Our Story
Hello, my name is Orissa Hanson. In 2008, my family brought our first beloved Golden Retriever, Sophie, home. We chose this breed for a few reasons. My son Max had been showing our Pekinese, SImba, in 4H and quickly outgrew his little dog. He continued to ask for a large dog. As Christmas approached I did some research on "Best Family Friendly Dogs" and it didn't take long to decide on a golden retriever.
Christmas of 2008, I pilled Max and Suvana, my kids, in the car and we took an hour drive to a breeder's house where Max picked out the most playful little girl puppy. It was a nice family who simply had a male and a female and let them have puppies. The little girl who lived at the house had named each puppy and even teared up as we took our puppy home. This has always stuck with me, how each puppy was loved and played with from birth.
We immediately entered Sophie into 4H training with Max. She was a natural at agility and obedience because of her pedigree hunting background. Max did a great job of teaching her the basics before he left the dog project and put more time into sports. Suvana ended up picking up where Max left off and polishing Sophies talents. Sophie and Suvana were in love with agility and by her senior year, they received top ten at the Kansas State Fair. There is nothing better than finding what your dog is best at and letting them achieve greatness!
When Sophie turned three, I made the decision to breed her. This was to teach my children responsibility and experience giving unconditional love and eventually the loss of letting the puppies go. I found a stud dog named Cori and had a great experience. We ended up going back to him for a second time. Suvana just naturally took to the puppy journey and quickly became my biggest supporter! She helped with everything from start to finish and stayed up all night rubbing Sophies back, timing births, weighing puppies, and even with clean ups. We pride ourselves on the fact our puppies are hand raised and never in kennels or raised outside. We cuddle and handle them from day one, which we believe helps to enhance their wonderful dispositions.
Cori, the stud dog, moved away and Suvana had to miss shows anytime Sophie was in heat or pregnant so we decided to get our own male dog, Koda. This way she could show Koda year round and we would have our own "daddy." I did a lot of research, knowing he would be our stud dog for a long time. I eventually found a breeder who is reputable and does hip and elbow testing. Koda came from a very good genetics but we could tell the difference from getting buying from a " breeder" compared to a family. When we first brought him home he was very shy and is still a little timid. Although he was cautious around dogs and humans, he has grown into the calmest dog we had ever owned and is a giant teddy bear. Koda never did replace Sophie on the agility course but he was an excellent showman. He was Grand Champion in obedience and achieved high marks in showmanship many times.
When Koda was two, we were able to breed him with Sophie and the rest is history. We feel we are giving the best of both worlds by doing our testing and being responsible breeders while also staying small enough so our puppies are given one on one care in our home. We rase our puppies to have easy disposition and are easily trainable.
Sophie and Koda are our original family dogs and my kids 4-H dogs. After the kids left for college, I got Koda certified as a therapy dog through Therapy Dogs International. My hope is to visit schools and nursing homes now that I have more free time. Therapy work is defiantly Koda's strong suit as he loves nothing more than to be cuddled on.
Sophie is now retired from our breeding program and is the queen bee of the house. We have three new girls, Elsa, Charolette, and Mia. Elsa and Charolette are both fully English Creme and Mia is a mix of English Cream and Golden. Our plan only breed each dam once a year. After some research, I found the cancer gene is less likely in English Creams and their longevity is longer with less health issues than American Goldens. (If you would like to know more, go to our Breed History page). Koda is half English and half American so we will get those beutiful shades of golden from dark to almost stark white like the moms.
*All our dogs have been tested for hips and elbows. Charolette has been tested on eyes and heart as well. In addition they all have passed those tests.
They all have Canine Good Citizen (CGC) through the AKC and are all AKC registered. (Mia is in the process of getting her CGC since she is still a puppy) Again we breed for disposition and trainability so your puppy will be easy to train and loving member of your family.
We offer a two year health guarantee and are willing to take a puppy back if it ends up not being the right choice for your household. We will gladly re-home the puppy for you. We never want one of our puppies at the humane society and will take the time to make sure our puppies are always in prime care. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We anticipate two litters per year and many times we have deposits before they are born.
We look forward to speaking with you and helping you find your forever friend!
