Changes are taking place here at Rolling Oaks Goldens. We are making a training DVD that will document each developmental stage a puppy goes through from seven weeks to four months. It will be a great help for clients to see what stage their puppy is at, and compare it to the DVD. We are also offering a one on one training session/consultation where we meet with our clients when their puppy is about 4 months old. At the consultation, we will give tips on training and observe owner and puppy to see how they are doing. The DVD, training collar, leash and consultation session are included with the purchase price effective June 10, 2010. If you are interested in any of these services, please email for pricing and scheduling.

Hi;
Reagan is now going to visit the Tyndall Nursing Home each Fri. at 10.00 a.m. and St. Michael’s Hospital in Tyndall each Wed. at 4:00 p.m. These pictures are taken at her visit to the hospital. She is so good with these people and most of them love seeing her. Of course, I remain extremely proud!

Marlene

Hi Barb,
I hope this finds you doing well! We’ve been thinking a lot about the Felt family and Rolling Oaks – of course, along with that is the ever-present question of “when will we get Crosby a sibling?” The boys would like the answer to that to be yesterday but Jim and I are thinking sometime around the first month of next year would work well. Our oldest son, Matt, is leaving for boarding school in the fall which absolutely breaks my heart, even though it is something that he really, really wants and has worked hard to achieve. Crosby is incredibly close to Matt so it will affect him deeply, I’m afraid. Thankfully, Matt won’t be too far away (~30 mins) and we’ll get to see him most weekends (and dogs are welcome at his school!!). Big news around here is that we’re moving! We’ve decided that we need a little more of a laid-back lifestyle than what the very stuffy and affluent town we now live in offers. We are moving to Concord, MA which is about 20 mins from here. We are incredibly fortunate to have found a great home that is “in-town” but also on the edge of a beautiful national historic park. We can walk to Church and the local stores in 5 mins and yet the walking path to the Old North Bridge (where the “shot heard around the world” was fired to start the Revolutionary War). Our actual yard is bigger than what we have now and has both a split rail fence and an invisible fence. Crosby has no idea what heaven he is in for! The town is obviously incredibly historical and sits on the edge of some of the most beautiful farmland outside of Boston. It just feels more like “home” to us and we are very, very excited for the move! We’ll be closing June 30th but because we are purchasing a former barn built in 1872 (converted to a Colonial home in 1911), we have some work to do on it and will not move in until July 14th. We are going to visit MN this summer but only for a long weekend as the boys’ schedules back here are quite full. I haven’t been home in over two years so I am very much looking forward to being back in the company of friends and family.

Anyway, I really hope you and your family continue to be blessed with good health and happiness. I’ve attached some pictures of our “big man puppy” (as he is affectionately called around here) – he is about 107 lbs and all muscle – he catches foxes, rabbits, anything that he wants, essentially, and gives deer quite the scare with is deep bark. He remains an absolute lover of people and is totally unaware of his size, thus earning quite the reputation of a bull-in-a-china-shop! Just another sweet, handsome Rolling Oaks Golden!
Much Love to you!!
-Kristin
P.S. – notice the Minnesota Golden Gophers collar

Dear Barb and Russ,

We just wanted to send you an update on our progress with Tahoe since he spent the week training with you. He is a changed man! All of his bad habits are gone, for example he used to bark at us for attention, he was always mouthing at our arms, he only came about 50% of the time when called and rarely laid down when told to. Now we have a dog that can be walked off leash, if he see’s another dog or a person he sits down and waits for us to get to him. He follows hand signals best in fact he will always come to an arm gesture. If he is away from us and we want him to stop we call his name, he looks, we motion for him to sit and he does it! We can even get him to lay down from a distance. When people find out he is only 9 months old they often do not believe us because he is so well behaved. It is hard to believe he only spent one week with you, it was well worth the time apart.

Thank you so much for your time and dedication.

Steve and Barb

Last weekend was the Litchfield Watercade celebration. Every year for the past 17, Russ and I and a few of our kids run in the four mile run around the lake. When Amy was about 11 she started to run with me the last block of the race. Everyone in town knows Amy. She is more popular than any of our kids, so when she runs across the finish line, every one is yelling “Go Amy-good job Amy” This year I didn’t train very well for the race, so when Amy joined me for the last block, she was running faster than I was! There is something amazing about hearing all those people cheer for her, knowing she totally cheated and only ran one block! They love her and accept her for who she is! After the race there is water provided. When I gave her a high five she said “Mom, I need water!” as thought she had just finished a marathon! Next year I will run, or I should say “jog” the race again, not for me, but for Amy.

July 6 is always a very special day for me. It was the day Jonathon was born. He was our fourth baby, and we were so excited when the doctor announced “It’s a boy”! We had two girls, and now two boys. Life couldn’t have been better. Russ just received a promotion at work, we had four healthy kids, life was grand. Jonathon hardly had a chance to cry. From the moment he was born, he was loved. Everyone wanted to hold him, so he barely spent time in his little crib. He slept, ate, and was what I would call a perfect baby. We didn’t have air conditioning in our little house, so every day the kids would get their chores done, we would pack a lunch, and off to the lake we would go. It was such a simple life. When Jonathon was 18 days old he was killed tragically in a car accident. I was driving, along with my 16 year old cousin. The other driver was also only 16 years old. Such a loss of so many young lives. That day changed my life. I remember wanting to know “WHY”? God made us to want to know why things happen, how things work. But some things are not to be known. We don’t know the answer to every question. I do know that I was blessed with a very special son, and he was dearly loved for 18 days. My body was broken, but the pain I experienced was nothing compared to my broken heart. I thought I would never truly be happy again. I was wrong. When I was weak, the Lord was strong. He was my covering, my protector, my comfort. He alone can heal the broken heart, and He healed mine. It has been 23 years now, and I still feel the loss of my son, and wonder what his character would be, what he would look like. But I have peace knowing that although this was a great tragedy, so many good things have come into my life. I have a husband who loves me, six healthy children, three in-laws, four grand-children, all who light up my life! Raising golden retrievers has been a big part of our family, and who we are. I don’t think there is a better breed in the world. Okay, I am bias, but they are the smartest, people pleasing animal God has made, and I am blessed to be a part of bringing them into this world, and bringing joy and laughter into homes. It is a good life.

Hi Barb, I was looking at your website and I realized I haven’t sent you pictures of Dakota (Captain & Ivy April ’08) in awhile. She turned 2 yrs. old this past April! Its amazing how fast time flies by. It just seems like yesterday I brought home this tiny little puppy that I could pick up without any effort! I remember looking at all the other adult dogs on your website and thinking it was so far away that my little puppy would grow up into an adult.

I get such wonderful compliments on her color and her looks; whether it be at the groomer, going for walks, from the vet, or from friends and family. Everyone says how well behaved she is. It just makes me feel like such a proud owner when I hear things like that, and it reminds me how she got such a great start when she was a puppy from you and your family. I can’t stress enough what wonderful things your family does for these puppies and I know how much work you put into them.

As you can see in her picture she LOVES to play with other dogs. We had a doggie play date the other day. All 3 of them have their tongues hanging out from a long day of playing! You have no idea how hard it was to get all 3 of them to sit and look at the camera! In the other picture you can see she likes to help herself to our bonfire wood – even if it is a log! And the last one was from this past winter during our Christmas day blizzard. Thank you for everything you and your family does! You do an amazing job!
Erin