Finding the Perfect Breeder

JJ Hospice Therapy Dog Facebook Page

I had definitely decided on a golden retriever puppy. I had ideas for hopefully improving the odds of her not getting cancer including either leaving her intact or doing an ovary sparing spay and a wonderful veterinarian, skilled in both traditional western medicine and holistic medicine. Next was finding a breeder who focused on health and temperament. I have a large network of dog people that I have met through Emmi. I asked if anyone had a recommendation. I got two names. One recommendation was Tracy Calhoun. I had heard of Tracy. She had a Facebook Page, JJ the Hospice Therapy Dog, dedicated to her dog, JJ, who was a hospice therapy dog (Tracy is a hospice nurse) and all things therapy dog. I had followed her page and JJ. A video of JJ with a patient who had been non-responsive to staff, had gone viral and led to JJ and Tracy becoming quite famous. This is a great interview with Tracy about JJ and therapy work: https://katu.com/amnw/am-northwest-books-authors/jjs-journey-the-story-of-a-hospice-therapy-dog

Tracy even wrote a book about JJ. I thought Tracy was in Albany, New York and while, I would definitely have traveled there to get the right dog, I was happy to learn she was only an hour away in Albany, Oregon. I had talked to several breeders but the moment I talked to Tracy, I knew she was the one. I loved that she was a nurse and was so knowledgeable and into science. She entered all of her data into the K9 Database and I was easily able to look back at 5 generations for the pair she planned on breeding next. There was very little cancer. I found one instance of Lymphoma and many dogs who lived well into their teens. I was really impressed with her knowledge of goldens and health. She even did nomographs to find the ultimate times for the puppies to be vaccinated when their maternal antibodies would not fight the vaccine. She kept in touch with her puppy owners. She would not breed a dog again if she found out about any health issue that could be hereditary. She had a robust puppy program. She kept people in the loop about the puppies through a Facebook page and a web cam. She had a sample book I could look at that she wrote with information specific to each litter. It was over 100 pages. With her experience with therapy dogs, golden retrievers, puppy program and her scientific knowledge, I knew I wanted our next puppy to come from Tracy. She had a dog, Trixie, who had a litter the year before. The puppies were very biddable and had great temperaments for therapy work. On September 29th, I put a deposit down for a girl. We most likely would get her in July based on Trixie's schedule.

If you are interested in learning more about Tracy and Sutter Bay Retrievers: https://www.sutterbayretrievers.com/