Windmill Farms Golden Retrievers

Q: What is the website?

http://www.windmillfarmsgoldens.com/

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Windmill Farms Golden Retrievers

Puppies, Stud services and started golden retrievers. See our website for full details. Carol Beuchat PhD

You can dislike (and choose to not understand) laws that restrict breeding in particular ways, but it's science that will provide us with the understanding necessary to make the best possible decisions when we contemplate our next litter.

12/18/2024

Windmill Farms Golden Retrievers

12/18/2024

Windmill Farms

12/18/2024

I've had a discussion in one of our puppy groups about nutrition and life expectancy. Of course, I did some additional research. See below a scientific report link from a study in the UK. Most agree that life expectancy is not one thing IE nutrition. Its a combination of many things; genetics, nutrition, body size, gender, lifestyle, parasite control, vaccinations and dental care just to name a few.

One of our outcross pups lives with a vet couple in the NW. She is an animal oncologist. She has seen, studied and treated more cancer in animals than anyone I know. She had sworn off goldens. Rightly so. When she read about what I was doing and how, she and her husband decided to give it one more try. Oooohhh the pressure is on me now!

Life tables of annual life expectancy and mortality for companion dogs in the United Kingdom

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10341-6

The current study has produced the first life tables for dogs in the UK, reporting annual life expectancy and probability of death for the UK companion dog population, dogs of different s*x and neuter status, breed groups and also for 18 breeds and crossbred dogs. We report an elevated life expectancy in neutered dogs compared to entire dogs and wide variation in life expectancy between breeds, with Jack Russell Terrier and Yorkshire Terrier having the highest and some brachycephalic breeds showing the lowest life expectancy at age 0. The construction and application of life tables offers great potential for companion animal health and welfare sciences but is still in its infancy. Life tables generated in the current study promote not only a better understanding of the life trajectory of dogs but also offer several applications for the veterinary profession and research to improve the health and welfare of dogs.

One more from the AVMA
https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/262/9/javma.24.01.0068.xml

12/17/2024

Questions are coming in below regarding what tools I use for pairing field goldens and why? I've spent the better part of the last 5 years gathering goldens and semen that I think will meet the genetic diversity goals we have while maintaining the key foundational traits of our working and field goldens.

According to UC Davis study, The Golden Retriever breed appears to have a lot of biodiversity, however the amount of that biodiversity that is effectively contributing to the population is low.

Some studies suggest that the the effective population size of the Golden Retriever breed is 27 dogs. This is a result of inbreeding, which has been high in the breed since the 1960s.

Here are some other facts about the Golden Retriever breed:

The breed's genetic diversity is low, with the 2010 population having the genetic diversity of only 2.1 dogs.
The breed descends from about 20 founder dogs.
The breed's popularity increased in the 1980s.
The average lifespan of a Golden Retriever is 10 to 12 years.
Golden Retrievers have a high risk of dying from cancer, with a chance of up to 65%.

When I announce a litter, I will give you all the data I can about the genetic heritage and diversity. I find that to be much more valuable than a Ps template with some cool pics and a link.

For some time, I thought all I had to do on my website and FB page is complete a list of acceptable health certs and breed field titles. Then, post on my page "bettering the breed". As I have dug deeper into the breed, taken a course, read numerous white/research papers and its genetics, there is far more to bettering the breed than I ever considered. Part of this includes understanding popular sires from the 70's and 80's in both the US and UK. Barty and Zeus are two. Its almost impossible to breed around them but I can limit their occurrences to 1 or 2 lines between the maternal and paternal pedigrees. Why does this matter? Un pairing common bad alleles is the key to health and longevity.

Tools used today -
Blood
Calculated
Genetics
Traits
COI
AVK

All available tools are used determine the most favorable field bred outcomes.

There is a UC Davis breed report which includes 691 tested Golden Retrievers and was written by Dr. Niels Pedersen BS, DVM, PhD.

Dr. Pedersen found in terms of the inbreeding values of this population, assessing inbreeding alone in a population does not indicate whether breeders are breeding towards a bottleneck or preserving biodiversity. That requires more analysis.

Interestingly, from Dr. Stern’s paper on Golden Retrievers, he noted, “We observed a higher number of effective alleles (Ne) in performance GRs than the conformation GRs (Ne = 3.54 and 3.14 respectively) (Table 1).” This finding is not atypical for other breeds in which performance bred dogs tend to preserve more biodiversity than show bred lines.

What does this mean for breeders? When effective alleles are much lower than the average alleles per locus, population can be trending toward a genetic bottleneck. This therefore suggests that the Golden Retriever breed is at risk of losing biodiversity to genetic drift.

Each breed community should make an effort to raise their effective alleles per locus. How can breeders do this? They should increase the numbers of genetic outliers in the breeding population – which sounds easy, but is hard to do without help, because pedigree based calculations alone won't identify genetic outliers.

By Carol Beuchat PhD
Clearly, if the best, most diligent efforts of responsible breeders are not solving the problem, then doing more of the same isn't going to improve things.

Among the "solutions" that will NOT solve the problem are:

stricter selection of which dogs are allowed to bred
reliance on knowing what's in your lines
more studies of the diseases, especially ones like cancer and epilepsy
elimination of the deleterious alleles from the gene pool
research to identify the "bad" genes
development of more genetic tests
ignore the problems
hope

You probably see some of your strategies on this list. But none of these address the roots of the problem as indicated by the scientists and veterinary professionals above, and as they point out, many of these things actually make the problem worse. They also point out, though, that while breeders are being offered new tools like DNA tests, they are given insufficient instruction in how to use them properly.

Even worse, many times breeders don't have the basic information and expertise they need to understand the current genetic status of their own breed. For example, "care must be taken [not to reduce] effective population size". Do you know the effective population size of your breed? (Do you know what "effective population size" means?) Are you using EBVs to improve the efficiency of selection against genetically complex diseases? (Do you know what "EBV" means?) Do you know the distribution of founder alleles in your current breeding population? (Do you know your breed's founders?) Do you know that most genetic disorders in dogs are caused by recessive mutations and that they are completely avoidable? (Do you understand why?)

No amount of money - and by now it must be millions per year - invested in more research and more testing is going to stem the tide of genetic disorders in purebred dogs. That seems clear. So how are we going to solve this problem?

The solution will come - and can only come - from the breeders. Not by doing more of the same, but by recognizing that traditional breeding practices have created the problem, and that breeders will need to learn about breeding strategies that will allow them to produce puppies that meet their goals as a breeder and will also live long, healthy lives.

12/16/2024

Couple more Indie x Champ pups from Riley.

Thanks guys!

12/16/2024

I've shared many insights on my FB page. I've been taking a breed preservation course through the ICB. I've learned a lot. Learning how to compile blood, calculated, inbreeding isolation and genetic tools for breed preservation has given me insights that I never understood well or implemented. In 2025 every WM Farms breeding will be an outcross via UK, US or CAN.

I found something amazing that I would like to share.

I've explained how Sage is a veritable genetically diverse goldmine in terms of COI, blood and ancestral loss coefficient or AVK. The Ancestor Loss Coefficient (AVK) is a measure of how diverse an animal's ancestors are, and is used to indicate the amount of inbreeding in a pedigree.

This last summer I imported 2 more working goldens from Scotland. Tay and Eden. They are coming along well. Tay retrieved her first rooster this last week and was all smiles.

Ephraim is a product of inbreeding isolation on a specific trait. Prey drive. He's a very good gun dog. All associated traits combined into 30 years of gun dog breeding from a breeder. Quiet, quarters, high prey drive, deliberate and a great team player. He's awesome in the field.

I planned to cross him with Tay or Eden. Here's why.

Calculated Coefficient Of Inbreeding (COI): 0.25%
Ancestor Loss Coefficient (AVK): 34.08% - That's great!
Common 10 generation ancestors = 0

If the Tay & Eden pass their health certs, this potential breeding produces some of the most genetically diverse field goldens we will have ever produced. All with strong key field traits.

But wait, there's more and its staggering.

I have frozen semen from HRCH Can CH Goldcker 1Drdogs Next Pushover SH NA NAJ NF WCX OS Can MH WCX TD UTD AGX AGXJ IP JT RN VCX he's the son of Can. Triple CH FTCH AFTCH OTCH Firemark's Push Comes to Shove Can. WCX Am. *** OS. Canadian breed field goldens. They have proven themselves in the competitive arena again and again.

I ran some calculations on a Tay x Edge cross and I couldn't believe the results.

Coefficient Of Inbreeding (COI): 0.14%
Ancestor Loss Coefficient (AVK): 47.31%
No common ancestors in 10 generations.

A staggering ancestral loss of nearly 50%! That's incredible, given their field and working pedigrees are surely capable of producing some exceptional offspring with a genetic diversity I've never produced or seen in a field golden. Eden is genetically clear, Tay is a ICT carrier. Tay's pedigree gives me the best genetic results, Eden is not far behind.

When I started in 2005 I thought high COIs where a must in order to produce results. By sharing this, I imagine a day when we can all enjoy a field bred golden where these outcomes are the norm not the exception of some dude in No. Utah trying to educate with a purpose. We all benefit, especially our goldens.

12/15/2024

The Indie - Champ puppies are now 3 years old.
Thanks to some wonderful owners that have shared their journey with these good looking field goldens.

Some very successful hunters, agility and many other usages.

12/14/2024

Preliminary 2025 Litter evaluation

Ailsa x Mac

AGCH MACH6 Northern Star Holy Mackeral JH MXG2 MJG2 PAD PJD MFG T2B5 TQX ADHF

Mac earned his MACH 6 last year and was awarded "Hall of Fame" status. I own his 1/2 sister Sky (12) and a Red River Ruckus daughter River. The offspring from Red have all been tremendous upland hunting dogs. However, the lines are closely in**ed. I would really like a puppy from the Red line so, here's how I approach this.

Mac first 5 gen inbreeding:
FC AFC Glenhaven HTRS MN Baronet MH OS FDHF
FTCH GMHR Cedarpond Rockerin Beabhin *** OD
Hunters Moon Tam O Shanter ** OD
AFC Glenhaven Devil's Advocate UDT MH WCX OS FDHF
NAFTCH FTCH Brasdor's Razzl Dazzl *** OD Can. FDHF
FTCH AFTCH Shurmark's Split Decision Am. MH *** OS Can. FDHF

That is a LOT of talent with a lot of inbreeding. So, how do I retain that talent and increase my heterozygousy in a litter?

Both Ailsa and Mac are genetically tested CLEAR.

A 10 gen pedigree cross in RetDat really helps me by showing what's in those 10 generations. Remarkably, the pairing doesn't share any of the above mentioned goldens. Its a complete outcross on all those goldens.

The litter pedigree calculated COI drops to 1.92%
Over a 30% ancestral loss
The 10 generation calculation is 100% complete.

Holway Barty is NOT shared between the pedigrees so, I split all those alleles.

Holway Zeus is shared at the 10th generation - 3 Times

There are 3 common ancestors:
Greenfoot Barra - 51 Offspring
Clockburn Commotion - High hips, only 14 Offspring - Study those..
Rakelands Jumble - 2 Offspring

Not widely used.

Ailsa is athletic and birdy. Paired with Mac, I can greatly reduce the homozygousy giving myself a high statistical chance of capturing some serious field talent in a very dark, athletic package.

She's had her prelims completed and several eye exams. If she passes her 2 year certs, I look forward to keeping and enjoying what they can produce.

At WM Farms I breed for field traits with as much heterozygousy as possible. Traits produce results. Titles don't produce traits.

12/14/2024

The Oakley x Gael litter.

I'm planning on keeping my first 50/50 male. We have several 50/50 females. Ivy, Sage, Pepper and Cora. I've been thinking about a name. The litter's father Gael, Scottish born and the origin of the breed led me to look up more information about Scottish clans. The clan is a concept which dates back to the 12th century. The Scottish clans were originally extended networks of families who had loyalties to a particular chief. The word clan, is derived from the Gaelic clann meaning literally children.

So with a little help from a friend, who speaks Gaelic, I think we have a pretty cool AKC and call name derived from the Scottish Clansman. Our new boy won't have his own tartan.

12/12/2024

En lieu of Agnes's question below, for those that are truly trying to develop a breeding program or understand how to select the best field golden for your usage, I offer some additional expanded insight regarding my approach and my experience.

Twenty year's ago I contacted Lorie J and asked about getting some Mr. Speaker semen. I was fresh into the field golden arena and wanted a Ferrari. The titles, trophies and the notoriety. I figured since Speaker was my way in, he would get me there fast! Long story short, Lorie said no! She said I wasn't ready. I was bummed and offended. We laugh about it now because she was right. I didn't stay offended. In an act of education, Lorie sent me some reading material. Life before today's Google and I read it. I didn't change right away. I went elsewhere and in time found there was no such thing as sustainable short cuts. I found out over the last 20 years, that the breed I admire needed some work. Not more titles, health work. I quit an International Applications Engineering job for a dog dairy of sorts.

Twenty years later Lorie sent me some of the only remaining Mr. Speaker semen. Not for me to say how much is left. Lorie and I will work together on the outcome and the future owners. Which by the way, I think I've had around 50 "put me on the list" contacts for a pup.

Today, Lorie trusts, that I will do the right/best thing with it. I've earned her trust. In the hands of 95% of the top field golden breeders this semen would be tightly paired with a popular sire pedigree MH female. He is arguably one the most talented AFC American field goldens we've had. At least top 5. He has tremendous talent, lived past 15 and is the #2 producer of MH in the US. I won't approach this like 95% of the breeders.

Lorie and I share several philosophical golden ideologies. One of them is how HT and FC goldens are obtained and treated in the US. For the most part, the young golden is pushed early and hard. He/she will spend weeks, months and years in a square box barely large enough to turn around in. If he/doesn't perform to the expedited expectation he/she will be forced or washed out. At a young age He/she will be forced to perform actions exacting to the HT/FC standard. The owner will check in a couple times a year on the golden. In the end a post will be made with ribbons and tiles offering stud services to those who meet the desired qualifications. This is a gross summary with a lot of truth. I work with a pro trainer. The irony is, he trains client dogs for about 10 months. They get the ribbons put him in a kennel and a year later ask for a tune up because he's rusty. The owner never had the time, training or patience to follow up on the 10+ months of work.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we have HT,HRC and FC events. Many people pour hours of their time and energy with little thanks and pay. However, somewhere along the line we have replaced a camp chair, wooden stick gun and a coke for a walk through chest high tulles, and a 870 12 ga pump. We've replaced two teenagers behind a blind and a cage full of pen raised ducks for dog(s) working a patch of tulles with a tail high, nose down and a call for guns ready. He's on one! The flush, the shot and the push to find the downed bird. A skill that requires the dog to hunt, flush, mark, find and retrieve. In deep cover. In many cases, the skill is expanded by a winged bird that's on the move. Then we witness the real tenacity of the scene. Exposed are the drive and skill to find a very crafty, very wild ring neck. I have literally had them found 100 yards away. No whistle, no command trying to direct a dog to a known location. He is allowed to seek and find using his 100 years of innate breeding skill. Its exhibited on a stage of two. Sometimes with a couple buddies. And hopefully with a God who is smiling down on three of his creations. All playing a part in the outcome. No judge, subjectivity and the only criticism is a missed bird or needed training. The evidence is whether or not the two of you put a bird in your hunting vest and moved to the next area.

Anyone that has experience this will tell you its a thing of beauty. A surreal moment to see an animal that was originally bred to be the consummate gun companion actually do its job and do it to perfection. No title, no crowd clapping, just a moment together. The prize? A wild ring neck in the rear of a hunting vest that was never hung a rack or mauled by a days worth of launching, chewing and slobber.

If you've done both, you respect both. There is value in both. I have been blessed to be on over 900 acres of land. I spend every day with my dogs on that land where they get trained on site. Some HT and a lot of hunting scenarios. With me, their owner forging a relationship that is expanded by the companionship of and temperament of todays field bred golden retriever.

Sage is the offspring of a IGL Field line line in the UK and Copper a well known, highly decorated US field golden.

She's from a litter of 8. I picked her on a hunch. I've seen a lot of pups in the last 20 years.

Sage is a golden genetic treasure. It took me 5 years to use the science to get the genetic results of the science. She's living proof that breeding for greater genetic diversity can happen and happen it did.

She has a pedigree calculated COI of .57% with a single common ancestor at gen 10. Only one.

Her blood COI is 12%. Half 1/2 of the golden average. In addition, of the 272 genetic health risks analyzed, only two where notable and they are both heterozygous. Unmatched alleles. Based on her genetic results, WM Farms Where The Sagebrush Grows is not at risk for developing any of the 272 known clinical diseases or conditions.

Of the 12 breed relevant genetic test results she is CLEAR on all accounts. She has EXCELLENT hips, elbows and eyes. No distichiasis, no cataracts or breeder option asterisks. I realize these can develop over time.

As of right now Sage is the living personification of what can be achieved by genetic diversity and trait breeding.

In time, I hope to replicate this to some achievable measure with every puppy that leaves WM farms. Every 2025 WM Farms breeding is an outcross.

I will continue hunting and later more time in HT. Within 10 years I hope to have the majority of our pups that are true to its genesis, achievable heath and proof in the field.

“Begin with the end in mind” is the second of the seven habits of highly effective people Dr. Stephen R. Covey defines in his bestselling book. The habit is based on the principle that all things are created twice: once in your mind and once in the physical world.

12/11/2024

The Oakley x Gael pups are now 4 weeks old and very active. They look great. I really like their coats, temperament and mental development. I have a 1.5 year old Gael daughter I imported last year. I really like her.

I plan on keeping a male. Pedigree analysis

Both parents show strong field traits in their offspring. An advantage of pairing goldens with some history & progeny behind them. Coupled with the strength of Oakley's performance pedigree these pups should do very well in hunt or performance venues. I plan to use him in HT.

The 10 generation pedigree calculated COI is 1.2%

The good news. We don't see our first two common ancestors until the 10th generation. Holway Barty's father is Zeus. (60's- 70's) He was used extensively in the UK while Barty was used extensively in the US 70's - early 80's) They're both in most field breedings in the US and UK.

Holway Westhyde Zeus 3.52% blood percentage
Holway Gaiety .49% blood percentage

Even better, this will be my second outcross on this line. The first one comes from our foundation golden Lady Sheila of WM Farms. Back 3 generations on the maternal side. A hunting dog with a western US pedigree and some AUS. By today's standard, a "nothing pedigree". Ohhhh could she hunt. She throws it in her offspring as I have 6 generations from her. So, now a second outcross with a UK golden. IE Gael with a proven progeny record of field performance.

My hope with this litter is that we have doubled up on heterozygous alleles with two unrelated outcrosses, while maintaining strong field traits. Time will tell.

Both an art and a science. Along with some genetic luck.

“Begin with the end in mind” is the second of the seven habits of highly effective people Dr. Stephen R. Covey defines in his bestselling book. The habit is based on the principle that all things are created twice: once in your mind and once in the physical world.

It's most interesting and fortuitous that 20 years after bringing Sheila home in 2005, we are at this point with one of her progeny.

12/11/2024

Breeding for heterozygous field goldens

I recently completed a TCI between
Quincy and Teddy. (US x UK) bred working goldens.

Quincy is a 5th generation WM farms golden.
Teddy lives and works in the UK.

Both have strong and common field traits. My effort in this breeding is preserve the original field traits. A working temperament was then and should be now an integral part of what makes a golden retriever special.

The pedigree calculated COI on 10 generations is 1.21%

More importantly there are only 2 common ancestors in 10 generations. Blackcraig Bracken of Drumtochty at a blood % of 2.54% and Ginger Joy at a 1.76% blood percentage.

There are no other related goldens in the first 10 generations. They only occur once. Holway Barty is there with a 6.25% but only on the American side. He was used extensively in the US during the 70s & early 80s.. So getting a pairing without duplicating his presence was one of my goals. With Teddy, I get just that.

If the TCI works, I will keep my 6th generation WM Farms Golden. From here on out I will keep and work goldens with far greater genetic diversity that ever before.

Start with the end in mind

12/11/2024

I found this VERY interesting study from the National Library of Medicine and other science based sources.

Title:
Genetic prevalence and clinical relevance of canine Mendelian disease variants in over one million dogs. (A Mendelian disease is a genetic condition caused by a single gene with dominant and recessive alleles)

Simply said, I'm studying the life span and disease resistance of homozygous vs. heterozygous percentages in purebred canines.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9997962/

I found a chart that amazed me. Its one of the most comprehensive studies I've found on golden retrievers and canines COIs generally.

In layman's terms:
If you want a canine that has the best statistical chance at a longer lifespan and higher disease resistance. Get a mutt. (Mixed breed)

If you want a purebred canine that has the best statistical chance at a longer life and disease resistance. Get as much heterozygousy you can within the breed.

Golden retrievers have roughly 36% heterozygousy meaning they are 64% homozygous. What happens to the breed when we all keep inbreeding the 64%? What happens when we inbreed subsets of that 64%, popular sires, or for a singular traits like color? Over and over and over.

What happens if I bred for field traits along with the most heterozygous pedigrees possible within a pure bred? Time will tell. It will never be perfect. I understand that. Its nature and the political walls of the registries. Doing the best I can within the system.

Here's the summary of the study.

Hundreds of genetic mutations associated with risk for disease have been identified in dogs and genetic testing is offered for most of them. Accurate information about which mutations are common and which mutations cause disease regardless of the breed or ancestry of a dog are critical for the ability to make informed pet care treatment choices and sustainable breeding selections. We examined the largest canine cohort examined in a single study to date, consisting of around one million dogs from our existing cohort of more than 3.5 million dogs. The dogs were screened for 250 genetic variants to shed light on their prevalence and breed distribution. We used electronic medical records from veterinary clinics to establish the relevance of specific genetic risk factors for pet care. We found that disease-associated variants are collectively common in dogs and that many health issues are shared by both mixed breed and purebred dogs. Our study also emphasizes the importance of avoiding excessive inbreeding in dogs by associating lower genetic diversity levels with an increased risk for the manifestation of inherited diseases. Taken together, our study provides an important resource to guide genetic counseling for inherited diseases across the dog population.

We examined the correlation between genome-wide levels of genetic diversity and genotypes for autosomal disease-associated variants (178 variants following recessive and 13 semi-dominant or dominant modes of inheritance; S1 Table) present and genotyped in the full study sample. We found that increased genome-wide genetic heterozygosity was weakly, but significantly, correlated with the presence of an increased number of autosomal disease-associated variants in heterozygous state in both mixed (Spearman r = 0.082, P < 0.001) and purebred dogs (Spearman r = 0.082, P < 0.001; Fig 3A). Conversely and more notably, we found that a decrease in heterozygosity manifests as an increased number of homozygous autosomal disease-associated variants (Fig 3B). This pattern was observed in both dogs classified as mixed breed (r = -0.16, P < 0.001) and purebred (r = -0.136, P < 0.001) and persisted when the analysis was repeated including only the recessive disease-associated variants (mixed breed r = -0.118, P < 0.001 and purebreds r = -0.155, P < 0.0001).

12/10/2024

My brother got the laser engraving completed on the insulated 32 oz water bottles. They are ready for the photo contest next year.

He'll start on the pens next, we talked about rosewood, walnut or cherry wood for those. He ordered the kits. Now it's out to the woodshed so he can start spinning the wood.

The grand prize is the collapsible Rock Creek crate.

You can start submitting your pictures on the website January 1st.

12/07/2024

Scott, a WM Farms client, called me from the hospital yesterday morning. With a lot of emotion in his voice he gratefully thanked me for his golden retriever. "She saved my life, Jed!" He went to bed early the previous night because he wasn't feeling well. Around midnight he was suddenly awakened by his faithful companion. She knew something was wrong and literally jumped on him. Scott had just started to have a heart attack. He was sweating and in pain. He called 911 and was rushed to the hospital. It was caught early enough. He will have surgery today to fix a couple of issues.

Thoughts and prayers are with you today!

These goldens............how do they know?

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Telephone

+14357701276

Website

http://www.windmillfarmsgoldens.com/

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Videos

The Oakley x Gael litter. I'm planning on keeping my first 50/50 male. We have several 50/50 females. Ivy, Sage, Pepper and Cora. I've been thinking about a name. The litter's father Gael, Scottish born and the origin of the breed led me to look up more information about Scottish clans. The clan is a concept which dates back to the 12th century. The Scottish clans were originally extended networks of families who had loyalties to a particular chief. The word clan, is derived from the Gaelic clann meaning literally children. So with a little help from a friend, who speaks Gaelic, I think we have a pretty cool AKC and call name derived from the Scottish Clansman. Our new boy won't have his own tartan.

The Oakley x Gael pups are now 4 weeks old and very active. They look great. I really like their coats, temperament and mental development. I have a 1.5 year old Gael daughter I imported last year. I really like her. I plan on keeping a male. Pedigree analysis Both parents show strong field traits in their offspring. An advantage of pairing goldens with some history & progeny behind them. Coupled with the strength of Oakley's performance pedigree these pups should do very well in hunt or performance venues. I plan to use him in HT. The 10 generation pedigree calculated COI is 1.2% The good news. We don't see our first two common ancestors until the 10th generation. Holway Barty's father is Zeus. (60's- 70's) He was used extensively in the UK while Barty was used extensively in the US 70's - early 80's) They're both in most field breedings in the US and UK. Holway Westhyde Zeus 3.52% blood percentage Holway Gaiety .49% blood percentage Even better, this will be my second outcross on this line. The first one comes from our foundation golden Lady Sheila of WM Farms. Back 3 generations on the maternal side. A hunting dog with a western US pedigree and some AUS. By today's standard, a "nothing pedigree". Ohhhh could she hunt. She throws it in her offspring as I have 6 generations from her. So, now a second outcross with a UK golden. IE Gael with a proven progeny record of field performance. My hope with this litter is that we have doubled up on heterozygous alleles with two unrelated outcrosses, while maintaining strong field traits. Time will tell. Both an art and a science. Along with some genetic luck. “Begin with the end in mind” is the second of the seven habits of highly effective people Dr. Stephen R. Covey defines in his bestselling book. The habit is based on the principle that all things are created twice: once in your mind and once in the physical world. It's most interesting and fortuitous that 20 years after bringing S

Good Morning, If you have a deposit on the Oakley x Gael litter and have not been contacted by me or are not on the WhatsApp litter group, please contact me immediately. Congratulations to all. We also welcome 2 more vets to the WM Farms family. Always a lot of pressure placing pups with vets. Thank you all and congratulations.

Flushing the cattails tonight.

River and Linda on rubble this morning. She passed her NAPWDA test. Congratulations you two, you make a great team. Another qualified golden retriever cadaver dog.

The Oakley x Gael (Scotland) litter arrived over the weekend. 7M 3F - Gael's first US born litter. Oakley is the only female from her litter and the great-granddaughter of our foundation female Sheila. Making this US/UK field/working golden litter very unique. This will be Oakley's last litter. Pedigree calculated COI: 1.2% First Common (FC): Holway Westhyde Zeus 10th Gen 7-21 @ blood% of 3.52% Gael has progeny throughout the United Kingdom and Europe competing and working in many venues.

Caroline recently shared this video of Brewer. A Quincy x Reggie son. He loves to ride horses! Thank you for sharing!

Wacipi trying to jump up on the bail. She eventually made it. 🦘

I had a helper this morning. The kiss at the end..... priceless.

Ivy x Rowdy pups They are two weeks old, eyes are open and they are crawling around. Ivy's a very good mom, these guys are plump. Collars won't stay on their necks. This is a 3/4 US by 1/4 UK. CLEAR Calculated COI 1.79% First common ancestor 4th 1-1 generation Firemarks Push Comes to Shove CAN triple CH, FTCH, AFTCH, OTCH We were able to go back on Push and still get a less than 2% COI calculated because Ivy is a 50/50 golden with a strong field competitor Riley from the UK. I'm implementing breed preservation principles taught through the ICB. By focusing on strong field traits with more heterozygousy for higher genetic diversity within the purebred field working golden.

Ivy Litter - chubby - eyes open this week

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15 Years of selective field golden breeding.

Golden retrievers, bred to retrieve, bred with a purpose.

Breeding for the breed.

We are passionate about keeping the retrieve in golden retrievers. Multi-usages with health, drive, awesome temperaments and bred to retrieve. If you are looking for the best in working class goldens please review our website and philosophy.

Why Windmill Farms - 700 acres of field, 4 season training, water,wild birds, real hunted scenarios, heated indoor training to develop the optimal working class goldens.

Windmill Farms Golden Retrievers

12/18/2024

12/18/2024

12/18/2024

12/17/2024

12/16/2024

12/16/2024

12/15/2024

12/14/2024

12/14/2024

12/12/2024

12/11/2024

12/11/2024

12/11/2024

12/10/2024

12/07/2024

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15 Years of selective field golden breeding.