WHY a flat-coat?
I can't tell you how many times I've heard this question in the last three years!
While working at a pet store in college, I had the opportunity to meet some flat-coated retrievers. I read every book I could about them and initially thought I'd put my golden dreams on a shelf because I wanted a goofy, ridiculous flat-coat. But then I learned about their high cancer rates and how their life expectancy was only about seven years. I couldn't do it. I went back to goldens and that's where I've stayed for the last 20+ years.
But, in 2023, upset that one of our girl's pregnancies hadn't taken for a second time and experiencing our other girl's pregnancy complications resulting in a very small litter and an early spay, I was frustrated with where we had landed with our goldens and their reproductive health. That year was also when Maywood experienced one of our puppy families having to deal with a young (age 7) cancer death in one of our dogs.
At the same time, I was watching a friend raise a beautiful litter of flat-coats. I'd been learning more about them again, and at this point I'd personally known several flatties who had reached double digits in age. While golden retrievers' average lifespan had been decreasing over the years, flat-coat breeders and the breed club had been working hard to improve their health. They are also still very much a dual purpose breed with most Master Hunters or high level performance dogs still also earning their conformation championship. It's expected that a dog earns its breed championship, proving itself prior to being included in a breeding program and I really admired that this breed's caretakers still took all of that seriously. Long story short, I brought home a little black fluffball that spring.
While working at a pet store in college, I had the opportunity to meet some flat-coated retrievers. I read every book I could about them and initially thought I'd put my golden dreams on a shelf because I wanted a goofy, ridiculous flat-coat. But then I learned about their high cancer rates and how their life expectancy was only about seven years. I couldn't do it. I went back to goldens and that's where I've stayed for the last 20+ years.
But, in 2023, upset that one of our girl's pregnancies hadn't taken for a second time and experiencing our other girl's pregnancy complications resulting in a very small litter and an early spay, I was frustrated with where we had landed with our goldens and their reproductive health. That year was also when Maywood experienced one of our puppy families having to deal with a young (age 7) cancer death in one of our dogs.
At the same time, I was watching a friend raise a beautiful litter of flat-coats. I'd been learning more about them again, and at this point I'd personally known several flatties who had reached double digits in age. While golden retrievers' average lifespan had been decreasing over the years, flat-coat breeders and the breed club had been working hard to improve their health. They are also still very much a dual purpose breed with most Master Hunters or high level performance dogs still also earning their conformation championship. It's expected that a dog earns its breed championship, proving itself prior to being included in a breeding program and I really admired that this breed's caretakers still took all of that seriously. Long story short, I brought home a little black fluffball that spring.
|
|
Rensai Moment of Mischief BN RE ACT1 ATT CGC, "Sylvie"
After admiring all the breeder was doing with the puppies, and how her goals and priorities as a breeder really aligned with what I've set out to do in goldens, little Miss Pink from Rensai's Huxley x Epic litter came home with us.
I wanted a different training challenge, and boy did I get one! Sylvie lives to create chaos. She's incredibly smart and can learn new things sometimes with a single repetition. Unfortunately, she doesn't always choose to use her brains for good. What do I mean by that? I mean, she does things like...we walked into our first puppy class. She accidentally flailed into the ring gate, sending 40 feet of springy gates crashing down. The other puppies in the class were terrified. She leaped on top of it and TO THIS DAY, tries to knock them over on purpose because wow, what fun that was!
Having a sense of humor is a must for life with most retrievers, but especially for those with a flat-coat. They are perpetual puppies and Sylvie is no exception. That said, she has matured into a beautiful girl at 22" tall and 55 lbs. Structurally she is athletic and balanced with effortless movement. She loves everyone she meets and is great with dogs, cats, people, and children. We took the AKC temperament test on impulse while we were at an event for something else and she was rock solid, completing each challenge like it was nothing.
Sylvie is also the perfect girl in the house, happy to chill with you on the porch or the couch. She sleeps under my feet at work during the day and on our bed at night (even though she's been told not to). We're really starting to come together as a team for obedience, rally, agility, and conformation. She earned the first points toward her breed championship our very first time in the ring! Unfortunately, I haven't shown her this past year as I didn't want to risk bringing something home from the show to our older, immune compromised golden. We'd just started back on our journey the last few months and she'd picked up her first 5 triple Q's plus Master points for her Rally Championship, and then she came into season. We're looking forward to finishing up a couple of championships once she's back from maternity leave!
I wanted a different training challenge, and boy did I get one! Sylvie lives to create chaos. She's incredibly smart and can learn new things sometimes with a single repetition. Unfortunately, she doesn't always choose to use her brains for good. What do I mean by that? I mean, she does things like...we walked into our first puppy class. She accidentally flailed into the ring gate, sending 40 feet of springy gates crashing down. The other puppies in the class were terrified. She leaped on top of it and TO THIS DAY, tries to knock them over on purpose because wow, what fun that was!
Having a sense of humor is a must for life with most retrievers, but especially for those with a flat-coat. They are perpetual puppies and Sylvie is no exception. That said, she has matured into a beautiful girl at 22" tall and 55 lbs. Structurally she is athletic and balanced with effortless movement. She loves everyone she meets and is great with dogs, cats, people, and children. We took the AKC temperament test on impulse while we were at an event for something else and she was rock solid, completing each challenge like it was nothing.
Sylvie is also the perfect girl in the house, happy to chill with you on the porch or the couch. She sleeps under my feet at work during the day and on our bed at night (even though she's been told not to). We're really starting to come together as a team for obedience, rally, agility, and conformation. She earned the first points toward her breed championship our very first time in the ring! Unfortunately, I haven't shown her this past year as I didn't want to risk bringing something home from the show to our older, immune compromised golden. We'd just started back on our journey the last few months and she'd picked up her first 5 triple Q's plus Master points for her Rally Championship, and then she came into season. We're looking forward to finishing up a couple of championships once she's back from maternity leave!