Breeding Philosophy

I carefully select a stud dog that comes from healthy lines, with excellent Golden Retriever temperament and beautiful conformation. Superior health and temperament are the traits I breed for, but I don’t believe in breeding a dog that isn’t also an excellent example of the breed standard.

I use Jane Killion’s Puppy Culture protocol with all of my puppies and can be found on their world wide map of breeders. This puppy training method is designed to take full advantage of the natural intelligence and developmental capacity that puppies have from birth through 8 weeks and means that your puppies will come to you with a great head start! Check out their website for more info if you’re curious.

Golden Retrievers belong with people, and our adults and pups are born in our home surrounded by people (and 2 friendly cats), and will stay in our home until they go to their new families. I will not kennel my dogs or ship puppies. Puppies must be picked up from our home in Great Falls, Virginia.

I will keep a journal about each puppy as they develop, noting stories of their escapades that give clues about their temperament so that you can know some of what I know about each puppy when they go home with you. Each puppy will go home with a puppy packet with instructions, and a blanket that will come from the litter. They will be de-wormed with all their initial vaccinations.

Temperament testing will be done by me and an outside professional. We will give you as much information as possible about your puppy and his or her patterns of behavior so you will “know” your puppy a bit when he or she goes home with you. We want each puppy and family to be the perfect fit for each other.

When filling out the puppy questionnaire, please be as candid as possible about your lifestyle and wishes for your new family member. This will help us ensure that you and your puppy are a good match.