Welcome to Ali-Mae Cavaliers!
We are Don and Kelly Woods, and we are a small hobby show breeder and exhibitor of AKC registered Cavalier King Charles Spaniels near Louisville, Kentucky. We are dedicated to bettering the breed by focusing on health testing and sweet, family-friendly temperaments that will win in the show ring. Our dogs are part of our family, live under our roof (no kennel), and puppies are whelped in our bedroom.
We get asked a lot about our kennel name, Ali-Mae (pronounced "Alley May"). This was a combination of Kelly's Grandmother's name, Alice Mae. Kelly's Grandmother was an inspiration and integral part of making her childhood dreams of breeding and showing dogs a reality.
In 1997, Kelly started showing and breeding Pomeranians, and became a member of the national parent club. Unfortunately, we were unhappy with the direction the breed was going, and decided to switch to Japanese Chin. We became members of the Chin national parent club, as we loved how the parent club was truly committed to the betterment and preservation of the breed.
Then life happened, and we soon found ourselves expecting the first of our two boys. Kelly actually finished our last Chin's AKC championship while she was 6 months pregnant!
We soon realized that we needed to find a breed that was sturdier and more family-friendly with two huge rambunctious boys in the household. Our extensive search resulted in the purchase of our first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in 2016, and we could not be happier! This loving breed is absolutely what our family needed, and while there are serious health issues associated with Cavaliers, the national parent club is very proactive with solutions to better the breed.
The newest chapter of our journey has brought us a delightful partnership with Anika Stahl of vom Kaninchengarten Cavaliers. This has given us the unbelievable opportunity of improving our bloodlines and even stepping into the show ring again. As always, we will do our part to better the breed through careful decisions in our breeding program based on the AKC standard. While we breed first and foremost for ourselves to produce the next champion, we are also proud to share our love of Cavaliers by providing loving, healthy pets to families to enjoy just as much as we do!
Don and Kelly Tracy Woods
Located Near Louisville, Kentucky
Text Only: 502.553.3266