WIDEMOUTH Bay was looking rather more golden than usual recently, as a sea of Golden Retriever dogs — and their humans — flocked to the beach for a reunion walk.

Organised by Golden Retriever breeders, Dee and Rob Johnson, who live near Bude, the pair were interested to meet up with the puppies from past litters and their owners, so arranged a reunion walk on Sunday, September 24.

Dee, 52, has been breeding Golden Retrievers for almost nine years now, and loves the breed with a passion. She said: “I am quite ruthless when it comes to selecting owners for our pups, as they have to pass a criteria that I feel is good enough for one of our pups.”

On their last litter, there were over 300 enquiries for a pup and they generally have a two-year waiting list. She said that anyone that enquires is most likely ‘not able to have a puppy from us for several years’.

Dee and Rob have five Golden Retrievers themselves — Charlie, nine; Gracie, seven; Daisy-May, five; Lola, three and Heidi, 16 months. The pair moved from Plymouth to Cornwall last year, wanting to give their dogs a better life with a bigger garden, woods on their doorstep and beaches all around them. ‘Goldens’ love water, according to Dee, so their dogs are often treated to a swimming session.

Having bred eight litters so far, Dee explained how the breed has impacted on her life. She said: “Our dogs are my life and I love breeding them. People don’t realise how much hard work breeding is, both physically and emotionally, but it is so rewarding handing over a puppy, which so often brings tears of happiness.

“A Golden can totally change your life, as they are so intelligent and affectionate. Several of the puppies we have bred have become assistance dogs, helping children who have cebral palsy or autism of varying levels. One of the pups that went to a family with a little boy with CP were shocked when their puppy kept going and laying his head on their child’s chest — then the child soon after had a seizure. They realised eventually that the pup had sensed it was going to happen, and that was his way of signalling the fit was going to happen. This was with no training whatsoever!”

Dee and Rob never put their dogs in kennels, so when they go on holiday to visit family who are nearly all in Australia, they make a seven-hour journey to their close friends, who look after their dogs whilst the couple are away.

They try to organise a reunion every two years, and invite all the pups that they have bred and their families — almost 70 in total.

On Sunday, 24 pups attended the reunion at Widemouth, in spite of the pouring rain. Some had travelled a long way, from South Wales, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire, just to be at the event, making Dee very happy. She continued: “It’s so nice to see them all together and see what beautiful dogs they have grown into. Sometimes this is the only way we get to see the pups we have bred, since they leave us at eight weeks.

“I like to stay in contact with all the families and always support them and their dogs for the whole of the dog’s life. To me, it’s so important to have a relationship with all my puppy owners.”

Dee has a Facebook group, where owners can join and watch their puppy grow from four weeks from conception — through a scan photo — view pictures and videos of the birth and then daily photos of them growing up during the eight weeks before they are sent to their new home.

Owners can also view ‘pupdates’ of the puppies every week and get a description of their developing personalities. All of the families involved have commented on how this has been ‘such a lovely thing to be part of’.

Two years ago, instead of a reunion, Dee and Rob drove all around England with their caravan and all their dogs, visiting all the pups they had bred as a few people were unable to visit them for any of the reunions. They managed to visit all of them in this tour, including as far as North Yorkshire.

Dee is an assured breeder with the kennel club. Health and temperement is the most important thing when breeding, according to Dee. “It makes me so angry that there is not enough laws to protect vulnerable puppies coming into the world within puppy farms. They are bred like they are on conveyor belts and receive no socialising or care. The breeding bitches are often bred on every season without a break, and it breaks my heart to know that any dog can be treated like this.

“All our pups live in our house and are included in everything we do — they sleep with us in our bed. The pups are all born in our house and when the weather is nice and the pups are older, we have a big playground outside with a ball pall, tunnels, slide and lots of toys for them to play with. We interact with them right from the start, also playing a CD with lots of noises like thunder and children squealing, aeroplanes, pneumatic drills. This all prepares them for life and they become so confident and have very little fear of anything.”

Dee is a trained ultrasound scanner, and she scans her bitches herself when they are expecting a litter, as well as microchipping the pups.

She added: “If I was told that I could no longer have my dogs, my life wouldn’t be worth living! Each one of them has a piece of my heart.”