My whole life has revolved around animals, people and children. I have been drawn to animals since I was a small child. My parents said I started bringing home strays at a very early age. To this day they still often seem to cross my path and come home with me until I can place them in a loving home. I just can’t turn a blind eye to an animal in need. My nurturing nature led me to have early aspirations to grow up to be a Veterinarian. During high school I even shadowed and observed surgeries with our family vet. But as life would have it I met my husband and started a family which quickly pushed college and pursuing a demanding career to the wayside.

I’ve devoted myself to the Papillon breed for almost 20 years now. I had always wanted a small dog, but hadn’t quite landed on a breed until 2005. I was smitten with their long silky coat, fabulous ears, intelligence and trainability. I got my first papillon “Tiki” shortly after my husband passed away. She was the light that my children and I needed during that difficult time and from then on I became obsessed with this breed! I wanted to share the love and comfort she had brought to our family so I sought out a local papillon breeder as my mentor and under their guidance bred a few litters using Tiki. She was an excellent mother but unfortunately, though paired with quality males, she proved to produce either mis-marked or oversized puppies. These well temperamented puppies grew up to be incredible pets and therapy animals. But once I understood that her genetics wouldn’t consistently produce puppies to the AKC standard that I was trying to learn to adhere to, I made the tough decision to forgo her as my foundation female. This was an early but important lesson in my breeding career. Not all good dogs, are good breeding dogs and good breeders have to separate our hearts from sentiment to do what is right for the preservation of the breed. Tiki was later spayed and lived the rest of her days as a beloved family pet.

I was connected with Ken Mar Papillons a well known show breeder a few states away from me at that time to discuss further mentorship and purchasing a show quality foundation papillon. I flew to Colorado to tour the kennel, meet the parents and take my new puppy home. He was a beautiful black and white male that I named “Kenai” his registered name was KenMar Kenai Spirit of Hope. He was such a sweet, tender hearted dog and I don’t think he ever met a person he would consider a stranger. As advised I started taking him to conformation classes to get him ready to show and had so much fun! His breeder suggested I also get a female, as a quality female is of great importance in the foundation of a kennel. This would also allow my oldest daughter to participate in handling classes with me. Soon I had a sable and white girl from the same affix that I named “Cleo”. While I was trying to settle on a theme for my kennel I bounced fun “show” names off a friend, soon Cleo became KenMar II Cleopatra Queen of Denial which was a fun play on words since I love everything Egyptian… and it took off from there. To this day all of our dogs AKC Registered Names are a fun Egyptian play on words!

Unfortunately my aspirations for an illustrious show career with Kenai and Cleo were halted due to a series of unfortunate events which started with a mishap with my youngest daughter and a pair of scissors… one day I came home from work to her babysitter profusely apologizing as soon as I stepped through the door. She told me she had left my youngest alone in her room, playing with her toys. Then a while later after realizing it was too quiet went in to find that she was playing hair salon with my well natured dogs. Thankfully all parties were unharmed but Kenai lost the fringe on one ear and Cleo’s beautiful tail was cut short in two sections. I had a groomer friend even things out so they wouldn’t look too silly. But by the time their coat had returned we were smack dab in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis. Amid trying to navigate these trying times as a single mother I sullenly came to the realization by late 2009 that I would need to put my dream of starting a kennel on hold to focus on supporting my family.


Although they were not able to fully reach champion status. Cleo and Kenai produced three beautiful litters of puppies and taught me a lot about breeding for structure and quality. I kept one of their daughters “Isis” Deragons Isis Ankh You the Goddess from their first litter who, after my decision to pause the kennel, was never bred. She was a very smart and athletic dog who could do what ever was asked of her. In 2015 after a few short lessons she even passed her National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) Odor Recognition Test (ORT) at 8 years old after I decided I wanted to try out Nose Work. My hold back female from their final 2008 litter “Aubrey” Deragons Aubrey Ann a Gift From God also proved her incredible scenting abilities. She became a successful seizure alert dog after I donated her to a Purple Heart Veteran in need. We kept in touch and she provided him many years of comfort and solid service right up until the day she passed away. His doctors and nurses enjoyed having her around during his hospital stays as she consistently alerted them of his seizures before monitors ever could. We are still very proud of her to this day. Cleo and Kenai’s puppies also proved to have great longevity living between 15-16 years. Health testing wasn’t as much of a thing back then but Cleo and Isis lived to be old enough to see the days of my new line so I Embark tested them with my current stock and they both proved to be free and clear of all modernly tested diseases!

Despite my hiatus from breeding I still remained dedicated to the breed in the meantime. Nurturing my original stock into their elder years and taking in rescues who’s owners could not show the same level of commitment, or befell unrecoverable hardship. I feel it is our responsibility to not only dedicate ourselves to the dogs we bring into the world, but also to keep the breed out of harms way when they find themselves in difficult situations. I will take back every dog I’ve ever produced without question. And for the rescues… my heart can’t seem to forget these dogs once I know they are in need of help. I have welcomed many into my home as fosters, and a few as foster failures.

“Abby” aka Abby the Wonder Dog came to us back in 2015. She had been surrendered and found herself at the Oregon Humane Society where she sat for months due to persistent diarrhea and a “bad attitude” which made her hard to handle and show to potential adopters. I remember seeing her picture on their website September 2014 and wanting to go swoop her up! But we were actively in the process of moving and I could not. Early 2015 I recognized her when she was transferred to a friend’s rescue where she tried to help her but was having similar issues. She thought she might do better in a home environment and I offered to help. After coming home she had persistent loose stool every 2-3 hours day and night, and insisted on hiding in her crate or the bottom of our pantry. My eldest daughter took her to multiple vets until one tried running more comprehensive tests on her which revealed a Campylobacter Infection. This was promptly treated and her symptoms subsided. Now that she felt better she began to show us her incredible play drive! She was first taught to chase and fetch toys then my eldest daughter slowly introduced her to the game of tug to help her learn to feel more confident. This new found confidence and love for play segwayed into a successful agility career with my youngest daughter. We had some great teachers and mentors and my daughter got her to Level 3 in CPE agility. It became Abby’s favorite game and she had many first placements. I will always have an equal love for rescuing and rehabilitating these incredible dogs!

Now that I’ve raised my children, I have the time to pursue my dream again! I have a great group of Papillons that I’m working to train and learn to show. I have tried to select lines which are not only healthy and beautiful but further back contain some of the ancestors of my original stock. Click through the links in our menu to learn more about our past and present dogs! As I develop my line I will also have a few litters available to carefully selected pet/performance homes. I raise my puppies with Puppy Culture and have such a fun time working with them and seeing their personalities develop. Papillons have become such a huge part of my life, and I love sharing experiences with other breeders and friends. My kennel theme is focused on Egyptians because I believe every dog is a King and Queen and it’s fun to put a play on words when naming them in this theme. If you are lucky enough to get one of my puppies, you have to play along!