Golden Retriever breeders in Iowa reviewed

Golden Retriever breeders in Iowa: Snitker Goldens

This Golden Retriever breeder in Iowa is located in Waukon. According to their website, their selective breeding program begins with choosing healthy and genetically tested Goldens from Champion lines and building on that solid foundation to produce puppies of outstanding health and quality. All of their breeding Goldens are tested for hips, elbows, eyes, heart, Ichthyosis, prcd-PRA, PRA-1, and PRA-2.

In their breeding, this breeder focuses on producing working quality dogs that will be well fit for working with a handler and any activity their owner wants to involve them in. They also use a special imprinting program to help their puppies learn more and faster in the first four months – the most important period of their lives when it comes to learning. If you are interested in this breeder, please visit their website.

Golden Retriever breeders in Iowa: Heartland Golden Retrievers

This Golden Retriever breeder in Iowa is located in Granger, IA. According to their website, they pride themselves in being able to offer the highest quality Goldens to suitable families. All their breeding dogs are OFA screened and certified. If you are near Granger, AI, please visit this breeder’s website to learn more about them and their dogs.

Golden Retriever breed review: Angie and her Golden Retriever Thor

Thor is a very intelligent dog. He knows quite a few words (although sometimes he pretends he doesn’t understand what we want from him). He is also quite easy to live with. He knows when it’s his bedtime and will go to his place and stay there till morning. He knows when we ask him to get in the car, or to leave us alone for a few minutes when we are busy with something. One thing we are still working on is his strong dislike for mailmen and the resulting frantic barking whenever a mailman or a courier drops anything at our door. Apart from mailmen, Thor is absolutely non-aggressive. He is very friendly with people we meet on our walks and loves it when he is being paid attention to. He is just as friendly with other dogs, although can sometimes act a little cautious around other male dogs, which is only natural. He has never gotten into a fight with anyone or even growled at another dog, which I really like about him.

I have never actually wanted a dog nor have I ever wanted to own one. I have been bitten by a dog when I was a kid, and for many years I was quite afraid of dogs. My parents even wanted to get a dog at one point and they didn’t because I was terrified!

But, life is not without a surprise. My now-husband (then boyfriend) had a Golden Retriever puppy, and that’s how Thor came into my life.

I was very cautious of Thor at first, and honestly, he was also cautious of me, although I was expecting a Golden Retriever to be very excited and friendly around new humans. However, Thor pretty much just sniffed me and was quite reserved around me. He was very polite and well-behaved even though he was still a very “young” adult Golden.

With time, we got more and more acquainted with each other, and we became friends. He would come up to me more and more and have me pet him and would sit on my side of the sofa when we watch TV in the evening. He would come in the morning and sniff my face when I am still in bed. He would flop on his back and have me rub his tummy, which he doesn’t actually do even with my husband. Thor learned to trust me and I learned to trust him.

Thor is four years old now, but deep inside, he is still a puppy. He is playful, and energetic, and loves nothing more than running around the park with other dogs or playing with his toys. He makes funny faces and funny sounds and we can see that he is happy when we laugh at him. He loves drawing out a reaction from us!

He loves chewing sticks, belts, his leash and anything else remotely chewable. We sort of gave up on trying to teach him not to chew things, and now we just work on replacing the valuable items with things we don’t care about (and keep a large stock of toys available!).

Thor is a Golden Retriever, and like all Goldens, he adores water.  He is excellent at swimming and can even dive! I have never seen a dog dive until we took Thor to a lake one hot summer day and that was quite the show! Now we take him canoeing with us and he will jump out in the water all the time.

Thor is a very intelligent dog. He knows quite a few words (although sometimes he pretends he doesn’t understand what we want from him). He is also quite easy to live with. He knows when it’s his bedtime and will go to his place and stay there till morning. He knows when we ask him to get in the car, or to leave us alone for a few minutes when we are busy with something. One thing we are still working on is his strong dislike for mailmen and the resulting frantic barking whenever a mailman or a courier drops anything at our door.

Apart from mailmen, Thor is absolutely non-aggressive. He is very friendly with people we meet on our walks and loves it when he is being paid attention to. He is just as friendly with other dogs, although can sometimes act a little cautious around other male dogs, which is only natural. He has never gotten into a fight with anyone or even growled at another dog, which I really like about him.

Sometimes I feel like we actually live with the third little human instead of a dog. Thor seems to understand almost everything we say to him, and he doesn’t mind getting involved in the conversation. He will make these throaty little sounds, growls (non-threatening) and yelps when he wants to talk to us. Sometimes we can talk like that for quite a long time. I never feel lonely anymore when my husband is not home because Thor is great company! (Also, he rarely contradicts me!)

All in all, I am very happy that Luke had Thor and that this lovely pup is now a part of my life. If not for Luke and Thor, I would have never known what it’s like to live with a Golden Retriever and how deeply you can grow to love them. We might even consider getting a second Golden later.