History

The Breed had its renaissance in Britain thanks to the work, time and money put in by Mollie and Bill Yates. The Club owes a great debt of gratitude to them both.

Their first interest in the breed was in 1980 whilst showing Great Danes abroad. After many trips visiting kennels across Europe Molly and Bill first imported stock into the UK in 1986 adding the first of many Kooikers to their Valleyrise kennel. They eventually had a number of bitches of differing breeding lines. The first 5 were all imported from Holland and they also had 5 stud dogs. This gave them a broad base from which to breed. Eventually they had 15 dogs and bitches.

Mollie sadly died on February 28th 1994 when she was only 69. Her death from cancer was followed too soon by her husband Bill. At the time of their deaths, the family disbanded the kennel which caused an inevitable set back for the breed in the UK. This meant that the club struggled for a number of years to re-establish the breed.

In recent years a number of new stock from varying lines are arriving on these shores. One of Mollie’s relatives, Claire Johnson, has now joined us to work for the future. The UK benefited from two new Danish members who are now living in the UK and brought stock from Denmark .

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