AKC golden retriever litters · Ames, Iowa
You don’t. Not yet — and I’d rather say that plainly than sell around it.
What I can offer instead is a look: come out, meet the mother dog, meet us, see where the puppies are raised, and see what’s already been done on the parent dogs’ health before anyone promises anybody a puppy.
The rest of it — health testing, socialization, how the waitlist works — is on this page.
The parent dogs are health tested before they’re bred. That isn’t a favor to you and it isn’t a selling point — it’s the floor, not the ceiling. Ask to see it anyway. I’d rather you asked.
When a litter is coming, I’ll show you the health testing on both sides before you’re anywhere near a list.
You’ll meet the mother — she lives here, and she’ll want to meet you back. Bring your questions for her, not just for the puppies.
The father may live here or he may live elsewhere. When he isn’t ours, I’ll tell you who he is and where his health testing comes from. No vague answers on that one.
In the house, in the middle of the noise. The socialization program starts there — the vacuum, the doorbell, feet coming and going, being picked up and put down and handled every day.
By the time they see the yard, they’ve already met the world a little.
You call me first. Not a forum, not a search engine — me. Lifetime breeder support means exactly this: you have someone to call for the life of the dog, not just for the first week.
If something’s wrong, we work out what to do together. And I’ll tell you what I know about the parents’ history so your vet isn’t starting from nothing.
Tell me early. I’d much rather hear it from you at eight weeks than find out years later from somebody else.
Whatever’s going on — a change at home, a puppy that isn’t the match we both thought it was — bring it to me instead of handling it alone. That’s part of what you’re getting.
Litters are planned around the dogs — their health, their age, how they’re actually doing — not around a calendar or a number I want to hit.
If that means you wait longer than you’d like, I’d rather that than the alternative.
It looks like a house with too much going on in it, on purpose. Handling every day. Different floors underfoot. The car starting. A kitchen that sounds like a kitchen. Visitors who aren’t you.
All of it while the puppies are still deciding what the world is like — which is a short window, and it closes early.
By watching. Temperament matching means spending real time with the litter and noticing who pushes to the front, who hangs back, who recovers quickly when something startles them and who needs a minute.
Then I ask about your house — the noise level, the kids, whether anyone’s home during the day, what you actually want a dog to do with you. Matching is putting those two things next to each other and being honest about what I see.
Come out, sit on the floor, and let them come to you. That’s usually how families find out which one they are — and sometimes it isn’t the one they came for.
Litters are planned around the dogs, so I don’t keep a schedule posted here. What I keep is a waitlist, in order — families hear from me directly the moment there’s something worth telling them.
AKC golden retriever litters, health-tested parents on both sides.
Yes. Stud service starts the same way everything else here does — with a conversation about the dam, her health testing, and what you’re hoping to produce. Use the form and we’ll go through it properly.
Tell me a little about your household. I answer these myself.