Golden Girls

The long gravel road that leads to the Seekford home passes by lumber, dairy cows and a shed of miscellaneous John Deere equipment. An immediate sense of family can be felt as you enter into their house, which is located at the heart of a picturesque 350-acre dairy farm. Family portraits adorn David and Michelle Seekford’s walls — their children, Zachary, 10, and Emma, 5, and their three purebred golden retrievers — Gracie, Goldie, and Peaches.

The Seekford’s retrievers are considered part of the family. The dogs share a room off of the garage, enjoying the comfort of air-conditioning and heat. Outside, the dogs roam leash-free, because the Seekfords use underground electronic fencing around their home. The retrievers’ friendly and obedient demeanor makes them very approachable and loveable.

Not just man’s best friend
Michelle Seekford’s love of golden retrievers began when she was in high school. During her senior year, her family got a golden retriever mix, which she named Katie. When Katie became ill with hip and thyroid problems, Michelle’s family learned it was due to poor breeding. After the loss of her pet, she began to research the breed. She discovered that purebred golden retrievers have minimal health risks, compared with crossbreads.

After becoming educated on the importance of health certification and proper breeding techniques, Michelle got her first purebred, Gracie, now nearing 6. The attachment between the two was immediate, and sparked her interest in breeding purebred golden retrievers. In 2002, once Gracie was old enough to bear puppies and passed her health certification, Seekford began her breeding business out of her McGaheysville farm with her family’s support.

A baby story
Gracie has had three successful litters, producing a total of 30 puppies. When the puppies are first born, they are about the size of your hand. Each litter was weaned to eating solid food around two to three weeks, and were playing outside with the other dogs around five to six weeks. Her most recent litter of nine males was delivered on Thanksgiving Day 2005. From this litter, one of the puppies had show-dog potential, Michelle says. The Seekfords were tempted to keep him for that purpose, but “that is not what we do it for.” Michelle does not breed to show; she does it because she loves the breed. But she did keep one of Gracie’s puppies from a previous litter, Peaches, whom she plans on breeding after having her tested in May to ensure she is healthy enough.

The Seekford’s other purebred, Goldie, now 4, also was adopted for breeding. Unfortunately, after a medical examination, the Seekfords discovered that Goldie was suffering from chronic kidney failure and would be unable to carry puppies. Her health condition was most likely a result of her breeding. Goldie was line-bred, which is the breeding of two dogs closely related to each other through a common ancestor.

A family affair
The entire family is involved in the breeding process.
“[Zachary and Emma] live on a farm, and are aware of how nature works,” Michelle said. “They understand how important the health and welfare of the animals are throughout the breeding process.”

In order to control the breeding process, the Seekfords have only female dogs. They have used a male from a stud service to breed Gracie. Having males on the farm would make it impossible to control interactions with the females. In order to keep it under control, the family would have to crate the males apart from the females, and the Seekfords do not believe in crating animals.

Finding a good home
Michelle also is very involved in the adoption process. Once the puppies reach five to six weeks of age, she begins to advertise in media that reach a broad audience, including The Washington Post and www.breeders.net. This is how one recent buyer, JMU junior Michael Olson, found her. Olson, who had been searching for golden retriever breeders in the Harrisonburg area, purchased one of Gracie’s puppies, Slater, in early February. After corresponding through e-mail, Olson and Michelle arranged to meet on her farm, where he was able to meet all of the puppies.

When he arrived at the farm, he was immediately impressed with the look of the puppies. “Every puppy I saw was beautiful,” Olson said. “You knew these were quality pups, and most had collars on them indicating that they were already taken.”

Another factor in buying a purebred is looking into the lineage, or pedigree, of the animal. A dog’s pedigree can reveal traits that may be inherited, including familial diseases. Olson found that in the puppies’ pedigree, “One of their ancestors is a dog named Gold Rush Charlie, which won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show many years ago.”

Olson also observed that they were raised in a healthy environment. “The puppies lived in a clean pen that was already segregated into sections, so the puppies would learn at an early age that there’s a difference between living spaces and bathroom spaces. This helps them distinguish later on that there’s a place to go to the bathroom and a place where they live,” he said. This factor helped him to make his decision to purchase from the Seekfords. The dogs all seemed well-behaved and to have a playful demeanor. “The pups played happily together and were well-socialized toward humans. My puppy didn’t seem at all nervous or scared when I played with him and picked him up,” Olson said.

Given the option to either take the puppy home or reserve him and pick him up later, Olson paid by check and took Slater home that day. Olson said that he had an excellent experience working with Michelle. He had researched the problems in golden retriever breeding and knew that he had found a good breeder.

The Seekfords provided Olson with many health certifications for his pet’s mother and father, including hip, eye, heart, and thymus certifications, along with a certification by the American Kennel Club. The puppies had received a vet checkup and their initial vaccinations from the same vet that Olson is now using. The only thing that may have held him back was the price. “I could have probably found a cheaper place to get my puppy from, but I knew that these puppies would probably be healthier and have a better temperament. The Seekfords seemed to genuinely care about the quality of their pups,” Olson remarked.

He gladly recommends Michelle Seekford to anyone interested in purebred golden retrievers. He said that if he ever wanted another puppy, he would definitely be returning to the Seekford farm.

Michelle and Olson still keep in occasional contact via e-mail. He sends her pictures of Slater growing up and she has sent him pictures of Slater’s parents so he would have an idea of what Slater may look like in the future. Michelle also has provided him with a recommendation of a puppy training school.

Not for just anybody
Potential owners are screened in order to ensure the puppies are going into a healthy environment. Michelle provides a guarantee to each buyer that states they must get the animal examined within 72 hours. This ensures that buyers are getting a healthy animal and that they will continue the puppy’s routine care. Buyers must also agree, “Animals WILL NOT be chained in a yard or mistreated in any manner. The primary reason for the purchase of this animal is for pet/companion.”

Michelle also asks all buyers who cannot care for the animal for any reason to return the dog to her or have her approval on new placement. She does not believe in sending her dogs to the animal shelter or any kind of medical research facility.

Each buyer is provided with a “puppy packet” for their new pet. The packet includes registration papers, health guarantee, pedigree information, health and shot records, shots timetable, contact information of breeder and nutrition information.

A typical day on the farm.
The dogs are just like family. “They are very involved in our day-to-day routine,” Michelle says. “They wake up and get let out of their crates first thing in the morning. They romp and play in the yard. Then my husband will usually take one of the dogs with him to work at the farm.” At work, Goldie has been nicknamed “the supervisor” because she likes to take a seat away from the action where she can observe.

In the evenings or afternoons, the dogs enjoy playing with the kids. Outdoors, they romp and run alongside the kids’ 4-wheeler, or sledding — depending on the season. Gracie and Peaches are water-crazy, so they love to be in the pond in the fall and winter and enjoy the pool in the summer. The Seekford farm provides a beautiful environment for the dogs to be raised and bear young.

Michelle Seekford and her family, early into their breeding business, have thoroughly enjoyed it. It provides them with a fun process that the whole family can share. Their children are able to learn from it and benefit from the loving and nurturing environment on the farm. Their dogs are raised with a loving touch, and each puppy is given the attention and nurturing it needs to become a wonderful, loving pet.