About Junebug Cavaliers
Junebug Cavaliers is a small, home-based breeding program in Central Alabama. Our Cavaliers are first and foremost members of our family, and our breeding program grew from a love for these remarkable little dogs—and a desire to help them have a healthier future.
We value the long history of the toy comforter spaniels behind today's Cavalier and believe there is room to preserve what makes the breed so special while making thoughtful choices for greater health and genetic diversity.
Our Story
Like many people who love Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Jessica probably noticed their beauty first. Then she met one.
A friend brought her new Cavalier puppy to a park outing, and Jessica was smitten. Cavaliers are beautiful, certainly, but it's their nature that really gets you: affectionate, playful, sensitive, mischievous, adaptable, and utterly devoted to their people. Jessica knew that someday she would have one.
A few years later, after losing her 16-year-old Chihuahua and best friend, that someday arrived.
Our first Cavalier promptly stole Paul and Kate's hearts, too. A little more than a year later, a second joined the family. And then we did what we do when something captures our interest: we started reading.
Books. Articles. Research papers. Videos. Conversations with breeders and other Cavalier owners. One rabbit hole led to another.
And alongside everything we loved about the breed, we began learning about its very real health challenges. We kept coming back to the same question: What could we do?
Whether circumstances aligned or divine providence intervened, we can't say. But an opportunity came along for us to become breeders—and suddenly that question had an answer.
About a million years ago, Jessica studied genetics in college and earned a degree in Molecular Biology. She dusted off that background, got her geek on, and immersed herself in canine genetics and, especially, Cavalier genetics.
That changed the way we thought about breeding.
Cavaliers have a remarkably limited gene pool, and generations of breeding within that population have contributed to serious health challenges within the breed. We can't fix those problems overnight, and no breeder can promise perfect health. But we can use the tools available to us—DNA testing, health screening, pedigree information, and measures of genetic diversity—to make better-informed breeding decisions.
That is the foundation of Junebug Cavaliers.
Our interest in genetic diversity also led us back into the history of the breed, where we discovered something fascinating: the Cavalier's story is much richer—and more colorful—than the four colors recognized by today's breed standard. Historical records, early registered Cavaliers, and centuries of art depicting their toy-spaniel ancestors all became part of the story we wanted to understand.
That history helped shape our decision to include healthy, carefully selected Cavaliers carrying chocolate and dominant-black genetics in our program alongside the four standard colors.
For us, those colors aren't the goal. A healthier, more genetically diverse Cavalier is the goal. The colors are simply one visible part of the broader genetic heritage we're interested in preserving.
We put that philosophy into practice through comprehensive genetic and health testing, careful breeding decisions, and an ongoing focus on genetic diversity. Testing takes time, travel, and a significant financial investment, but we believe it is simply part of the responsibility we accept when we choose to breed these dogs.
Ready to Start Your Junebug Journey?
If Junebug Cavaliers feels like the right fit for your family, you can start your application through Good Dog.
Our Vision
What do we hope for the future of the Cavalier?
We're a small breeding program. We don't imagine that Junebug alone is going to change an entire breed. But every breeder makes choices, and these are the directions we hope to move in—and would love to see more widely across Cavaliers over time.
Longer, healthier lives. We'd love to see Cavaliers routinely enjoying lifespans more like other healthy toy breeds.
Sounder structure. Enough muzzle and skull to accommodate normal breathing and the brain, and bodies capable of an active life.
That unmistakable Cavalier temperament. Sweet, affectionate, adaptable, playful and devoted. We don't want to change the heart of the breed.
A broader genetic palette. Greater genetic diversity, including the historical chocolate and black colors that interest us.
And maybe one day... a Junebug line with a little extra athleticism and endurance for families interested in sports, working activities, hiking, and other active pursuits—without losing the Cavalier temperament we adore.