St Jon Cavaliers became reality when a dream was fulfilled. Through the sale of some real estate, the capitol to begin was made possible. But there were more obstacles in my way than I ever would have believed. Countless phone calls , a sea of "I don't have anything for you" , some breeders even hung up upon hearing my request for a quality Cavalier to show first and eventually breed. I explained that I wanted guidance  to do this right, without floundering but my pleas fell on deaf ears. Only one person would entertain the idea of speaking with me about the breed in general. And even she didn't have a dog for me....yet.  I was told that if I was truly wanting to break into this game, I would have to drive 6 hrs. for nothing more than a tutorial of the breed, it's history, and a break down of the many English and American Champions so that I might familiarize myself before making the commitment. I jumped in my car and drove like the wind. Once arriving, I was made to feel at home, befriended, informed beyond what my memory could contain and yes, even the chance to bring home my first Cavalier. That dog was Ch Tomnee Lucy in the Sky, my first champion. Next to arrive was PJ, Ch Excalibur Pearl Jam ROM. The opportunity to purchase a 2 yr old , tricolor bitch with 2 points in the CKCSC, USA came up and she was only 5 hours away. PJ , along with the other Excalibur dogs, had survived hurricane Hugo. The trauma of the storm had done a number on her but her breeder, MaryEllen Arthur, felt that with time and attention, she may do alright in the ring. She also made me aware that she was heavily marked ( a blanket tri ) and may have some difficulty due to that. No sweat! PJ finished without trouble at all. Well, almost no trouble! She wouldn't look at anything but ME in the ring! In fact, I don't have one good win picture of her because of it. 

     My breeding program was formed by reviewing the multitude of dogs already in existence. My eye was continually drawn to the Ravenrush dogs I had been fortunate enough to see first hand in the ring and in year books of days gone by. How to capture this look for myself would be the question. Through the nurturing and constant guidance of Jeanne Sardo , House of Bijou,  the foundation was laid  on which all my strategy would be set in motion. She explained to me what movement was, bad, good and indifferent. She gave me hands on lessons in structure, basic conformation , how to review a pedigree and how to apply it to my own program. I took every word she said and put them to work . I am now working on my fourth generation of "St Jon" dogs with emphasis on the total package. Beauty, type, health, and temperament. My dogs are raised and reside in the house with us. ( My husband is a saint! ) Puppies are whelped in my bedroom where they remain until they are between 3 and 4 weeks old. From there they move into the living room where they are slowly introduced to the rest of the pack. It is truly a family affair. My son, Zach, is in charge of "playing" with the puppies. He can be seen with a few Lucy babies in the photo album section of the site.