Our Story

 

Okay, so I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing when Joe said it. But I’ll never forget his words. 

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At the time, I was homeschooling three of our children while we were putting our other three through college. Our financial resources were stretching thin and thinner while expenses were headed in the other direction. Late nights as a freelance writer produced minimal financial help, and the exhaustion expedited a second round of cancer for me.

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Our sweet Golden Retriever had crossed Rainbow Bridge, and I'm sure missing her sweet pitter-patter around the house was part of it, but that day Joe proclaimed, “When we’re ready for another dog, let’s make it our pet and our home business. Let’s try dog breeding.”

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A silent, "Huh?" flashed through my mind.

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My second thought wasn't silent. "I don’t know a thing about dog breeding. I'll write and edit, but I won't be a 'backyard breeder.'" He assured me his vision his was far grander than a backyard venture.

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So, I finally acquiesced. But on the condition that if we were to do this, it would be beyond repute—for the dogs, the puppies, and future puppy owners.  I carefully thought through our priorities…

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#1 A NEW PET—She would be a member of our family, one from an educated breeder with a program committed to ethics and excellence. Losing our sweet Sunny at such a young age, we were committed to seeking a dog with great health and genetics who could then have healthy puppies with a stud of equal caliber. 

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#2 A BREEDING DOG—She would also be our breeding dog, one with the teddy bear features of the English golden retriever, the non-shedding trait from the poodle, and the great disposition and intelligence of both. She would have the parental clearances and/or tested health and genetics to ensure many years of joy, longevity, and great temperament that could be passed on to generations of puppies. Of course, in honor of Sunny, we loved adding the element of the Golden Retriever, but without the shedding. 

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#3 A MENTOR—Okay, umm, in all honesty, I didn't know what I was doing. How to start? And what the heck was a pig railing? I had so much to learn! I wanted to make a commitment that my business would keep the welfare of the dog and breed standard first, the customer a close second, and myself and business third. Any mix up of that order would be a recipe for a subpar business. I began reaching out to breeders.

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But yikes, I was slammed! It was near impossible to break into the elite reputable end of dog breeding. Not only were doors slamming in my face with “No’s,” but a few even went as far as to label me as being the very thing I was strictly against—backyard breeding. The discouragement put everything on hold. I thought, No wonder there are “backyard breeders." There’s no one out there willing to give direction or open reputable breeding lines to newbies.

 

Three years passed...

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Still no puppy. The wait was excruciating, especially when our nine-year-old son, Daniel, continued to plead for a four-legged buddy. But something kept telling me to hold off. That “something” or Someone was God. I kept praying and waiting. Daniel and I would go to the local pet rescue to get our “puppy fix.” The routine was the same. We’d slowly look at all the puppies. Then we’d go to that special room where we would one-by-one snuggle and play with as many as we could. That is, until the workers caught on to us, and politely ushered us along. I reasoned it would be a lot less work, emotion, and cost, and seemed more ethical to welcome home a rescue dog. But how about those owners needing very specific qualities in a dog, whether it was assurance of their pet’s health and longevity, or a dog with the ability and temperament to train to be emotional support or service dog, or the need for hypoallergenic and no shedding, or even a dog with medical acuity, such as assistance in alerting an owner of low blood sugar?

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So again, I had that feeling to wait and persevere.

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Then one day, providentially, our dear friends Tim and Deanne Geurkink approached us. God was doing something equally amazing in their lives. They had past experience in highly ethical dog breeding, and asked if we would partner with them.

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God had so precisely put us together in that perfect timing in ways only He can do. Of course, my first response was, “Yes!! But you'll have to find someone to mentor us, someone who has a highly reputable program and was willing to give us a good start.​

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Then, it all came together!

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Within a few days, Deanne had found the Goldendoodle Association of North America! Perfect mentors and beyond repute, GANA was looking to teach new breeders how to do this right, incorporating what’s best for the individual dog, the breed, the buyer, and the breeder. It was like GANA had been designed just for our us! We were directed to where we could purchase puppies that would become not only our beloved pets, but top-quality breeding dogs, and then, best of all, each of us was assigned an experienced mentor.

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Hello, Beechwood Goldendoodles!

Get ready to dive into our site and uncover the amazing story behind us, along with the incredible joy that God has blessed my family and every new puppy owner with! Our business partners have expanded and gone on to launch Sunset Cove Goldendoodles. 

I’m bursting with gratitude for the joy of creating Beechwood Goldendoodles! It gives us much delight getting to know each buyer and each puppy. I truly believe this happiness will overflow into your heart as you bring one of our adorable fur babies home.

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​Joy often resides in life’s simplest moments, and with each puppy we bring into the world, we strive to spread that joy, one doodle at a time!"

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Come, be a part of our story! 

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Beth and Joe

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