Redheaded Retrievers

06/17/2026

Nothing better than ending the day with some dock diving practice and a beautiful sunset in the background 🌅🐾

06/17/2026

11 weeks old and already figuring out that bringing the toy back means the game keeps going 🎾🐾
Little miss Fern is growing into such a smart, confident girl and absolutely loves learning new things. Safe to say she thinks fetch might be one of life’s greatest inventions ❤️

06/17/2026

Tonight Goose was out on the pool deck during golden hour showing little Fern the ropes and helping build her confidence around the water. Watching him interact with his daughter and seeing those natural instincts already starting to shine through in her is one of the best parts of what I do.
Safe to say this little girl is getting an early start… and I have a feeling she’s going to be following right in daddy’s footsteps. 🌊💛

06/16/2026

Fern absolutely going ham on her bag and rope toy, having the time of her life and keeping herself thoroughly entertained. 🐾😆

06/16/2026

Breeding update for everyone waiting on Miss Maggie 🐾

As many of you know, Mother Nature likes to remind us that she is in charge… not me. 😅 Maggie has decided to have a later heat cycle than originally expected, which is completely normal and unfortunately something that is entirely out of my control when it comes to breeding.

She does appear to be showing the very beginning signs of coming into season, and if this is the start of her cycle, that would put us looking at puppies being born around mid August with an estimated go home timeframe sometime in October.

As always, please remember this is still just an estimate until we know for sure how her cycle progresses. Dogs love keeping breeders on their toes, and timing can shift earlier or later.

I appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding while we let Maggie decide her own timeline. We are excited and hopeful for what’s ahead and will continue sharing updates as we know more! ❤️🐕✨

06/16/2026

Need a fun way to burn some energy and build drive with your puppy or dog? 🐾
One of our favorite simple exercises is tying a plastic grocery bag or lightweight toy to the end of a horse lunge line (easy to find online or at most farm stores) and letting your dog chase! As you see Reyka here demonstrating for us!

This is a great way to encourage natural prey drive, build confidence, introduce the foundations of sports like Fast CAT, and tire out those high-energy pups in a short amount of time.
Sometimes the simplest training tools create the best results ❤️

06/15/2026

The critical socialization window begins long before your puppy is fully vaccinated.
Creating safe, positive experiences early on helps build confidence, resilience, and stability that lasts a lifetime. The goal is not exposure to everything… the goal is teaching your puppy that the world is a safe place to explore 🐾❤️

06/14/2026

Before we headed out on our family vacation to Alabama last week, we made stop at our favorite dock diving event at Dog Sports at Kim’s and WOW… what a weekend for the crew! 🌊🐾

Goose came out strong and launched an impressive 18’3” jump like the powerhouse he always is. 💪

Reyka finally got her head fully in the game and absolutely crushed it, hitting a new personal best of 15’ — we have been waiting for that breakthrough and she made us so proud! ❤️

Puddin, who always shows up with her serious game face on, did what she does best and also smashed a new personal best of 18’! 🔥

And to top it all off… both Reyka and Puddin officially earned their Dock Senior titles! 🏅

So incredibly proud of these dogs and all the hard work they put in. There is nothing better than watching them do what they love and seeing all that training pay off. On to bigger jumps and bigger goals! 🚀🐕

06/14/2026

A confident puppy is created through positive exposure to the world around them.
Playing everyday sounds at low volume while pairing them with positive experiences helps build resilience and confidence for the future 🔊❤️

06/13/2026

This is one of the many reasons our contract asks families to avoid allowing puppies to jump from heights greater than their shoulder height while they are still growing. During early development, puppies have open growth plates that are extremely vulnerable to injury. Repetitive impact, hard landings, or falls can contribute to growth plate damage, fractures, joint issues, and in some cases lifelong structural problems that may not become apparent until later in life.
It is important to remember that protecting a growing puppy goes far beyond simply monitoring playtime. There are many environmental factors that can put unnecessary stress on developing bones and joints, including slick surfaces such as hardwood floors, tile, laminate, smooth wet concrete, and other surfaces that cause repeated slipping or poor footing. Over time, these everyday situations can affect proper development more than many people realize.
Our goal is always to set our puppies up for the healthiest future possible, and part of that means educating owners on how important those early months are for proper growth and long-term soundness.

When puppies go home, families are advised to use care in the amount of exercise and activities they allow the new puppy. This X-ray shows clearly how structurally undeveloped a puppy is and why waiting until 12-18 months to engage in more intense exercise is important to avoid early damage which could lead to hip dysplasia, early onset osteoarthritis, or other joint problems which Goldens are already genetically prone to.
Here are a few activities to avoid or moderate (not a complete list!):
1. Under 4 months- 5-10 min. walks
4-12 months- 5 minutes walking per month of age. Avoid high impact jumping or running.
2. 12-18 months- gradually introduce more intense, repetitive exercise.
3. Avoid jumping from heights like the back of a truck, etc. Use care on stairs.
4. Try to minimize the slipping that happens on wood floors or hard surfaces. The mad scramble for a ball on these surfaces isn’t good.
5. Don’t pick up puppy or let the kids drag puppy by its legs.
Safe, gradual training and some minimal precautions could save a lot of grief in the future!