Despite her father disapproval, her mother was pure dog lover and Yvonne was into dogs since childhood. However her life has taken another turn when she became involved with the Greater Swiss Mountain dog in 2004. A year later she had imported the second swissy - a bitch from Switzerland, who had inspired Yvonne to aim for the highest standards and so in 2006 kennel ‘van de Dovondolin’ was found. To date Yvonne has bred 11 litters, her kennel is famous for dogs’ longevity, physical and emotional strong dogs and is looked up to in Europe and the US.  

Why does one want to breed? For Yvonne it was because of the love for the breed, she challenged herself to set a high standard while preserving the type and to make families happy with a loving family pet. She truly believes that a stamp breeder puts on a dogs life is significant, therefore early socialisation and basic obedience are both top priorities for Yvonne once a litter is born.

Yvonne has attended quite a few courses on breeding, behaviour and dogs over the years and continues to educate herself. Her current focus is on better understanding of structure and movement.

While being constantly involved in a show dog world, in 2016 she had the great honour to be the breeder-judge of the American Greater Swiss Mountain dog club’s event of the year, the Top 20 Show.

At the moment Yvonne owns 5 swissies. All dogs have done obedience training, dog show training and regularly accompany her to work. Having acknowledged herself with various different training methods, with every new dog Yvonne is constantly on the search for the ultimate recipe that works best for that particular dog. She strongly believes that despite being all the same breed, every single dog is different and deserves his own approach in handling and training.