
WE ARE NO LONGER BREEDING FLAT-COATED RETRIEVERS. TO FIND LINKS TO PUPPY RESOURCES PLEASE SEE BELOW UNDER "LITTER NEWS".
January 2021: We have recently received inquiries about our Boykin Spaniel breeding plans.
May 8, 2021: We will not be able to breed our Boykin Spaniel Charlotte as we planned. When we received the results of her hip clearances they came back Fair so we will not let her have puppies to reduce the risk of her babies having bad hips. We will work with our breeder and when the time is right for us, we will try again with a new pup. We know from experience that as a puppy develops things change and a pup that looks good at 8 weeks will have traits that do not meet the breed standard as a young adult.
January 2021: We have recently received inquiries about our Boykin Spaniel breeding plans.
May 8, 2021: We will not be able to breed our Boykin Spaniel Charlotte as we planned. When we received the results of her hip clearances they came back Fair so we will not let her have puppies to reduce the risk of her babies having bad hips. We will work with our breeder and when the time is right for us, we will try again with a new pup. We know from experience that as a puppy develops things change and a pup that looks good at 8 weeks will have traits that do not meet the breed standard as a young adult.
About Us - John & Donna Wagner

Charlotte & Max - October, 2024
We live with our Flat-Coated Retriever and Boykin Spaniel in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. We brought our first Flat-Coat, Emma, home in the summer of 2004. Unfortunately, little Emma had an undetected congenital heart defect and we lost her at 13 weeks of age. Thanks to her breeder we soon found another puppy, Katie. We quickly discovered as many other FCR owners do, that they are like potato chips - you can't have just one. Tara, our foundation bitch, joined our family on New Year's Eve 2004. Then along came another Emma in spring of 2007; named after her Aunt Emma. In 2009 Tara had her second litter of 10 puppies. Our puppy evaluator told us not to let the top male go to a pet home and to hold out for a show home. Jet stayed with us - I think he found his show home! After losing both Tara and Katie in the fall of 2013 we decided that if we had another litter we would keep the top girl. Mocha was the top pick from the Gemstone Litter in the summer of 2014. She is our first liver pup and is our first AKC Champion and Grand Champion. Mocha earned her titles completely from the Bred By Exhibitor class with John handling her. They keep us very busy! We are members of the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America, the Finger Lakes & Northern Montezuma Retriever Clubs and our local kennel club. All of our breeding dogs receive OFA clearances for hips, elbows, patellas, heart and eyes. We have also begun having DNA testing done through Embark to be sure that our dogs are not passing along any genetic diseases or conditions.
May 4, 2018: We have met the criteria and we are now an AKC Breeder of Merit!!
June 3, 2019: After searching for a Flat-Coat puppy with no luck we decided to take the plunge and add a new breed to the pack. We had been considering a Boykin Spaniel for a couple of years but they are hard to find in upstate NY. When I checked availability on the AKC puppy site I found a breeder on Long Island with a litter. We brought our new Boykin Spaniel puppy home today. She is fitting into the pack very well although I don't think our cat Luna is too happy about the new family member.
August 17, 2020: Charlotte earned her first title today after completing her first obedience class. She aced the CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test.
October 3, 2021: Charlotte earned her CD obedience title today! It only took 4 trials (she needed 3 legs to title), quite an accomplishment considering that she did it in one weekend. John has already started the training for her CDX.
October 3, 2022: Charlotte earned 2 of 3 required legs towards her CDX over the weekend with a first-place finish on the 2 days she qualified. It was a beautiful weekend in upstate New York full of lots of tantalizing smells which was just too much for her ever-sniffing nose. She did well with all of the exercises accept the off-lead heel when she chose to follow the scents on the ground instead of John.
August 27, 2023: After too many NQs Charlotte earned her CDX obedience title with a first place finish. She is now Top Gun Take My Breath Away CGC CD CDX. Now to start working towards her Utility title!!
May 4, 2018: We have met the criteria and we are now an AKC Breeder of Merit!!
June 3, 2019: After searching for a Flat-Coat puppy with no luck we decided to take the plunge and add a new breed to the pack. We had been considering a Boykin Spaniel for a couple of years but they are hard to find in upstate NY. When I checked availability on the AKC puppy site I found a breeder on Long Island with a litter. We brought our new Boykin Spaniel puppy home today. She is fitting into the pack very well although I don't think our cat Luna is too happy about the new family member.
August 17, 2020: Charlotte earned her first title today after completing her first obedience class. She aced the CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test.
October 3, 2021: Charlotte earned her CD obedience title today! It only took 4 trials (she needed 3 legs to title), quite an accomplishment considering that she did it in one weekend. John has already started the training for her CDX.
October 3, 2022: Charlotte earned 2 of 3 required legs towards her CDX over the weekend with a first-place finish on the 2 days she qualified. It was a beautiful weekend in upstate New York full of lots of tantalizing smells which was just too much for her ever-sniffing nose. She did well with all of the exercises accept the off-lead heel when she chose to follow the scents on the ground instead of John.
August 27, 2023: After too many NQs Charlotte earned her CDX obedience title with a first place finish. She is now Top Gun Take My Breath Away CGC CD CDX. Now to start working towards her Utility title!!
Happy Birthday!
March 18, 2025: Happy 5th Birthday to our Spring litter! They are also known as the covid pups since they were born 2 days before NY state shut down. We had to adjust and change our regular routine for puppy visits, vet checks and immunizations and puppy deliveries to their new homes. Our families were very flexible - waiting until we could have visits outside and meeting us in Albany and Erie to receive their new family member. A couple of the pups have been busy this past year. Maui is now an AKC titled therapy dog who loves visiting the Cornell students and Emma is the star of her obedience class.
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Max
October 15, 2023: We had been considering adding a third dog to the pack but couldn't decide if it would be a Flat-Coat or a Boykin Spaniel. The opportunity for a Flat-Coat arose and we decided to add a boy - meet Max. His parents are from 2 very well known kennels and we are looking forward to getting back into the conformation ring, more obedience and field.
March 30 & 31, 2024: Max made his conformation debut in Syracuse this weekend. On Saturday he placed 1st out of 2 in the 6-9 puppy class. His competition was his brother, Frankie. They were so cute when they saw each other - they never forget their littermates. On Sunday he was RWD. September 7, 2024: We have had a very busy summer traveling to dog shows; now we have a small break until the big show at Romulus at the end of the month. Max has done well in both conformation & obedience. He has been Winners Dog 4 times but the first 2 times there weren't enough dogs entered to earn points. On August 16th he not only took WD but also Best of Winners and earned his first 2 points. On August 30th he again took WD for another 2 points. He was also RWD 4 times. Max & John are also competing in Beginner Novice obedience. After 3 tries he has 2 of the 3 required legs towards his title. He took 1st place on August 16 & 17 with scores of 125 & 126. November, 2024: Show season has wrapped up for 2024 with a couple of very nice placements. Max did very well at the Wine Country shows where there is always tough competition. Thursday morning he went RWD to a 4 point major and in the afternoon he earned his Beginner Novice obedience title. He had the day off on Friday while we chaired obedience and rally for our kennel club. Saturday we were very surprised when he went WD to earn his first major (4 points) and went on to BOW. He is now more than half way to his AKC champion title. We are very proud of our boy! |
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New Title!
August 27, 2023: Charlotte earned her CDX obedience title today with a first place finish. It has taken several trials to reach this goal. Her busy little nose is often glued to the ground when she should be following John and paying attention. Hopefully she will do better in Utility where there are exercises where she has to use her nose!
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Litter News
We are no longer breeding Flat-Coated Retrievers so please do not email us. If you are interested in a puppy go to the website of the Flat-Coated Retriever Society of America. There you will find the contact information for the membership chair who can give you a list of breeders. There is also a link under "More" to the AKC website (www.akc.org) where you can click on "Find a Puppy".
If you are looking for a Boykin Spaniel you can also go to "More" and click on the AKC and Boykin Spaniel Society links.
If you are looking for a Boykin Spaniel you can also go to "More" and click on the AKC and Boykin Spaniel Society links.