Cuteness Achieved!

We have a couple cuties available! Out of Zoey and Firelight, born April 20, 2023, and ready to work, play, and PLAY!

Give us a call at 269-591-1281 for more info

Pretty Pretty Princess

We currently have one petite princess available. She is out of Zoey and Firelight. This sweetheart was born April 20, 2023 and is ready for furever with your fam!

Give us a call at 269-591-1281 for more info

IABCA in Kokomo, IN

Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go down to Kokomo… We’ll get there fast (barring construction)…

We headed down to Kokomo(, Indiana) last weekend for a show with IABCA. As a breeder, it is invaluable to us to receive critiques on each dog by 5 different judges. More perspectives and more opinions from professional judges always helps us make better breeding decisions.

Plus, it's always great to get out and meet other dog owners who are as enthusiastic about the breed as we are!

This sweetheart passed her Canine Good Citizen last weekend as well. Wahoo!

Raising Your Puppy

By seven weeks, we are training your puppy that potty happens in the litter box or outside. Your puppy has been raised since birth with a clean home. Mom kept them clean in the beginning and the humans provided a nice cozy nest separate from the potty, eventually transitioning to the dog door.

Our puppies potty train very quickly, most families report reliability within three days using the bell method taught in the training book we provide. During our appointment we always take time to talk about potty training successfully.

Enjoy the following video of one of our litters managing their potty location at a very young age.

Tara & Bach Repeat Litter!

Tara & Bach Repeat Litter!

  • Parents have been extensively health tested

    • Pennhip tested twice

    • Echocardiogram by cardiologist twice

    • Elbow xrays with CT scans after two

    • Eyes annually by ophthalmologist

    • Thyroid annually starting at two

    • Genetic testing done - no affected

  • Puppies are thoroughly socialized by being raised in our home, handled by a variety of people (including small children), using The Rule Of Seven, and more

  • Puppies go home after 8 weeks of age and the 2nd set of vaccinations (schedule varies)

  • Puppies are started on litter around 3 weeks of age and dog door trained starting around 5 weeks of age - this early potty training makes it easier for our families and typically have success within 3 days

  • This repeat litter has older siblings with championships and fantastic health testing

    Older Siblings- 2019 Litter

Why Pennhip Over OFA Hip Scores?

As many of you know, there are two hip scoring systems widely used for dogs in the US: PennHIP and OFA. Both use radiography (X-rays) of the hip joint to measure ‘dysplasia’. Dysplasia is simply a looseness or ‘laxity’ in the hip joint which allows the hip bone to rub back and forth against the cartilage of the joint. This rubbing flattens the end of the hip bone and erodes the cartilage making the hip joint shallower, which inevitably leads to osteoarthritis as the dog ages. Hip dysplasia and its eventual arthritis are one of the most common health problems in most large dog breeds (including Golden Retrievers.)

(A formatting note: every link in brackets like this: [0] is a link to a scientific paper on the topic. We really wanted to get this right, and spent a lot of time researching and organizing our conclusions. Hopefully we can help the next person spend a bit less effort and put all the data at their fingertips.)

PennHIP vs. OFA

So if both PennHIP and OFA use radiography to measure hip joint laxity, why would we choose one over the other? What’s the difference? Well, there are two main differences between the two methods:

  1. OFA uses a single radiographic view: a stretched hip-extended view. PennHIP uses three views: the same hip-extended view, plus two in a neutral, natural position with hip joints gently compressed and ‘distracted’ (pulled into tension.)

  2. They score the hip differently. OFA uses a panel of three radiologists looking at the hip-extended view, and voting on how good they think it looks (taking into account any arthritic damage, the depth of the socket, and how well-seated the ‘ball’ at the end of the thigh bone is) on a somewhat subjective Excellent-Poor scale. PennHIP uses a subjective judgement of arthritic damage (like OFA) but for the depth and seating of the ball uses an objective measurement: how far the ball slides in/out of the socket between the compressed and distracted view.

Why does PennHIP use three views? And is there any downside to the additional views?

Different radiographic views have different advantages. The hip-extended view tends to show the damage from osteoarthritis well; the legs are flexed out of the way, and you can see spalling and deterioration of the joint clearly. As such, it’s a natural method to measure the progression of arthritis. However, we now know that the stressed hip-extended position minimizes hip laxity on the X-ray [1], with less than half the visible laxity of neutral position X-rays of the same dog [2, 3]. This makes expert subjective hip ratings like OFA vary significantly on the same hip-extended radiograph [4, 5], and makes them less heritable [6].

The PennHIP DI on the other hand is objective, much more heritable [7], has very good repeatability between experts [8], and most importantly is actually a good predictor for degenerative joint disease in the future [9]. It’s simply a better tool for a breeder focused on hips. This is clear to us from the evidence and many other prgorams are switching to PennHIP. In fact, the largest hip-focused breeding program in the US (from the service dog organization Seeing Eye Dog) has also switched to PennHIP after generations of OFA-breeding [7].

There are two notable downsides to PennHIP. First, it requires that a dog be fully sedated to improve radiographic accuracy. That impacts the dog’s liveliness for a day or two. We’ve seen no significant side effects other than that, though there’s always the possibility of rare side effects to sedation. Second, it costs significantly more. Between the additional training needed for PennHIP vets, the extra time required to do more radiographic views, and the extra sedation required it can easily cost twice as much. For our program, the improvement in accuracy and reliability is absolutely worth it.

Don't take our word on it. Read the research! Talk to a vet who does both OFA and PennHIP!

We are thrilled to offer links to published and peer reviewed scientific studies about pennhip and we also encourage everyone to speak with any veterinarian who does both pennhip and OFA about the positives and negatives about each. Every one we’ve ever spoken to strongly favors PennHIP; they know how much more clear the X-Rays they get are.

Interested in a puppy from parents with some of the best hips in the world?

Check out our current and upcoming litters at our Puppies page!

Too busy to read through all the studies we linked? Here are some choice quotes:

Seeing Eye Dog Involved In >10,000 Dog Pennhip Study
“Among 116 GRs evaluated in generation 8, mean DI decreased to 0.40.” Compare this to the international mean of 0.54.

Evaluation of the relationship between Orthopedic Foundation for Animals' hip joint scores and PennHIP distraction index values in dogs

"CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Dogs judged as phenotypically normal by the OFA harbored clinically important passive hip joint laxity as determined via distraction radiography. Results suggested that OFA scoring of HE radiographs underestimated susceptibility to osteoarthritis in dogs, which may impede progress in reducing or eliminating hip dysplasia through breeding."

PennHIP more than “complementary” to FCI hip screening method

"All EMDs in the FCI grade “A” grouping were shown to have hip laxity by PennHIP distraction index to be greater than 0·3, the biological threshold above which hips are at risk for later development of osteoarthritis (OA) of CHD. We found similar results in our study of OFA hip scoring in the USA. Of the dogs given the best hip score, “OFA Excellent”, 56 per cent were found to have hip laxity greater than 0.3 and thus at risk for OA (Fordyce and others 2000)."

Estimation of Heritabilities

"Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Establishment of a selection index that makes use of breeding values jointly estimated from the DI, DLS score, NA, and EHR score should enhance breeding programs to reduce the incidence of hip dysplasia in dogs."

Genetic Control of Canine Hip Dysplasia

"To avoid the potential problems associated with inbreeding and extreme selection, a moderate approach has been suggested in conjunction with PennHIP® testing, particularly in breeds with few or no members having tight (degenerative joint disease–unsusceptible) hips."

Socializing Puppies!

Introducing our Socialization and Guardian Programs!

We are thrilled to be working with Family Raised Goldens to offer two new programs for wonderful families considering getting a puppy. These programs give them an opportunity to keep one of our hand-picked cream of the crop puppies. We have occasional opportunities for these programs; contact us if you’re interested!

Socialization Families 

What is a Puppy Socialization Family?

  1. Someone who takes care of one special, hand-picked puppy for two or more weeks at a time.

  2. The family pets, touches, socializes, and generally loves on this puppy while we’re running tests to determine it’s best career; these puppies are usually being considered for either a breeding or service position if all their tests come back with flying colors.

Why would you want to be one of our Socialization Families?

  1. You may be interested in playing with and snuggling some of the best puppies the breed has to offer.

  2. You might want a dog, but be unsure about how well it would fit into your life and family; this program lets you give it a trial run with a phenomenal puppy. 

  3. You may like being part of something great, helping us socialize the next generation of Golden Retrievers with some of the best hips in the Golden Retriever breed.

Guardian Families

Those of you interested in keeping one of these dogs long term should consider our new Guardian Program. We’re partnering with families who want one of our best dogs as a full loving family member. They get to keep and love on one of our carefully selected breeding dogs until it’s retired from our program… at which point the dog becomes theirs! Win win win.

Why would you be interested in becoming one of our Guardian Homes?

  1. If you’d like one of the best and healthiest dogs in the world as a pet.

  2. If you’d like to be an integral part of breeding the next, better generation of Golden Retriever.

Contact Us About Our Guardian Program!

If you are interested in participating in our Socialization Program (keeping special puppies for a few weeks to months) or participating in our Guardian Program (keeping one of our cream-of-the-crop dogs permanently), please give us a call!

Beautiful Daphne

Miss Daphne

Happy In Her Home

  • Born August 25th, 2019

  • Out of Mara and Bach

  • Microchipped

  • Fully vaccinated and examined four times by vet

  • Dewormed regularly (clear fecals)

  • Treated monthly for fleas, ticks, and heartworm starting at eight weeks

  • Puppy Culture raised with ENS

  • Basic clicker training

  • Parents pennhip tested, elbows CT scanned, hearts clear, and eyes clear

  • Parents genetically tested and clear for over 165 diseases

Mara's Fall Puppies!

Welcome Fall Pups!

While we won't be giving them pumpkin spice lattes, these little pups will be able to enjoy the coming fall with us!

 
 

  • During these first two weeks the puppies will be kept in a quiet and dark place. Their eyes and ears are continuing to develop.

  • Starting at 2 weeks of age these puppies will have a novel experience each day (Puppy Culture). Early experience will be things like soft toys, water bottles, and other gentle stimulation.

  • Starting at 3 weeks they will experience more noisy experiences including different types of music, frequent close vacuum noises, and piano floor mats.

  • By week 4 puppies will be introduced to a litter box and start taking soft treats. They will also be introduced to a platform and a small slide.

  • At 5 to 6 weeks they will start playing with the wobble board and we will be on our way to an automatic sit (manding). We will continue practicing with treats and work on toy/treat exchanges (resource guarding).

  • During their 6th week, they will get their first examination and set of vaccines by the vet. We will make this a happy experience by using treats and making sure everyone has a great impression of the vet!

  • During the 7th week we will continue to work on preventing resource guarding, automatic sit, and introduce kennels for going in and out of.

  • Week 8! The week our families are waiting for! Puppies will receive their 2nd vet exam and 2nd set of vaccines administered by the vet. Families will be scheduled starting the day after to come get their puppy! Families should plan to spend 2 to 3 hours watching the training demo and choosing their puppy.

Bach, The Man

Bach Is Our Sweetheart

Bach is out of Simon and Nola. He is the best male from his litter. If you are looking for a proven male with an exceptional temperament, check out our fella Bach!

  • Pennhip, 0.30 (TOP 3%)

  • Proven stud

  • Exceptional temperament

  • Elbows, prelims clear

  • Cardiac, normal

  • Eyes, normal

  • Genetic testing, clear of over 165 diseases (icth, pra1, pra2, pra-prcd, dm, md, and ncl)

  • 269-591-1281 for more information

  • Available for approved ladies

Call Or Text 269-591-1281

Tara Puppies Get 2nd Vet Exam

Tara And Bach’s Puppies Are Getting Ready To Go!

They spent the morning playing out front and getting into the mud, then each had their heart and breathing checked by the vet, and their final vaccines administered. They took the shots like a champ; no Kennel Cough or Coccidea for our little puppers!

We still have a couple of pups left; if you’re interested in this amazing litter, check it out over at our:

Your Puppy’s Health Check!

Puppies And Testing

When people come to us for a puppy, they often come with stories about their last dog. Too often it’s a tragedy. Sometimes, they had to put the dog down because of early and crippling arthritis. Others have paid thousands of dollars for joint replacements— only for the dog to never recover full function or a pain-free life. One family recently had to say goodbye to their new puppy before the age of two, due to an undiagnosed heart defect.

Our mission is to keep that tragedy from happening to your family.

Devon snuggling with Tara

This is the introduction of a series of five posts on different aspects of your dog’s long-term health. While we obviously can’t guarantee that your puppy will always be disease-free, this blog series will detail what we do as breeders to keep you and your newest family member happy and healthy for as many years as possible.

Your part?

Your part is to ask the questions. If you don’t know the answer it is likely that many others don’t as well. Please ask us. We will do our very best to answer.

  1. Cardiac Testing

  2. Embark Genetic Testing

  3. PennHIP Testing

  4. Eye Testing

  5. Thyroid Testing

Puppies Playing