Meet The Breeder

Getting To Know Your Breeder

__________________________________

The thought of RedWind Retrievers began when I started my new job at a Dog Daycare. I was incredibly excited to be able to work with dogs and learn how to train and understand their behavior.

Within my first month at the job, I met an English Cream named "Cooper". Cooper was the first ever Golden Retriever I had actually seen (I had rarely seen them on the television, let alone in person). Safe to say, Cooper pushed me into a whole new world.

Cooper was hectic, I learned that quite fast. Whenever I attached the little radio onto my belt, he would distract me by asking for head pats and then he would dive in for the radio - immediately snatching it from my belt loops. He would prance around the dog park, proudly wagging his tail like he had just won Best in Show. If bottles and rags were left on the fence(s), they would inevitably end up in his mouth. Though it was frustrating at times, I fell in love enough to start the search for my own Golden Retriever.

As luck would have it, I was able to start communication with a family who had one last male available in their litter. I had already decided that his name would be Atlas. When I first met him at three weeks of age, I already knew that I absolutely had to take him home with me - And so our long life journey began together approximately five weeks later.

Just like Cooper, Atlas loved to put everything into his mouth. Sticks, cords, rocks, plants, and mud always made it into his mouth one way or another. As a few weeks went by, he discovered that he really loved putting socks and other articles of clothing in his mouth. One too many times he ended up greeting the neighbor with some sort of clothing item. Eventually, I ended up getting confused as socks started to go missing. Atlas was literally eating my socks.

I felt as if I had taken a bigger bite than I could chew. It was definitely frustrating at times, but I remembered that was the reason why I had fallen in love with the breed in the first place.

As months passed, Atlas calmed down to the point to where I thought I had accidentally switched dogs. When he was around ten months of age, I really started digging into his background and immersed myself into the world of the American Kennel Club (AKC). I quickly discovered my love for watching Dog Shows (though if you had told me a year prior that I was interested in Dog Shows I would have told you that you were crazy).

I started taking the AKC's free "Breeder Education" courses and took notes on whelping, studding, health care, and emergency issues. I even took the Pet First Aid Certification through the Red Cross. This is when I was really starting to get into the research and knew that I wanted to start my own career in Dog Breeding and Competition.

At this point I had sifted through hundreds of websites from other Golden Retriever breeders. Digging through websites really helped me in understanding the world of titles, competitions, health testing, contracts, and so much more. I was lucky enough in my search to come across the lovely Kim Cain of Mystic Goldens. She really helped me put the cost, time, and care that breeding took into perspective, and for that I will forever be grateful.

Kim is joining me in my journey of becoming a reputable Golden Retriever breeder as my mentor. She has told me time and time again that you never stop learning as a breeder. "None of us EVER stop learning. If we do, we are doing something wrong."

I sincerely hope that my program can not only

better the Golden Retriever breed, but also bring joy to families who are seeking an incredible companion. I hope to give families the same joy of owning a Golden Retriever that I have been so blessed to feel.