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 clearance they came back Fair so we will not let her have puppies to reduce the risk of her babies having bad hips. She also has a slight underbite which is also not acceptable. 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 clearance they came back Fair so we will not let her have puppies to reduce the risk of her babies having bad hips. She also has a slight underbite which is also not acceptable. 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 and Mocha - October 2022
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. She 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 had actually met her a couple of years ago at a local dog show. Since she was in the process of moving to TN and felt that she didn't have the time to work with a puppy she decided to let us have the top girl. July, 2020: We are having a lot of fun with Charlotte - she is doing well with her field training and is finally taking an obedience class with John. Covid 19 has put a lot of things on the back burner. We entered her in her first show in the fall of 2019 but due to cancellation of most dog shows that are in the Northeast she has not been back in the ring. Hopefully we can get going again soon. August 17, 2020: Charlotte earned her first title today after completing her first obedience class. She aced the CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test. Now we'll have to wait a while for the next level until her instructor is ready to start classes again. Classes have to be held outside to keep everyone 6' apart which has caused classes to be cancelled several times due to excessive heat or rain. September 15, 2021: John and Charlotte have spent the summer training for Obedience competition and are ready to try the ring. We have entered her in the Wine Country shows in a little over 2 weeks and are hoping she comes home with her Novice (CD) title. They have also been working field training - she is doing well at that also but not quite ready for a trial. 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. Hopefully she can earn her title at the indoor Syracuse shows in November.
November 13, 2022: The fall indoor shows did not go well - too many distractions and it was difficult to hear the judge due to a bad echo in the building. We will try again in early February!
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 had actually met her a couple of years ago at a local dog show. Since she was in the process of moving to TN and felt that she didn't have the time to work with a puppy she decided to let us have the top girl. July, 2020: We are having a lot of fun with Charlotte - she is doing well with her field training and is finally taking an obedience class with John. Covid 19 has put a lot of things on the back burner. We entered her in her first show in the fall of 2019 but due to cancellation of most dog shows that are in the Northeast she has not been back in the ring. Hopefully we can get going again soon. August 17, 2020: Charlotte earned her first title today after completing her first obedience class. She aced the CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test. Now we'll have to wait a while for the next level until her instructor is ready to start classes again. Classes have to be held outside to keep everyone 6' apart which has caused classes to be cancelled several times due to excessive heat or rain. September 15, 2021: John and Charlotte have spent the summer training for Obedience competition and are ready to try the ring. We have entered her in the Wine Country shows in a little over 2 weeks and are hoping she comes home with her Novice (CD) title. They have also been working field training - she is doing well at that also but not quite ready for a trial. 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. Hopefully she can earn her title at the indoor Syracuse shows in November.
November 13, 2022: The fall indoor shows did not go well - too many distractions and it was difficult to hear the judge due to a bad echo in the building. We will try again in early February!
Happy 11th Birthday to our Superstition Litter!
January 13, 2023: Happy Birthday to our Superstition litter!! Sadly, Bowerys lost Ziva last March which leaves Maggie the last surviving pup. Happy Birthday at the Rainbow Bridge to Shadow, Lizzie, Dugan, Skylar, Ziva, Cinders, Ciara, Leo and Buster.
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.
