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, 2025
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 Retriever Club 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!
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August 13, 2025: Happy 2nd Birthday to our Max! He is becoming a very handsome boy. In the past year he has done very well in conformation and now has 11 points including his first major. Only 4 points and another major win to go! Unfortunately, due to low entries at many shows we haven't been able to find a major. Maybe we will at one of the last 3 shows of the summer.
Last fall at the Wine Country shows Max completed his Beginner Novice obedience title. We are now trying to get him ready to compete for his Novice title. Max has settled down some but is still very much a puppy. He has an outgoing personality and has never met a person that he didn't like. He still thinks that our cat, Luna, is for chasing and poking. Luckily, she is very tolerant and keeps her claws sheathed. |
Max
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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! June, 2025: Max is back in the show ring for the summer shows. We traveled to Bainbridge, NY at the end of the month where he did well. He was the only boy in the classes so he automatically went WD. Two of the 3 days he earned 3 more points by going BOW so he now has 11 of the required points towards his championship. Hopefully he will earn his second major and the 4 points by the end of the show season. September 28, 2025: New Champion! Max again did well at Wine Country. On Friday he finished his American Championship with a 5 point major against a very impressive lineup of dogs. He then took BOW over a very lovely girl who also finished her championship on Sunday. On Sunday he went into the BOB ring and looked very good considering he was the youngest in the ring. Now we will start working towards his Grand Championship. |
September 28, 2024: Max & John after earning his 4 point major and also going BOW at Wine Country.
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New Title!
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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.
