About Bonjovie Bassets
and how we started…

Bonjovie Bassets got its name from Bonnie Wilson and Joanna Greenhalgh who founded the Bonjovie basset hound breeding program in 1991.
Here is our story….

It all began twenty years ago when we adopted a Basset/German Shepherd cross from the SPCA. One year later we got him a companion. We got our lovely purebred basset hound from a breeders in Manitoba, Bonnie & Wayne Seepish (Lonestar Kennels), and the two dogs developed a close bond.

We took the two dogs to manners classes. A year later we got a half brother to our basset hound. With their breeder as inspiration and because we were so smitten with our boys, we began a journey of showing our bassets to their championships and going to obedience trials to earn their obedience titles. The youngest male, Ch Lonestar’s Jesse Barfield, CDX, did very well in obedience and placed 5th in the Hound Group for obedience in Canada in 1991. We were totally in love with basset hounds and were blessed to have a breeder that enjoyed our phone calls and was available for advice. She became a role model for us when we got into breeding.

In 1991, we moved to an acreage with the intention of purchasing our fourth dog, a foundation bitch for our breeding program. Our breeder from Manitoba had no suitable puppies. We learned all we could from basset hound magazines and books. Then we attended the American National Basset Hound show and watched about 500 bassets strut their stuff. We brought our youngest male with us who incidentally won the award for highest score in the obedience trial. We attended the educational sessions and spoke to a few breeders whose type of basset we liked. We used Rachel Elliot’s book Dog Steps as a bible to help us learn about different movement and structure faults.

While we watched the dogs being judged, we sat in front of a lady who all of sudden began clapping and crying at the same time as the best of the non-champions dogs was chosen as Best of Winners. We later learned her name was Dotty Christiansen, and the winner was a dog that she bred called Lil’ Creek Briarcrest Top Gun, who later went on to become a multiple Best In Show champion and who ranked as one of the top bassets in 1991. Dotty was so excited and we had a nice chat with her. We went on to correspond with her to arrange for a suitable foundation bitch for our breeding program

After the Christmas rush, we went to the airport to pick up our new puppy who later became Ch Lil’ Creek Julianne, a full sister to Lil’ Creek Briarcrest Top Gun. Since Juli came into our lives, we have bred a litter or two every year or so. She had small litters mainly of males and her first girl, Ch Bonjovie’s Hot Pepper ROM, wasn’t born until 1997. All of the dogs in our breeding program are descended from this daughter whose call name is Annie. She is a typey red and white bitch, balanced and with lovely movement. Her last litter in 2003 was sired by Am Ch Foxglen Special Forces ROM, and it was a very successful litter.

We got a second foundation bitch, Stoneybluff Crescendo, in 1993 from breeders Ginny and Frank Kovalic in Michigan. From her we had one litter which produced Ch Bonjovie’s Oil Baron (Austin). He was bred to Juli and was the sire of Ch Bonjovie’s Hot Pepper ROM. Both Juli and Austin were sired by the great Am Ch. Hiflite Briarcrest Extra Man ROM who was one of the greatest sires in our breed. The initials ROM mean Register of Merit and is earned by a dog or bitch when they produce a certain number of champions. Canada and the USA have the same criteria for earning a ROM.

We began breeding by using champion studs that had a proven record of producing champions and were related to Juli. Today we only have one male in our pack, Ch Bonjovie’s The Song Man, and we continue to use outstanding studs in line breeding on Am Ch Foxglen Special Forces ROM and his sire, Am Ch Fort Merrill Foxglen Stealer ROM.

We decided early on in our breeding program to only keep the very best in each litter, rather than trying to finish every puppy that was capable of getting his championship. Along the way we were blessed with access to some great breeders and handlers who gave us advice and taught us more about the craft. We follow the ethical standards of the Basset Hound Club of Canada.