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Tradition Golden Retrievers

Imported European Lineages ~ 28 Yrs Breeding Experience

Litters due February 2025. Reservations are open. Ready to go April/May.

Dedicated to doing the work for overall improvement of the breed. Honesty, integrity, and breeding truly healthy and beautiful puppies that will carry on their positive traits to the future are top priorities. All of my breeding dogs have been health and genetic tested and have generations of health testing in their lineages. Puppies are guaranteed for: Eyes, Heart and Hips to 36 months of age. For a period of time, these tests were done at "breeder day" which was held just once per year, so sometimes the dogs were around 19 - 21 months old, so their test results are in my records and are open for you to review...just ask! In addition, records can also be found with OFA.org. The final test is actual production, so once the dogs start breeding, their offspring must be correct, healthy and sound. If not, then the parent(s) are retired early. As the old saying goes, "The proof is in the progeny." This job is trying financially, mentally, physically and emotionally...but I was born with a big love for dogs and I get tremendous satisfaction when I am able to hand over a beautiful puppy to it's new home. I have bred show-quality alpacas for 28 years, Great Pyrenees (2), AKC English Springer Spaniels (3), AKC Cocker Spaniels (5) and for the last 10+ years AKC English type Golden Retrievers.

What the world needs more of...love sweet love! Ever loving Goldens are so special I think because they are the most selfless, caring, devoted, loving, obedient, confident, eager to please, and patient breed. I am very grateful to those who read this site and decide to support and trust in my work. After working in retail and aerospace and then being a stay at home mom for an amazing son and daughter, I now work full time on my farm raising animals and plants. Know that you will always have my support because this is my only job. There is a bit to read on this site, but my intention is to help people, many who are completely new to dog ownership, and to broaden perspectives.

Great puppies have great parents. Tradition breeding dogs are carefully selected from my own litters (so I can pick the best) and also purchased from other responsible breeders. They must be normal range in all traits...physical/ disposition / temperament / personality, phenotype / genotype, conformation / structure / dentition / bone size/ instincts/ reproduction / breeding behaviors / mothering behaviors / libido and sperm quality for studs / pedigree / coat type. If they don't pass adequately, then they are adopted into pet homes. This process takes significant monetary investment, knowledge and time, but it's part of the commitment and dedication necessary to truly improve the breed. According to the vets, the good news is that nowadays most dogs live long, healthy lives.

Everything needs to be considered in order to perpetuate consistency, health, soundness, beauty and quality in the breed for the future and to produce a dog you'll be very proud and happy to own that will give you years of joy. It's been 150 years since this amazing breed began and anyone who is being 100% honest knows it still needs some dedicated work. I'm serious about improving the breed and only perpetuating genetics from dogs that produce healthy puppies consistently.

No application! We trust your judgement and respect your privacy and do not want to be intrusive. Just please make sure you are ready to own a dog.

Pet Insurance: We recommend that you either utilize the AKC's 30 days free health insurance and consider insuring your dog, or perhaps even better...set up a "Pooch" savings account (about $50 or more per month) on your own. If you choose to save for your dog yourself and the dog ends up not needing it (which is likely) then someday you can buy a new puppy and go on a nice vacation with the money you would have otherwise sent the insurance company. As we know, vet bills can be very expensive, so being prepared is a really good idea.

AKC Registration: All puppies are initially sold with limited registration (offspring cannot be registered). If you desire a puppy from our program for breeding purposes, then you must let us know when you first contact us. We work hard to produce overall quality and want to perpetuate health in the breed, so we will only allow the absolute best from our program to be considered as breeding prospects and we retain some of those as prospects for our own program. The dog must also adequately pass it's preliminary health testing for eyes, heart, hips and elbows and have genetic diagnostic tests done BEFORE I will approve unlimited registration. This ensures only the healthiest pups from my program are used for breeding. Once tests are passed, then you send us the results and a full registration request message and the $500 fee along with the status change form from AKC.

Visitors are welcome and all parents are on site! The dogs will be very happy to meet you so get ready for some Golden hugs! We practice full disclosure and when you visit you get to see where and how we raise the puppies...whelped in the house, then at 3 - 4 weeks old they go to the puppy pen where they have lots of room to run and play. Laura does everything herself, so you get to talk directly to the one person who knows everything about your future puppy.

Please note: All European pedigreed Golden Retrievers (bred to the English breed standard) I have seen have the same collection of champion European lineages. What makes the difference is how the breeder manages their breeding program and supports their customers. Breeders have different reasoning and ways of doing things. Our breeding goals are comprehensive. We do not breed dogs that produce anomalies just to make puppies and sell the healthy ones. We are also working with other breeders to exchange information in order to do more to improve the breed. We support our customers with a three year health guarantee for eyes, hearts and hips.

Once you've owed a Golden you will fall more and more in love with this very loving breed. They LOVE people and they love life! They are a very intelligent, very biddable / easy to train, very eager to please, loyal, brave, devoted, extremely patient, and are very obedient, caring and respectful breed and they take things in stride. They are amazingly wonderful dogs, inside and out.

Since 1997, I have successfully raised show-quality alpacas producing numerous show winners and some champions. I started raising purebred dogs in 2009 with Great Pyrenees from "working lines" and also bred AKC Springer Spaniels and AKC Cocker Spaniels from Champion sires. In 2014, English style AKC Golden Retrievers were added to the farm. I have studied various types of animal breeding. There is a lot more to it than eyes, heart, hips and elbows and genetic testing! Breeding animals with comprehensive goals of overall soundness (form to function), and correct phenotype, disposition and conformation is very challenging work. Breeders must be willing to cull when necessary and must put selection pressure on all of the many traits you want to retain or they could be lost forever and you must select against the few traits that you don't want or you could be stuck with the them forever. Animal breeding is part science and part art.

Picking Your Puppy: The best way to pick a puppy is to to get to know it! So we give you all the time you need to make your choice. You may visit the litters anytime by appointment and you actually pick your puppy on the day you take it home which is after the pre-purchase veterinary exam has been done. You should have the vet exam results before you pick your puppy! (And vet's want to see the puppies as close to eight weeks as possible.) Also, seven to eight weeks of age is when their personalities are just starting to blossom, so you simply don't know what personality you're getting if you pick at a younger age.

Male or Female? Generally speaking, males are devoted and loyal. Females are sweet and precocious. These tendencies relate to the breeding behaviors of each gender. Both are wonderful!

We will work with you to find the best puppy match whether you are looking for a family pet, service / therapy, or that biddable field / hunting companion with the necessary retriever instincts, obedience, controlled energy and athleticism. When you visit us, you will see where and how we raise our puppies and you will get to meet both parents of your puppy.

What is the difference between an American and an English / European Golden Retriever?

1) There is only one Golden Retriever breed in the world and it was originally created and developed in Scotland. Since then, the breed has covered the globe!

2) There are different Breed Standards for the GR breed: American, Canadian, English. Since the lines and standards are different, over many decades the breed developed a bit differently in different parts of the world. The English standard allows for extremes of coat color and is the standard used in Europe, thus some European Goldens have lighter coats, a stockier build and sometimes a calmer demeanor. Some have more drive than others, but all Goldens can be taught to be calm (start early!).

3) "English Cream" is a description, not a breed. Please use caution with anyone who advertises pups bred for coat color as there are dozens more important things to consider when choosing matings. Coat colors generally deepen during the first couple years. A light "cream" puppy can end up a light to medium golden color at 2-3 years old. The off-white puppies will typically stay lighter as adults. There are no pure white Golden Retrievers, nor should there be as it not allowed in the breed standard. Our puppy's colors will range from very light cream / off-white to honey golden coats as adults.

4) Please note: IF YOU WOULD LIKE THE POTENTIAL FOR A LOWER CANCER RATE AND LONGER LIFE SPAN, THEN YOU NEED TO BUY THE PEDIGREE (EUROPEAN lineages...which come in all colors), NOT JUST THE CREAM COLOR. ..."Large" studies in 1998 (US) and 2004 (Europe) on Golden Retrievers indicated longer life (19 mos. on average) and much lower cancer rates (38.8% versus 61.8%) in the European bloodlines. However, our veterinarian told us that these days most Goldens live full lives which is really good news!

Please know that the term "English cream" is a description only (not a breed) based on the English GR breed standard which allows for the much lighter colors and also differs in other ways from the American and Canadian GR breed standards. The lighter colors are a popular trend in recent years and breeders must select for the lighter colors to produce them...hopefully they are still selecting for all of the other more important traits as well. Our Goldens have light cream to medium golden colored coats. Our puppies can range from very light to dark cream and occasionally into the medium golden shades as their adult coats grow in. There are no genetically pure white Golden Retrievers, nor should there be as it goes against the breed standard. They were originally bred to be a hunter's companion and golden colored.

To help your Golden live longer (like they used to) please discuss with your veterinarian about doing spays and neutering later in life, doing as few vaccinations as possible and doing titer testing instead to see if boosters are necessary. Also, a partial raw, or 100% homemade diet can also help your pet live healthier and longer. Note: Only feed raw bones and NO RIB bones. And, for Golden Retrievers, waiting much longer to spay or neuter or not doing it at all can prevent disease and illness according to recent research.

Physical Testing: Eyes, Hearts, Hips and Elbows, recorded with OFA. We have our dogs hip tested using OFA and / or Penn Hip so that we only breed dogs with healthy hip joints. A veterinarian with 40 years of experience told us that tight hips (determined by Penn Hip) is highly heritable and the main factor in healthy hip joints over the life span of the dog. It's also important for breeders to do OFA hip assessments to know the conformation of the hip joint. Owners also need to manage your dog accordingly to avoid joint injuries...just like you would a child. Moderation is key during the first two years of growth.

Please note: There are various types of health testing available and sometimes a dog's results will vary between tests. For example, a dog with OFA fair, or borderline ("indeterminant") preliminary (>12 mos. old) hip results can score better on their final (>24 mos.) test or better than the breed average on a Penn Hip test. And, a dog with an audible heart murmur can pass an echocardiogram test and have a heart with normal structure and flow and be cleared for breeding by the veterinarians. A dog with certain findings on an eye exam can be given a "BO" (breeder option) designation. Suffice to say, ultimately "the proof is in the progeny". Any dog that produces abnormalities in its progeny such as cardiac, renal, craniofacial, or other functional defects described as heritable by a veterinarian, should not continue to be bred, even though it passed GRCA COE (Golden Retriever Club of America Code of Ethics) testing recommendations. The most important thing for breeders to do is commit to only using dogs that test adequately and breed sound.

Individual assessments: We assess our dogs by the breed standards looking for even temperament, amiable dispositions, that eagerness to please, coat type, skin pigmentation, overall conformation (structure), balanced body proportions, head style, dentition, bone size, and movement in all gaits, etc. And we can not emphasize enough about mothering skills, reproductive efficiency, lactation and the weaning process. We let the dams naturally wean their puppies and stay with their litters even beyond eight weeks. Puppies from attentive and caring dams that are weaned gradually and naturally by their dams (not abruptly at 6 weeks) seem so well adjusted and that carries over to their interaction with humans! She teaches the pups "No!" (don't bite me) and "I still love you, but No!" (no more nursing), and (turns around playfully) "I still want to be with you, but the milk bar is closed, so No!", and (kiss, kiss) "You're a good puppy." So, when the puppy goes home with you it is already accustomed to reactions to it's wrong and right behaviors. This is not to say that the dam does the breeder's job of socializing, but the dam play's a crucial role as the puppy's first teacher...if she possesses good mothering skills and is allowed to stay with her litter! This makes our job of initially teaching the puppy what humans expect of it so much easier and most importantly less confusing and stressful for the young and very impressionable puppy.

Genetic Diagnostic Testing: Paw Print Genetics / Neogen Canine Health Check: Identifies markers for heritable conditions (known in the breed and with identifiable gene marker tests available) and carrier, affected or clear status which allows breeders to choose to produce puppies that are not affected and not carriers, so eventually, certain health conditions can be completely eliminated from the breed...if all breeders make these breeding choices.

OFA.org: Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (see OFA.org). Wiki page for OFA is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthopedic_Foundation_for_Animals

K9data.com: Web site for keeping track of Retriever pedigrees and also calculates coefficient of inbreeding (COI) and provides other data.

Early Neurological Stimulation - Carefully and gently done from three days old to 16 days old according to instructions in the book "Canine Reproduction and Neonatology" by Marthina L. Greer, DVM, JD.

VOLHARD Behavior Testing: We're happy to do this by request and have done this testing on four breeds of dogs. Goldens always score in the middle ranges...always. Just let us know if you would like to do this testing with your puppy and we'll do it together because it requires that a puppy be at least seven weeks old and does not know the tester. Through our years of experience, we find that at just eight weeks of age Golden puppies consistently either tend more toward a people-pleasing disposition..."Hey, what can I do for you?"or being adventurous with the "Hey, let's go explore!" attitude. Many more personality traits will blossom in your puppy even after eight weeks. How you raise your puppy will teach it how to act. Start as soon as you get that pup home and remain consistent. The more you teach it, the better it will behave and the deeper your pup will bond with you.

My job experience is retail and aerospace, then going on twenty-eight years carefully breeding award-winning registered alpacas, and over 16 years breeding canines starting with Great Pyrenees (2 dogs) and then English Springer Spaniels (3 dogs) before switching to American Cocker Spaniels (3 dogs) and Golden Retrievers (a pack!). Laura has also bred poultry, rabbits and goldfish since starting farming.

If you purchased a puppy and would like to do a Google review, that would be very helpful and much appreciated! If you were not 100% satisfied...Laura is always here for you and please get in touch!!!

I have a WA state business license for the farm (WA sales tax should be applied to all puppy sales) and a kennel permit with the county (requires annual on-site inspection by the sheriff's office).

Thank you for visiting! Visitors are welcome - Please contact to make an appointment. We look forward to meeting you and getting to know each other on your quest for a wonderful Golden addition to your life!

TO RESERVE YOUR PUPPY:

Reservations can be made any time. A $500 deposit is required to hold your puppy reservation and your position in the pick order. You can visit the litter any time by appointment. Puppies are examined by a veterinarian at seven to eight weeks of age and we do picks on the day you take your puppy home. This way you know the vet report before you choose!

INCLUDED WITH YOUR PUPPY:

Three Year Health Guarantee for heart, hips and eyes.

Fair, two page sales contract.
AKC Registration (Limited).
AKC Sponsored 30 days free health insurance.
AKC Reunite Microchip and sign-up form.
Beginning handling, socializing, and training daily.
Dewormed regularly (pryantel pamoate and / or fenbendazole).
First vaccination (1 DAPPv).
Detailed veterinary exam at 8 weeks with report for each puppy.
And our on-going support for as long as you need it!

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." -Anatole France

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