Sections
Connect
Tonya Jonkheer (left) is shown with her daughter, Hannah, and their Cocker Spaniels.
For TONYA JONKHEER, not one, but two, of her Cocker Spaniels have won awards at the crème-de-la-crème of show dog competitions: the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
In February, her dog Stokely received an Award of Merit, and last year, her pup Georgia on My Mind won Best Cocker Spaniel, Parti-Color.
“I am so excited that my dogs were recognized at Westminster,” Jonkheer says. “I can count on one hand how many people have qualified for Westminster, but to have qualified twice with two different dogs, that’s spectacular.”
Jonkheer has been smitten with the breed since eighth grade when she bought a black-and-white Cocker Spaniel puppy. In the ensuing years, her passion for them has only grown.
“Cocker Spaniels have everything you want in a dog in one small package,” she says. “They are beautiful, they want to please and love you, and they can pretty much do anything – hunt, be a show dog, do agility, or lay on your lap.”
Jonkheer, who is also the owner of Eastwood Grooming in Wilmington, has devoted her life to dogs. She spends hours studying her dogs’ pedigrees, obtaining the best training for them, taking them to the many competitions necessary to qualify for Westminster, grooming them, getting them health tested, and ensuring they are happy.
She says it is all worth it when one of her dogs wins at Westminster.
“I know I did right by my breed and by my dogs,” Jonkheer says. “If they deserve to be there, then they should be. I want to do them justice.”
The master breeder is just as committed to grooming, giving the dogs in her care the latest “’dos” in dog fashion as well as ensuring their coats are well cared for. Consequently, show dog owners of all types of dog breeds bring their canine stars to her for grooming, as do owners of beloved pets who do no more than cuddle on the couch.
Though Jonkheer considered retiring a few years ago, that idea was scuttled when her daughter, Hannah, talked her out of it. It seems Hannah Jonkheer shares her mother’s love of all things dogs. Consequently, she learned dog grooming under her mother’s tutelage and will inherit the business. Hannah Jonkheer is also a fixture on the dog show circuit, grooming and handling dogs as they compete on their way to Westminster.
One of their goals is for Hannah Jonkheer to be in the ring at Westminster next year.
They have kept the grooming business on the smaller size to focus on quality.
“I like to keep it intimate,” Tonya Jonkheer says. “I don’t want to hand a dog off to someone I don’t know or trust for grooming. I don’t want people I don’t know doing my friends’ dogs.”
To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.
Want more WILMA? Click here to sign up for our WILMA newsletters and announcements.
Get WILMA Emails
Contact Us
Advertise
Find a Copy
About WILMA
Archives
© 2025 WILMA magazine.