Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

Emma is our beautiful four year old female. She has a very quiet and calm personality that matches her mother Abby. Surprisingly she is also the most alpha of our females but only demonstrates this when around our other goldens who are younger and more mischievous. She just started her heat this week.

Despite her Hollywood looks she hasn’t had much success in the breeding department so far. Our first efforts with her a year and a half ago resulted in a single female puppy. Solo is her daughter’s name and she lives with us. Solo happens to be in heat now also, but she has to have her conformation testing before she can become a mom. Solo’s father, Magic, died of cancer soon after Solo’s birth. He was owned by Barbara Biewer and Claudette Beaulieu, two very experienced and well known breeders in the New England area.

This past year we bred Emma to a magnificent male named Mulder owned by Berna Welch. His pedigree includes being the best of show winner of Westminster in 2004. Unfortunately, she did not conceive that time.

She has since had a negative infertility workup with a highly respected fertility vet, Dr. Anne Huntington, from the Suffield Veterinary Hospital. So with no significant litter results thus far, we decided to do artificial insemination with fresh and possibly frozen sperm from Mulder. He has sired a remarkable number of champions all over the country so the issue lies with our Emma. She has her first doctor’s appointment this weekend and the upcoming schedule will be planned. The one significant issue for us is the distance Mulder lives away from us. Berna is a four hour drive each way out on the Cape. She has been extremely gracious and generous to let us have her champion golden for the two days upcoming while the insemination takes place.

The results of our labors we hope will be successful, with the outcomes being top of the line puppies having great looks, personality, and heritage. Say a prayer for Emma and stay posted on her upcoming adventure.

Recently a friend called us and wanted to know if we had any photos of her sons at our home with our dogs. Back then her children were in high school and now they are in their mid twenties. After rumaging around on two computers and multiple discs I was able to find some. What a treat for that mom.

Taking photos was a hobby that started with the first of our goldens. Back then there were no computer cards, digital cameras, and photo software programs, and it was a laborious task to scan a photo, get it resized properly, and then add it to an email attachment. With each of our litters there has been a daily puppy photo that went out to our family, friends, and clients. I have to thank my interest and skills to the encouragement and mentoring of my Aunt Grace and Uncle Phil. My earliest memories of childhood have both of them with their movie camera recording every family gathering and occasion. They still have all of those tapes in organized fashion of all members of our extended family. They make wonderful momentos at modern events when a flashback of us as kids makes our children laugh and laugh.

Fortunately life in the photo world has become much simpler. When Celeste was designing our website, I handed over to her about 10 zip discs (which are now obsolete) and other photo logs from all our litters. She was able to pore over them and make some great choices about which images would showcase our dogs best. Despite those thousands of images, I still have a number of favorites that bring me back to those almost perfect moments in time years ago. Most of those key photos have to do with children and puppies. A perfect match that highlights the happiness, goodness, and energy of those early years in our lives. Here are a few noteworthy ones that I thought everyone would enjoy…

Just to show how quickly the passage of time has gone, here is a photo from our yard a year ago. Some of those same youngsters are now teenagers. Amazing how quickly pups and kids grow up.

In our neighborhood, we are now into the third generation of children with our own being the first. Of course that makes us the “old ones” on our block.There still is nothing that draws children to our yard as much as having a bunch of goldens in the front, especially if a litter is out playing. What a treat for all.

Maybe the only thing better than having a golden retriever in your life is sharing life with two of them! Similar to people, dogs are calmer and better behaved when life is shared with one of their kind rather than just experienced by oneself. We have all heard if not seen the situation where a younger dog revitalizes an older dog’s life when added to a home. The lovely photos that Ron and Barb sent of their Emma and Sandy are great examples of golden’s bonding. (See the prior post under Client Stories/ Photos).

I thought I would share with our readers some of the more close to home moments when having a friend makes all the difference in the day. Of course I realize that not many people have the space, time, money, and tolerance for dog hair that another golden brings to your life as well. But as an observer in a house overrun with goldens, these moments make you pause, think, and smile.

The dogs and I had a splendid escape from suburbia this past weekend by spending some time in the mountainsides of Vermont. The fall foliage has not yet peaked. Most of the colors were dappled yellows, greens, and browns that caused the dogs coats to blend in well with their surroundings.

The hunting instincts of the breed came to the foreground as they all enjoyed running down the rabbit and field mice burrows in the meadows. Fortunately the much larger wildlife was absent. Last fall my son saw a black bear and its cub meandering down our driveway. That is a little too large an animal on our property to my liking. Of course, they were here first!

For those who not familiar with our dog family, here is the background on our present family. Lily is our eight year old and one of Abby’s first pups. She is laid back and plays aunt to the younger goldens. Emma is our four and a half year old and is due to be bred with her upcoming heat this October. Riley is a year and three quarters young and is an offspring of Emma’s sister Ella. Ella resides in Hebron, CT. Solo is one and a half years old and the only offspring of Emma to date.

Both Riley and Solo will be getting their clearances for breeding when they turn two years old. It is striking to see the effects of the genetics on the shape and size of our females from the oldest to the youngest. It is clearly obvious how important choosing the proper male is when you are breeding not only for temperament, but for coat, color, and configuration. All four of our present females have had different fathers.
– Mike

Emma and Sandy: Sisters and Best Friends

Barb and I really enjoy seeing photos of our dogs enjoying life and having adventures. My first cousin, Ron, and his wife, Barbara take their two goldens everywhere and send us their pictures. Emma was from our first litter and Sandy from the second. As you can see they are inseparable and are seemingly world travelers.

And they have certainly grown from when Ron and Barb first came to visit their litters. (Click on the photos to make them larger). And what would a golden retriever be without a tennis ball nearby… for play or for a mouthguard. Barb and I would love to share other adventures with our readers if anyone wishes to make their dog a star for a day.