Golden Mountain Doodles are a combination of Golden Retriever, Bernese Mountain dog and poodle.  We breed medium size generally 35-55 lbs.

Our puppies are low- to non-shedding and considered hypoallergenic, making them compatible for most people with allergies.

We aim to breed multigenerational small to medium dogs. So far we’ve had puppies from 30 to 60 lbs, with the parents and grandparents being 35-55 lbs on both sides. Most puppies are 40-55 lbs. If you prefer a smaller or larger puppy, we’ll do our best to match that, and genetics aren’t fully predictable so we can’t guarantee a specific weight.

We plan to have 2 litters per year in the spring through fall.  We like to begin potty training in the warm months with young puppies having lots of time outside.

The waiting list has typically been 3-6 months but it varies and we sometimes have puppies available sooner. 

8 weeks

Yes, families typically visit at 5 weeks to meet the puppies and begin to make matches.  

Temperament is the most important aspect of matching.  We will talk about what you are looking for, observe the puppies and work with you in matching puppies with their people.  Families also give input about coloration and other preferences.

Our price for a Golden Mountain Doodle puppy is $3,500-4,500 including a 2 year health guarantee and agreement to neuter/spay.  We hope this work for you. The price is higher than some, and similar or lower than some breeders of mini GMD (24-49 lbs) , representing the costs of seeking out parent dogs with exceptional temperament and health, feeding local farm meats, best quality kibble, probiotics, fish oil, post vaccine immune support and hepatic cleansing, prioritizing Holistic Medical Care, and including the tremendous amount of time we spend in positive socialization in their formative weeks. We believe our puppies are worth every bit of extra attention and care, in order that they go to their families being vibrant in every way! We hope that when you meet them, you’ll agree!

We genetically health test our dogs to ensure that we are passing down healthy genetics.  In addition, the crossing of 3 breeds adds tremendous genetic vitality and diversity.  

We deworm parent dogs before the birth, and puppies at 5 and 7 weeks.  Puppies are protected by the mom’s immunity until 11 to 16 weeks.  Our vet suggest beginning vaccines at 9-10 weeks, puppies go home at 8 weeks, so families take care of those.

We feed approximately 50/50 raw and kibble.  We include ‘Mainely Poultry Dog Patties’ of local raw chicken, organs, ground bone, egg and veggies. Also ground beef, organs and bone from a local butcher.  We also offer good quality grain free kibble like ‘Taste of the Wild’ to simplify our lives, but the dogs prefer the meat!  We include ‘Standard Process Canine Immune Vitamins’, fish oil, and plaque off for clean teeth. 

We begin training here and it’s important for consistent training to continue so a puppy becomes a well behaved, thoughtful, easy-to-live-with family member.   Most puppies have a lot of energy so abundant daily exercise is the 1st need- walks, play w/ balls or toys, recall games, etc.  We have had good success with hand feeding kibble for the first few months.  This establishes you as the pack leader, and is an easy twice daily time to practice simple essential communication- look at me, recognize your name, sit, stay, down, leave it,  place, and free dog.  This in addition to recall games inside and then outside are the foundation of dog training.  Sit, stay and place (their own spot to lay and stay until released) can prevent jumping on visitors or barking at the door.  When taught early and reinforced regularly, these are a real blessing.

There are also free online positive training videos like ‘Zac George’ that if followed consistently, can be successful.  He also has a few books.

For folks who appreciate a very thorough systematic approach, check out online trainers ‘Baxter and Bella’ who offer a program of live and recorded lessons. They are affordable, and it’s possible to choose how much and what to engage with. We are members with them which provides a discount to families so the lifetime membership is just $200 (the cost of 1-2 hrs w/ an in person trainer). Use code MCMCND.   A little daily work with these tools can prevent or reduce expensive and challenging training issues later on.  And training can be fun, can include all family members.  ‘Baxter and Bella’ have great suggestions about how.

In-person puppy classes can be great places to learn what to practice at home, and 1 on 1 training support is recommended asap if training individually isn’t leading to the desired results.

Some people choose to send their puppy to board and train programs for 1-3 weeks at a few months old for a concentrated dose of training that can then be followed by the family.

The most important thing is to develop short, fun daily training habits that will support your puppy becoming a wonderful dog companion who is pleasant to live with for life.

A Golden Mountain Doodle is, by nature, not a purebred and thus is not a registered breed.

Yes, we know that wonderful dog owners don’t always have abundant finances. We typically reserve a scholarship spot each litter to meet this need.  Let us know if a lower initial cost would be essential for you to be matched with a dog. Also we are occasionally looking for a companion family for a puppy where the family cares for and raises the dog, when mature the dog is available to us for breeding. at the end of the agreement the dog is spayed or neutered and returns to the family for the rest of it’s wonderful life. Let us know if you live with in 1 hour of Belfast, Maine and are interested in this possibility.