Caya Krijnse Locker
Clk to enlarge -- Caya Krijnse Locker
Caya Krijnse Locker is gone and my world is under a pall which may recede in time but shall never be entirely absent. We met in the spring of 1984, at a combined work and show competition in the Netherlands, on my first European excursion with Eric Houttuin. Over the next four decades she and Goos were to become friends and mentors, provide Bouviers young and old, wisdom and council.
She passed away from cancer in Loosdrecht (The Netherlands) on August 7, 2025. She had been born on April 4, 1956 in Noordgouwe. She is survived by her husband and partner for so many years Goos Visser, also one of my oldest and dearest friends to whom I extend my deepest sympathy.
Caya was friend and confidant for over forty years because I could see from the beginning that she more than anybody else in Europe was breeding Bouviers the right way. She was going to the old Dutch lines and using at stud the best KNPV males, that is strong but also with an eye to correct structure. Her dogs, Donar of Ria Klep and the Bowles lines were our foundation. We tried some of the soft coated grey Dutch show lines but abandoned them because we could see that they just would not work.
In the early 1990s I sought her help in finding a young male with prey and object drive, so necessary on the Schutzhund field. Within months I flew to Holland to bring home Iran Xandra van Kaya's Home who became transformative in our own breeding program.
Caya stands tall among revered historical ranks of Bouvier advocates, breeders and leaders such as Verbanck, Chastel, Bowles and Semler. Such words are not to be bandied about casually and there can be little doubt that she is the leading figure of the post Chastel era.
Her loss of leaves a void in the Bouvier world that can never be filled, marks the end of an era. May she rest in peace, for her noble work is done.