In this section we will tell about our family’s lifelong love and experience with dogs and specifically my (Linda’s) personal story with dogs. My dogs are my great passion and interest and are deeply integrated into my family. We live in St. Merløse, Denmark, right in the middle of the island of Zealand. At the beginning of 2009 we bought our house which has the perfect garden and surroundings for our dogs. In January 2010 our son Benjamin was born, in February 2013 our daughter Mathilda came to the world and in July 2016 the last member of our tribe arrived, our son Bertram.
I grew up with a giant Saint Berhard dog named Bernard. He was the symbol of my whole childhood. He was only a few years younger than me and lived to a ripe old age of 14. When Bernard was no longer with us, it wasn't long before I bought my very own first dog, Lobo, a "Bernese Mountain Dog". Lobo was a lovely male dog, who unfortunately did not live beyond 3 years old - but solidified my love of this majestic breed and sparked my interest in dog breeding. Lobo taught me what serious and correct breeding truly means and the heartbreak associated with not following ethical breeding practices. You see, Lobo was bought from a puppymill which was purely for profit operation that knowingly bred sick dogs, sadly, that’s why he only turned 3 years old, he was sick from day one and didn’t have a fighting chance at having a long healthy life.
Since 1998 we have had 5 Bernese Mountain dogs. Four of these dogs died all at a very early age (max 5 1/2 years) which is why we started looking for another breed. By 2011, we chose to get JK-Vonges Huxi, who became our first Basset Hound. Following Huxi, we brought Basset Koloniens Alonzo into our family. My desire to practice obedience, agility and confirmation competitions with our dogs grew, which is why we sought out a new breed of dog that more adaptable to these interests. This is when we discovered, and fell completely in love with, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Since I have always had a desire to become a serious breeder of dogs, discovering the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed gave me the perfect opportunity.
And that brings us to the present. Now we breed max. 1-2 litters of Cavalier King Charles puppies a year. The dogs and puppies are of course part of everyday the family life. All of our family members are engaged with the dogs and dedicate many hours to our dogs. The puppies are born and raised in our living room, where through their time with us, they enter into a normal family life of sounds, smells and experiences. By setting our puppies up like this, they are equipped for life in new family, maybe even your family. As the puppies grow up, they are often out and about, taking walks, visiting kindergarten and schools and enriching them with a lot of life experiences and impressions before leaving us. Our goal with breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels is to breed healthy, breed-typical confirmation and well-functioning dogs that can become the new family's best friend for many years. We strictly adhere to the breeding rules of the Danish Kennel Club, which have been recognized worldwide as best practice to promote the health of the breed. We dedicate ourselves to this extremely special breed with heart and passion - therefore a puppy from Willow’s Wishes will be the result of hard enthusiastic work focusing on the individual puppy. We never compromise on health or socialization. A puppy from us must be a well-functioning family dog, both physically and mentally!
A bit more about Linda….I work fulltime as tax lawyer with the opportunity to work from home. But besides the "boring" duties of fulltime work, I have a number of other educational credentials, including licensed dog masseur. In 2015 I took the breeder education under Danish Kennel Club/FCI and got my certified Kennel Mark "Willows Wishes". In 2019 I was trained as a ring training instructor through the Danish Kennel Club and I now teach weekly "exhibition training" of all breeds. I have previously worked as an assistant with veterinarian and behavioral therapist, Bente Iversen, proprietor of BIO Animal Clinic. Throughout my time with Bente, I took quite a few courses, including "Massage and Stress," "Breed Knowledge," "Genetics for Dog Owners," and "Breeding Ethics." Through the Danish Kennel Club I have taken a number of educational courses, including the behavior and handling course and the ring instructor training. My husband, Casper, is a regional manager at Royal Unibrew (brewery) and also has very flexible working hours which is why he is also a big part of the puppies' care and upbringing. The children actively participate in training, grooming, feeding, etc.
On the following pages you will find lots of information about all our dogs. Look around and check out our Facebook group to see stories of our dogs, our puppies and how they integrate into their final families – especially if you are interested in a puppy from here. Thank you for visiting Kennel Willow’s Wishes!
Enjoy!
