About Us
Arcadia is a small hobby breeder run by myself, Kelsey Sheehan, and my husband Barton Huber. I love all spaniel breeds, but Field Spaniels have a special place for me.
My interest came from devouring books about spaniels as a kid. I grew up with a Cocker Spaniel and was fascinated by how the breed came to be. In reading about them I discovered old pictures of the first cockers. Though I admire the modern version of the Cocker, I was thoroughly enamored with this classic, old type spaniel I kept seeing in books--I thought they were some of the most beautiful dogs I'd ever seen. At the time I did not know that a breed similar to this old, classic type still existed. That breed is the Field Spaniel.
I came to love Field Spaniels because they represent the quintessential spaniel that can do it all, unexaggerated and utilitarian, with a loyalty and merry spirit that makes a spaniel what they are. My husband Barton and I have opened our home and hearts to these dogs and have never looked back.
Arcadia started in 2010 with our first Field Spaniel, Rowan. We finished his championship title together and went on to pursue more. We are now home to a small pack of Field Spaniels that we show primarily in AKC conformation and dabble in performance such as tracking, rally, barn hunt, and more. We are not a kennel, but a regular home filled with love and dedicated to a high quality of life for our dogs. Our dogs have full house privileges, sleep in our beds, have a fenced yard where they hang out and sun themselves, and go everywhere with us.
Our goal at Arcadia is to produce wonderful companions with steady, friendly temperaments that you can enjoy with your family just as much as we enjoy ours. We want to breed dogs with a solid background of health testing, while keeping in mind longevity and other conditions that cannot yet be tested for. We are preservation breeders of this rare breed, meaning we are stewards that strive to maintain this breed for future generations.
Over the past several years that I’ve been involved in the breed, I’ve had the fortune to be mentored by other very successful breeders in our breed who have bred multiple Best In Show winning dogs, National Specialty winners, Master and Senior Hunter titlists, group placing dogs, and other performance titlists, among others. These include Sonya Haskell of Pemberley Field Spaniels, where we got our first Field Spaniel Rowan, Karen Balinski of Killara Field Spaniels, where we got our two Field Spaniel girls, Willow and Prim, Nichole Dooley Bunch of SandsCape Field Spaniels, and Laura Scott of Saltmarshe Field Spaniels. I am very grateful for the education and help I’ve received from all of these dedicated breeders. We can only hope to build a solid foundation for our breeding program upon the wealth of knowledge from others.
What does Arcadia mean?
My degree is in English and I’ve always loved to read and write. The name Arcadia came from one of my favorite books, "Flush" by Virginia Woolf, which is about the relationship between poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her cocker spaniel Flush. The author Virginia Woolf also owned a cocker spaniel, so she understood how special spaniels are to those who love them. Browning suffered from severe depression and illness, but her life changed when her friend gave her Flush, a bright and merry spaniel who inspired her with his loving spirit. As Flush chased after rabbits and birds, ears flying and carefree, he reminded her of Pan, the furry God of the fields and woodlands who lives in Arcadia, the fabled countryside of Greek myth. Browning was no longer confined by her fears or her illness,and found that if she could live with even a little bit of the joy that her dog had, she could find peace. His unconditional companionship motivated her to live her own life, leave her sickbed, go out, to write and explore. The dogs inspire me in the same way each day, and challenge me to push my boundaries and strive for goals. My wish is to live simply, surrounded by family and my animals, like that vision of country paradise in Arcadia. So that is why I thought Arcadia fit my vision for our kennel name.
