Frequently Asked Questions
What is a comfort retriever®?
We love golden retrievers and wish everybody could own one. Many have found goldens just too big to own. We created the comfort retriever®, a miniature golden retriever, so that size wouldn’t be a barrier for golden retriever lovers. A comfort retriever® is a hybrid from selectively bred golden retrievers and poodles. Not only are the size issues resolved, but many wonderful benefits have been added. For more information see the comfort retriever® breed history
What colors does a comfort retriever® come in?
Most of our comfort retrievers® are a medium gold. We are attempting to get a full range of golden retriever colors, from cream to gold to red. Occasionally, we get white spots (abstract) or parti colors from the poodle side.
What is the advantage of a comfort retriever® over a golden retriever?
- A comfortable size family dog (20-55 lbs)
- Some hypoallergenic traits
- Decreased shedding
- Increased longevity
- Parents health tested
- More intelligent and trainable
What is the difference between the larger and smaller comfort retrievers®?
Our larger comfort retrievers® are generally from golden retriever moms bred to comfort retriever® dads. They generally have more golden retriever in them, so they are a little better of a carbon copy and more golden retriever like than the smaller comforts. They tend to be 45-55 lbs.
The smaller comfort retrievers® are generally comfort retrievers® bred to comfort retrievers®. They generally have a little more poodle, so they may have more hypoallergenic and reduced shedding traits. They have a little higher activity level and are good looking, but not as close of a carbon copy as the larger comforts. They tend to be around 20-35 lbs., but sizes can vary.
What is the difference between a goldendoodle and a comfort retriever®?
Both are composed of poodle and golden, but comfort retrievers® are selectively bred to look and act like golden retrievers and not like the classic goldendoodes . They are unique enough to deserve their own name.
Is a male or female puppy better?
Generally, all of our dogs go to homes already spay and neutered. This really equalizes the genders. We think males are slightly more mellow, but both genders make wonderful pets.
What are the advantages of early spay and neutering?
- Puppies have less bleeding, pain and recover more quickly
- Lowering risks of mammary and reproductive disorders and cancers
- Eliminates risk of accidentally producing puppies
- Some areas have decreased prices on dog licensing
- No behavioral conditions develop as a result of early spay/neuter, and undesirable behaviors such as urine marking, aggression, and roaming are much less likely to develop with these dogs
- Reproductive organs stay smaller, which many owners appreciate
- It eliminates the risk of a dog being stolen for breeding purposes
- We have done early spay neuters for over 20 years and have never had a medical problem because of the procedure
- Research indicates the longest living dog have all been early spay neuter puppies
Why did you trademark the DoodleQuest and Comfort Retriever?
We had a breeder who knew about us and decided she could sell more puppies if she used our name, because it has a stellar reputation. We were concerned that many owners would be tricked and that we would get her bad reputation. We felt as if we had no option but to trademark DoodleQuest® to protect our name.
We had other breeders calling their dogs comfort retrievers®. These dogs were composed of breeds we don’t use. These breeders used breeds known to have temperament problems and most didn’t do any health testing. We thought they would get an awful reputation. We were concerned the public would get confused, since these breeders were calling their dogs comfort retrievers® . We wanted to protect both the hybrid, that we think has great potential, and the consumer; so we trademarked the comfort retriever®.
Is it correct to call your comfort retrievers® miniature golden retrievers, since they are not composed of only golden retrievers?
We have looked at the history of other breeds to see what standard is already set. One breed we examined was the history of schnauzers. Initially there were only standards and no miniature schnauzers existed. Miniature schnauzers were developed from crosses between the standard schnauzer and one or more smaller breeds, such as the poodle and affenpinscher. The miniature schnauzer has been AKC recognizes since 1925. AKC is considered by many to be the one that sets the standard, so AKC accepted and approved the registration of minature schnauzers that were produced by adding additional breeds to downsize the standard. We are following a similar method and therefore feel it is reasonable to call our Comfort Retrievers® miniature golden retrievers.
What health testing do you do on the parents and why do you test?
The testing depends on the parents, but frequently we test with a veterinary opthomologist for eyes; cardiology test for hearts; patella, knee caps; hips (pennHIP); elbows; prcd-PRA, for an eye disorder; GR-PRA1, for an eye disorder; icthyosis, a skin disorder; and vWD, Von Willebrand’s Disease, a bleeding disorder. We do extensive health testing on our dogs to give your pups best odds of having life-long health.
What is your Health and Longevity program?
We love our dogs and want to give them the best odds of having a long lived, healthy life. In order to achieve this, we have developed our Health and Longevity Program. We do all we can for your dog and we invite you to partner with us in our program.
What is the expected life span of a comfort retriever®?
Smaller dogs live longer than bigger dogs. We are doing lots of genetic testing to try to remove as many health issues in the hybrid as possible. We think is is reasonable that a well cared for Comfort Retriever® can live to be 15-20 years. We think this is a reasonable estimate, but it will be years before our dogs are old enough that we can have data to confirm the actual average lifespan.
What is the price of a puppy?
Generally, pups out of a golden retriever mom , the larger comforts, are $1,500. The pups from two comfort retrievers®, the smaller comforts, are $2,000. Guardian homes are $400. Shipping in the continental USA for pups 8-9 weeks is $400.
What guarantee do you offer with your pup?
We start with a 24 month health guarantee. This guarantee can be extended to 48 months by feeding Life’s Abundance and giving NuVet an-immune booster daily. Read our contract for more details.
Do you ship?
Yes, we ship in the USA, to Canada and to countries that have rabies. We don’t ship to countries that are rabies free.
How do I reserve a pup?
See Reserving your DoodleQuest® Puppy
What are your home going instructions?
See Preparing for your DoodleQuest® Puppy
Can I pick my pup?
Yes, you can pick your pup and we help guide you and answer questions. Many other breeders just pick your pup for you. We believe that choosing your next puppy, a family member, is a very important decision that you should have the opportunity to participate in. This takes more time than just picking a pup for you, but we think it’s worth the effort.
The pups aren’t normally fully protected from parvo from their first vaccination, so we send current photo and have a teleconference to discuss details of the pup with you till all your questions are answered.
What is your visitors policy?
We love to have visitors and to show off our dogs. On the other hand, each visitor carries the risk of unknowingly bringing parvo on our property, which is highly lethal to young puppies. Our compromise is to allow visitors, but pregnant or nursing moms and young pups are not allowed visitors. Fully vaccinated puppies and adult dogs can be visited. No outside dogs are allowed on our property without prior approval.
Where are you located?
We are located in Nicholasville, which touches the south side of Lexington, KY. Please contact us to schedual a visit. At that time, we will give you more address details. Our airport, Blue Grass Airport (LEX), is 20 minutes from our house.