 Remi (front) & Rudi (back) Here are a few pics from the last few months of Rudi and Remi. The beach shot is from our vacation in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It's their happy place. Rudi is our big guy at about 80 lbs and Remi is the little prince at about 72 lbs. They continue to be an inseparable duo and they crack us up constantly with their antics. Rudi is still an Olympic level swimmer and spends probably two hours a day (minimum!) doing laps in our pool. Remi is a little less obsessed with the pool but he's entirely obsessed with Rudi, so he's the lifeguard running around the pool and watching Rudi go. They continue to learn each other's tricks which is really sweet to watch. They both remain total food-hounds and have started to take turns reminding us when dinner time is by coming up to us, sitting, and staring from about 4 inches away from our faces. They are currently working on a campaign to have their dinner moved an hour earlier. We have remained strong but they are wearing us down. Haha!
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 Here he is doing therapy with a client who is a veteran. Don't they both look very relaxed?□ Hi Rhonda and Stephanie! I thought I would send you an update about our Veterans Moving Forward Vincent who is in the final stages of his Service Dog training. He is scheduled to begin training with his veteran in the middle of March. We are using these final weeks to sharpen his Service Dog skills and teach him some specific skills his veteran needs. Vincent's veteran is a chaplain who works in hospice. In addition to needing a Service Dog for himself, his veteran would like Vincent to be a Therapy Dog for the hospice patients. There are differences between a Service Dog and a Therapy Dog. One significant difference is a Service Dog is expected to focus on his person, ignoring other people, whereas a Therapy Dog needs to be very social with strangers. We feel Vincent can do both jobs, so we have been working with him switching between the two jobs. He has been doing therapy work in an office with a LCSW.
Vincent will be flying home to Texas with his veteran. To prepare him for the trip we have been visiting the airport. He has had the chance to see what an airport looks like, go through security and even board a plane. We found out happy Vincent can set off the metal detector alarm with his wagging tail! Here is Vincent peeking out from his seat in an airplane. A representative from Veterans Moving Forward visits the home before the veteran gets a Service Dog. It is important to see the living situation to better prepare the dog for life with the veteran. In anticipation of his move, Vincent has begun living with a cat and is getting extra exposure to children. We learned Vincent will be sitting on the backseat of the car when he commutes to work with his veteran. We researched how to do this safely and discovered the Center for Pet Safety recommends only one company's car harness based on an independent crash test study. (This research was very eye opening!) The recommended company, Sleepypod, graciously donated a harness for us to try with Vincent. I have been working with Vincent to get him used to being tethered with a seatbelt and learning how best to have a dog ride on the seat. I ended up finding a hammock style seat cover works great for Vincent when he is in the harness and keeps my seat clean. Here he is riding in style! It seems like yesterday that I picked up 8 week old Vincent from the farm. Now he's all grown up and almost ready to do the work he's been training so hard to do. Thank you for donating this fabulous dog to Veterans Moving Forward! He is a very special boy! All the best to you! Donna and (almost!) Service Dog Vincent 🐾❤🐾🇺🇸  The boys are doing great. They are totally in love with each other! Training Remi went really smoothly as Rudi helped and showed him the ropes from day one.
 Ruby Hi Rhonda and Stephanie! I just wanted to send you a quick update on Ruby (Ina & Silas) and Cooper (Nadia & Silas). Ruby just turned 1, which is hard to believe, and Cooper is now almost 3 ½. Ruby is sweet, sassy, and incredibly smart. She thinks she is the boss, and Cooper lets her believe it :). Cooper is our gentle giant with sweet old soul. They absolutely love people and other animals, and we are always receiving compliments on their temperament and beauty. They truly are ideal. Thank you for everything & Happy New Year! The Ralphes  Cooper  Hi Rhonda and Stephanie! Wanted to update you on our girl. Lucy is thriving and filling our home with her joyful exuberance! She is the sweetest, kindest most tender hearted girl! Still eager to please and learn. She learns fast! She loves people, big and small. So gentle and enjoys any rub or scratch from whoever she meets. She has many neighborhood canine friends she visits with on her twice daily walks. Big or small she truly loves them all! She is a goof ball too and provides us endless amusement with her puppy antics. She is still quite talkative and lets us know her likes, dislikes, wants and needs! We love it. Just a terrific puppy! It is quite obvious to us what a difference your breeding and early imprinting has made. She is the source of continuous smiles.....an incredible blessing ️️ Thank you! The Robertson family   Timber in the snow - 2015 Good morning Stephanie and Snitker Goldens!
My pet parents ordered me a new collar from the dog store, I must say Timber is such a cool name for the style of the collar! Shhhhh, I am not supposed to know about the order though because it’s for me for Christmas. They do like to give me presents, because I am human too you know or at least the closest thing to them. I need to share this with you too, I have always had this huge affection for fabric of any kind, especially fluffy stuffing that is hidden inside of pet beds and blankets. When I am alone I tend to “find" it and love to mess it all around so it looks like it snowed in the room. It hasn’t “snowed” inside for awhile now because my family finally realized that what I always wanted this whole time was a leather sofa as my pet bed because I am human or so I like to think and they seem to think the sofa is comfortable so by golly I am going to do the same. I sleep so sound now on my leather bed and don’t have a clue why it’s so comfy, I don’t even wonder what is on the inside, I leave it alone because I want to keep it nice for me. My family is so good to me and I to them. Happy Holidays to all of you! Love, Timber Solum  ADIT Prince Hi Stephanie! I just got in from a busy day today of errands and appointments. My "personal service dog, Prince" went with me everywhere. I feel like he is doing so well now! When I am out, I like to spend some time in "veteran mode" as opposed to puppy raiser training mode. Prince is showing a new level of maturity and confidence. I can really feel his strength and presence when we work as a team. I've gotten comments from several people who have known him since puppyhood about how there is this new subtle change in him. As we were out today I also was able to see a change in how people were looking at him. He has always caught people's attention with his puppy cuteness and then his adult beauty as he has grown up. As he has matured these past few months I have found less people interrupt us as we are working. People are really able to see the "working dog" and respect the job he will be doing. While we were out today working as a team, I was able to take in more of what was really going on around me. We were at a mall so there were lots of people for me to notice. Of course, everyone sees him - this big beautiful white dog with his blaze red vest. I'm having a hard time coming up with the right adjective to describe the look many people had while watching Prince in "service dog mode." Honestly, many people just stopped to watch him - with a look of awe on their faces. I can't tell you how proud I am of him.
Little Vincent is with a very experienced raiser named Tangy. I have been staying after Prince's class so I can watch Tangy and Vincent in class. Of course, I get my hands on him as much as I can before and after class. I see Vincent doing just what he is supposed to do in class. He is on target with his skills. He is also focused and very attentive to Tangy. He is a fun, happy little guy that I can't wait to get! He is cute beyond words! The plan is for him to come to my house late in September. I know he has stolen Tangy's heart because she was talking to me after class about getting together once a week for an outing with the two boys. She wants to make sure his transition to my house goes smoothly because she says he is such a "momma's boy." Vincent is Tangy's first golden. My Mom is in the hospital so we have her two small dogs staying with us. Mom has a vey elderly, frail, toy poodle who is mostly blind. Prince is fabulous with her and she and Prince are buds. Here they are together. You don't get a good sense of how little she is but she is about the size of Prince's head. Lol - Donna Dorula (Prince's puppy raiser for Veteran's Moving Forward) 
 Hello!
Just a quick note to tell you what a sweet, smart girl our little Lucy (aka Miss Purple) is. She has settled right in to our family and stolen our hearts! She has already learned sit, watch me and leave it and is learning to sit and wait for her food :) we are diligent with her house training and have yet to have an accident :) So very eager to learn and please. Such a tender hearted girl. Thank you for giving her such an incredible beginning! She is a joy and a blessing. ❤️ Ken and Pam Robertson P.S. I was watching the video of Ken picking up Lucy last weekend and she heard your voice and came running to me. She was very interested in that video and that voice!  Hi Rhonda, I have been meaning to send you a quick update on our Cooper, but between full time graduate school, four kids, and work, I have barely been able to keep my head above water. But now finals are over, so I have a moment to breathe… As you can see, Cooper has grown into a gorgeous dog. He is a gentle giant that loves everyone and everything. He tolerates smothering love from the kids, and thrives on the affection that anyone is willing to give him. He goes to puppy daycare when I work, and is a favorite among the staff and other dogs. He has a couple best friends there, and gets crazy excited when he knows he gets to go play. The staff tell us that one of his best friends is usually a grump, but turns into a completely different dog when Cooper is around. I guess good dogs brings the best out in all of us! :) Thank you again for giving our Cooper such a wonderful start. He has become apart of our family, and is loved dearly. Merry Christmas to you and yours! Sincerely, The Ralphes P.S. He still sleeps with the red fleece blanket he came home with. :)   Hi Rhonda and Stephanie, I just wanted to pass along some fun Opus updates. Our daughters were at camp for a week at the end of July, and Opus sat at the top of the stairs waiting for them to come up from their rooms every morning. He really missed them! The second picture is in our front yard. We have some rocks that he likes to stand on and "rule the yard". I think this is his pride rock - maybe we should have named him Simba :-) We had agility training in our obedience class yesterday. He absolutely loved it. The instructor used him to show how the course was run. At the end of the class each "student" got to go through the course and be timed. He was the big winner. He loves to show off! And you can tell he really loves to learn. He's such a smart guy. Best, Melissa Nielsen  |
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We begin with quality tested and approved breeding Goldens and build on that solid foundation with our puppies. Championship pedigrees in their lines are our way of remaining true to breed standard. We strive to personally imprint each pup with positive, rewarding experiences – to nurture each one with love and care, realizing that each day we have your puppy is one day closer to the day you will hold him or her. We use this time to make that permanent impression on your pup, one which he or she will carry for a lifetime.
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