remain active in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club USA (Charlie represents the Northeast region on the Board of Directors, he has chaired several committees, including Ethics, By-Laws, and Policies and Procedures, and he is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club USA Judge; Katie served on the Board of Directors for four years as CKCSC, USA Secretary) and we also register our dogs and show them in the American Kennel Club.

Although we originally became interested in breeding in order to insure that we would never be without a Cavalier, for the last few decades our goal has been to improve the breed by breeding healthy Cavaliers who, to us, embody the qualities of the breed standard.  We are strong advocates of rigorous health testing; we have not bred a bitch who has not been cleared by specialists for heart, eyes, hips and patella.  We require the same health testing of the stud dogs to whom we breed.  Mindful of this goal, we have always been cautious and sparing in our breeding.  We believe that it is the quality of litters, rather than the quantity, that define a kennel.

You may view a 4-generation pedigree for any of our breeding bitches by clicking on the name, if it is highlighted as a hyperlink.