26/06/2025
The whole reason we started Stormy Hill Golden Retrievers can be summed up in these photos. When our youngest child was born and we learned he had Down Syndrome many things changed for our family, though not in the way you might think.
We have always been dog people and my husband has been a trainer for hunting dogs for over 30 years but we had never had Golden's.
With our son's arrival, we were introduced into a whole new world where a need to advocate for those with disabilities became paramount. When our youngest was just a few months old we found our first Golden girl, by coincidence her birthday was just a few days before his.
The way she was with him from the beginning cemented in my mind how intuitive Goldens can be. She was in the hands of a family who clearly understood dog behavior and had fantastic training from the get-go, but she was special.
Our son didn't walk until he was 3.5 but she would happily play beside him even when he could only throw her stick a few feet, she would retrieve it and gently give it back to him.
Then came out boy, Red. He is so patient and loving with our son's hugs that might be too tight and his loving that may be too much.
Our goal in breeding is to be able to produce the kind of temperment, that with proper obedience training and socialization, can yield therapy and service dogs, in addition to amazing family companions.
We now have dogs in the homes of 6 other families touched by Down Syndrome located in 5 different states.
It is my goal as we proceed that my youngest will help with our business, maybe even becoming a therapy dog handler someday.
Until then, let me share some happy smiles from amazing little ones and their furrever friends from Stormy Hill.
