Rachna & Zoe

If you are considering adding a Golden Retriever to your family, you absolutely must consider Gigi & Lakemist Retrievers.

Our family is beyond happy with our experience with LMR, and our puppy from there, Zoe. 

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When we decided to add a puppy to our family, we knew what we wanted and LMR was the perfect fit. We wanted a small breeder who was selective with her breedings, and that the dogs were her personal pets in her home and not part of a large breeding program (we found many of those). 

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We also were very particular on the genetic testing as our previous Golden died of cancer. The thorough OFA certifications LMR does were extremely important to us. 

At the end of the day, genetics and parent lineage are very important when selecting a puppy and we were more than satisfied on both accounts. Both parents have wonderful dispositions, temperament and the fact that Tilly is Gigi's personal therapy dog was a bonus. The OFA certifications that Gigi did on the heart, elbows, hips, etc were a huge reassurance.

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Beyond that, what made us select LMR was the way Gigi raises the puppies for the first 8 weeks. They live in her home and she loves on and gets to know every one of them. She has a wonderful puppy room set up where they are exposed to all sorts of noises (thunderstorms, vacuums, music, bells, etc), toys, and she follows a comprehensive puppy raising process on what they should be doing each week of their development. As a result, our puppy doesn't flinch around thunderstorms, fireworks, or vacuum cleaners.

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Gigi did a fantastic job of updating us with pictures and videos as the puppies were growing, and we loved her process of puppy selection. She asks each family what characteristics and personality they are looking for in their new dog, and gets to know the family. Gigi then does a personality test around 7-8 weeks and matches the puppy to the family. This made complete sense to me since she is the one who has learned the temperament and personality of each of the puppies, and if I were selecting, I would simply be going on physical attributes. The personality and the health of the dog were most important aspects to us, so this was the perfect fit. 

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Our puppy, Zoe, is absolutely the perfect dog for us. I absolutely loved having the personality test, because the results Gigi shared with us at 8 weeks are still true of Zoe's personality today. Zoe really has the temperament and personality we were looking for, we adore her. As a matter of fact, when we took Zoe in for training, multiple trainers told us how amazed they were with her calm, confident, smart yet sweet and loving personality and that she should be a therapy dog. One trainer even told us she is the best puppy he has ever met. 

 

We also that Gigi is in constant touch with her puppies, and truly cares about every one of them. She is always responsive whenever I have a question or need guidance. Her support and love continues throughout the life of her puppies and that is what makes LMR truly stand out. 

 

And lastly, Gigi's support of veterans and helping others makes her truly one in a million. We wholeheartedly endorse LMR.