In late November 1991, my husband came home from work with a question for the family. "What would you think about getting a puppy?" I had always had cats but was fearful of dogs, so I was hesitant. After some consideration (and considerable begging) we brought home a little ball of golden fluff that we called ENOS. ENOS was a purebred Golden Retriever and my husband had thoughts of breeding him.

(Enos was diagnosed with tumors on the adrenal glands and became very sick. We decided to not let him suffer and said good-bye to him in May 2004 just short of his 13th birthday.)

After we found Enos was not a good specimen I thought "Well, that's that." Boy was I wrong!  In January of 1994, Rod started calling breeders about purchasing a female Golden Retriever for showing and breeding. After talking to many breeders and looking at many puppies, we purchased Rosy -- offically Storiline Rose of Sharon.

On the way home, Rod said "When we get a kennel I want to call it Tallygold (his dad, who had passed away in November 1993, was named Talmage and had always been called Tally) Tally for dad and Gold for goldens." I agreed and Tallygold Kennels was born. Our kennel name was officially registered to us on October 3, 1995.

After trying to show Rosy in the show ring myself I decided Goldens were too much for me. Rosy had 2 beautiful litters and was then spayed and retired to the US where she lived her out her life adored by her family.

My daughter started looking for a small dog that would get along with goldens and I would be able to handle in the ring. We decided on a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and started the search for that perfect little girl. We did not find HER instead we found Qunicy. I showed him to his championship and was so happy when he won Best of Winners over 22 dogs to become Ch Glenorchys Tallygold Harlequin (pictured above) a few days after his 1st birthday.

After the success with Quincy we decided the Cavalier was definitely the dog for us and we brought home a little bundle of energy whom we called Lily. This was to become the foundation bitch for our kennel. She became Ch Glenorchys Tallygold Lily quickly as the judges loved her. Lily gave us Lacey who went on to become our first homebred Champion - Ch Tallygolds Lavender 'N Lace. Lily started having some problems and we made the decision to spay her. It was found that she had ovarian cancer and we were told that the vet believed that she had got it all but she could not be certain. We started giving Lily extra vitamins and immune boosters. She recovered and almost a year later became a healthy, spirited couch potato. In Dec 2003 cancer returned to Lily in the form of a thyroid tumor. The vet gave her 1 month to live, I tweeked her diet and started giving her extra immune builders and she is still with us 6 years later. We had to put her on thyroid medication as she gained a lot of weight but she is still active and even plays with the puppies.  Lily is also clear of MVD by examination and echocardiogram:  quite an accomplishment for this breed.

Lacey was a great producer with 24 puppies in 4 litters. She has earned a restful retirement in the Roberts home with her friends Nicki and Rudy.

We continue our cavalier hobby with a new generation of Tallygold Cavaliers and babies we have been privileged to buy from other breeders. You can see our Cavaliers on the Girls page, Boys page, Nursery and in our Gallery.