Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

I am very happy to report that everyone is growing and thriving. Emma is a wonderful mom and spends almost all her time either nursing or watching over her brood.

At this point she meticulously takes care of all the pup’s hygiene and bathroom needs. Amazing to see if hard to understand, but boy does this give her bad breath! The pups are just starting to open their eyes a bit, but their ears are still closed. They squeak rather than bark when they lose touch with their mom, but they are starting to enjoy group naps after their bellies are full. You almost never find one sleeping alone. They are social animals from the start and always want to be in contact with another puppy or their mom.

Their weights range from 3/4 to 1 and 1/4 pounds. The three females are still the smallest of the group. They are about the size of guinea pigs now. Will send more photos when they start to show more movement and personality. At this time there are two males without deposits. If anyone knows of someone interested in a golden puppy. please have them contact us.

Happy New Year to all our family and friends and clients! I was on call last night in the DR, but did not ring in the first New Year’s baby. In my mind though, there is no better way to start the new year by coming home and spending the day watching our new puppy family. I thought I would showcase our Riley today. She is two years young and in heat. She will be having her hips and elbows XRayed in February to be sure there are no signs of dysplasia. Then eye and heart checks to follow in the Spring. If all is well, then she will be bred with her next heat in early summer. Barb and I share her breeding rights with our mentor Sydney Waller, and Donna Talbot another breeding friend.

In the next eight weeks you will see a lot of pictures of Emma’s pups going forward with their growth and development. So I thought it might be fun to look backward on our Riley’s growth from adult back to puppy. The one shortcoming with this blog is the inability to really show the energy and excitement one of these animals brings to your family life. But I will try and use some photos that hopefully capture Riley’s energetic personality. Riley was around for Emma’s first litter with Solo being the only pup. Now she has an unending curiousity to go downstairs and visit the new litter. We keep her away at this time because of Emma’s protectiveness. Our youngest female, Solo, has never seen a litter of pups, so she is not aware of much difference in our house yet. Like an only child being forced to adjust to another baby brought into the house, however, Riley has been a little over the top with her need for attention and affection. Here she is over the past several days trying to be sure we haven’t forgotten about her. She still thinks she is at times a puppy.

She is one beautiful dog and can be regal at times, and in the next moment full of mischief.She always looks angelic when sleeping.

All goldens love to cuddle and Riley is no exception. The closer to your face the better, and at times it seems they are almost ready to “purr” with pleasure, especially with the added bonus of a tennis ball in their mouths.

Goldens are social animals and not with just people. If exposed at a young age, they get along very easily with other creatures like cats.

At eight weeks of life they have that legendary “golden coat”, but their personalities are somewhat hidden until they feel comfortable in their environment. Here Sydney Waller is doing her conformation and temperment testing before we brought her home.

And here Riley is spending one of her first day’s with us.

Amazing how time does quickly pass. But each day is an adventure and blessing with a golden by your side! I hope this “Riley flashback in time” will raise the level of anticipation for all our friends and clients who are counting down the eight weeks until their own adventures begin.

Stay tuned for more new puppy pictures. All are doing well.