Lexi and Jeannette at White Oak Golden Retrievers
A blissfully long summer road trip to Dog Heaven, West Virginia – home of miracles, sloppy wet golden kisses and wagging blond puppy tails. While we had unending adventures in our three weeks on the road, this post pauses to tell a tale. Specifically, the second half of the dog tale I began in my previous post: Lexington Hope – A Dog’s Tale (in two parts).
Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them – Thom Jones
The quote rings oh so true – at least in our case. But it would only be telling part of our story to not acknowledge White Oak Golden Retrievers as being just as discerning as the dogs themselves. If there’s such a thing as a matchmaker in the world of puppies and owners, they are it. Lexi and I were headed to pay a visit and thank them in person.
Thinking way back, I can’t really piece together the events that brought us to buy our first golden retriever in 2007. Most likely it was more providential than I realized at the time. At that point, our beloved 5 year-old Shetland Sheepdog, Heinz, ruled the house. However, one of my best friends had just gone through the process of finding a beautiful British golden retriever, though I had never heard of such a creature until then. Phineas, (really just Finn unless he was in deep trouble) came from California, and he was adorable. Puppy fever struck our house hard.
Our first two White Oak Goldens – Rooney & Crosby, on our farm in northern PA
Enter: “research”. And honestly, puppy research on the internet is one of the most done-deal-before-Google-spits-out-the-first-results kind of endeavors. If you’re going to start looking, you 100% going to get hooked. 
All it takes is one website of adorable cuteness. I’m not saying that you get sucked in by the first thing you see (nor should you), but it’s darn near impossible to stop and say “just kidding” once you begin.
White Oak Golden Retrievers appealed to me from the beginning because it was relatively close by (at least driving distance) and they provided tons of helpful info on their website. And, best of all, puppies would be available later that fall! I remember filling out tons of paperwork, explaining the inner workings of our family for the breeder, Jeannette. Pages of questions about our personalities, our history with dogs, how much space/land we had, work schedules, quality time, etc. And then long phone conversations with more questions and lots of instructions about healthy eating (for the puppy), veterinary requirements, etc. I remember shuttling kids back and forth to two separate soccer tournaments over Columbus Day weekend, all the while on the phone with Jeannette asking and answering the questions that would determine how and if one of her beautiful White Oak Goldens would be a good fit for our family.
And he was. “Rooney of Rock Hill” was everything wonderful we could have hoped for in a dog. Loyal, obedient, kind, gentle, protective when necessary, loving and devoted, intelligent and playful. Rooney was all these things. The kids (at the time 9 and 11) and I drove south on route 81 to meet Jeannette’s husband and our new puppy. We were all in love before we left the parking lot, and that never faded through Rooney’s 11+ years as a member of this family.
That Rooney fit so seamlessly into our family was no accident. At about 5 weeks of age, Jeannette does “personality testing” with each puppy to determine what type of family will be the best fit. 
Is the dog independent and fearless? Curious? Maybe more shy yet affectionate? Needy? Or clearly cut out to be someone’s shadow? Jeannette puts them through their paces to figure it out. In every litter, there are more dominant and more passive dogs, and then those who just are clueless and happy-go-lucky. I love that she invests time and energy to determine what matches your family. (Thus the million questions!
Fast forward 11 years . . . a home now without the love of a dog. Both Rooney and our younger golden, Crosby, are gone. Painfully quiet. But the divine chain of events that brought Lexi to us played out rather quickly, and Jeannette knew she had a puppy that was just for us. It wasn’t just a feeling, though clearly divine intervention played a large role. Jeannette already knew who we were, how we lived and loved, and that this perfect little ball of white fluff fit perfectly into that framework. It was no accident that Lexington Hope had initially been hand-plucked by Jeannette to keep for herself, as she recognized early on that Lexi was special. I know that may sound corny, but every puppy is different and unique, even within really well-bred litters like those at White Oak Golden Retrievers. Lexi was, in every way, chosen for the role she would eventually fill.
And now, almost 8 months later, Lexington Hope and I headed south from Renick, West Virginia to White Oak Drive, outside the tiniest town of Lindside, to see all the relations. Tucked in one of the little ridges in the most southern part of the state lies this enchanted land of Goldens.
I had been both pleased and surprised that owners Jeannette and Steve were open to having us as guests. Several years ago, an entire litter of puppies had been lost due to something deadly that had been inadvertently brought in on the shoes of a visitor. It had taken them quite a while to nail it down, and it left them with little option but to quarantine the farm when they had very young puppies. I can’t imagine the sadness of losing so many all at once.
Our timing, however, couldn’t have been better. There were no tiny puppies, susceptible to unwanted bacteria or viruses, but there was a litter of 10 round mounds of marshmallow fluff, who’d had their first rounds of shots, and were ready to go to their forever homes in just a few days. There are few things in God’s creation as wonderful, perfect, and as sweet as a golden retriever puppy, let alone 10!!!
White Oak Golden Retrievers – the farm where Jeannette and Steve live, and breed and raise these dogs – can only be described as a kind of fairy tale setting. Don’t roll your eyes!! It’s not the Cinderella or Rumpelstiltskin kind, full of princesses in magical kingdoms with beautiful clothes and talking animals. More like if you could peel back a layer of a fairy tale and see the people and animals as real, and then discover that they are even more wonderful for their slight “imperfections” of age, dirt under their nails, and battered overalls.
Turning onto Top Dog Lane (honestly!), we passed the pond and headed up the hill to the house, situated perfectly to oversee the barns, sheds and pond. As I turned off the engine and opened the door, we were met by the most surprising sight – two yippie little Papillions. I laughed out loud. This was not starting out as expected! Within a moment of parking, however, several older golden boys – a few white and one russet-colored, poked their heads out of the relative coolness of the shrubbery, happy to say hello and be fussed over for a moment. Looking at their wisened old faces, you know they have stories to tell. We were then met by Steve, who gave Lexi a familiar once-over and ushered us into the kitchen where we were greeted with the smell of cookies baking. Jeannette, hanging up the phone with a new puppy client, wrapped me in a big hug and stooped to get a good look at this girl of ours.
I imagine to Lexi that it did indeed feel like coming home. She clearly knew what was going on. Jeannette said how good it was for them to come back, and that Lexi would always know this place. I remembered that years ago, she had told me that if Rooney ever came back to the farm in his lifetime, he and his mother, Nell, would remember one another. So sweet. For my part, I felt like I had unwrapped one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets, and upon entering the factory, I happily discovered the reality just as wonderful as the expectation. No disappointment here.
Jelly, a beautiful 5 year-old female, hung at Jeannette’s side. She was an absolute twin of Lexi – well, she would have been if it hadn’t been so obvious that she was a nursing mother! Jeannette explained that Jelly’s puppies were seven weeks old and almost ready to head to their homes. Jelly was t-i-r-e-d, and hung out in the house to get a break from the neediness of her babies, who were mostly weaned but still wanted to romp and nurse at the same time. Imagine have 10 very active toddlers at your feet, and in the heat of summer as well.
“Would we like to see them? Jeannette asks. Ridiculous question. (For the record, if you have anyone in your life that would answer “no”, unfriend them asap.) We all trotted down the hill to the fenced-in yard adjacent to the small barn where the puppies live. As soon as Jelly got within their purview and smell, all ten came running. There’s really not much more joy in this world than watching a pile of puppies all tumbling straight for you. Jeannette let Jelly in with her romping kiddos and we watched from the other side of the fence. Lexi was excited and seemed right at home, and happily sniffed and played as best she could from her side of the fence.
My girl went wandering after a bit, though, and found herself what was likely the only swampy mud puddle in the whole dang place. Apparently she was hot. How embarrassing. And here we are, surrounded by all these beautiful dogs, and mine looks like she’s been a stunt double on the set of Homeward Bound for the last month. Or she’s just really smart, as Jeannette happily took her up to the shed, turned on the faucet over the dog tub, and gave her a lovely bath. What a turkey.
I learned a lot during our time there. Most significantly, my visit confirmed that all three of my goldens came from the most wonderful place. Dog breeding is no hobby, and not for the feint of heart or lazy, corner-cutting people. Raising and breeding these guys is an immense amount of hard work and way more than a full-time job. But clearly a labor of great love. Everywhere I turned, a sweet old golden lay beneath a tree, or basked in a patch of sunlight. Jeannette and Steve have loved on so many of them for the whole of their long lives.
Immense amounts of study regarding nutrition and health has led them to work every day to learn more about how to raise and breed the healthiest goldens possible. They only breed the now rare original American Goldens (think more like Irish setter color) and the British/English Cream or White Goldens because the lines are pure. The British males have all been shipped here at great expense from Europe, with flawless pedigrees, in an effort to produce the healthiest, purest (and least likely to be susceptible to disease) puppies.
The results I saw on the farm? In addition to precious white puppies, several really old but healthy dogs. Golden boys who are 15 and 16 years old, thoroughly enjoying their twilight years :). Jeannette and Steve keep about 15-20 adult dogs at any one time, though only about 5-6 hang around the house. The rest stay up on the hill in the “condos”, where there’s air conditioning and plenty of room to roam in a more enclosed area. Every few weeks they rotate so they all get ample time with the family and in the condos. Mamas stay down in the temperature-controlled barn to have and raise their babies. A pretty sweet life.
Completely at home. Lexi was not interested in leaving here “people”!
We hated leaving, but as we got in a few more hugs and sloppy dog kisses, I considered how blessed I am to know these people, and that Jeannette felt so moved to in turn bless me with this Lexi-girl of mine. I am forever indebted.
So many of you who will read this have your own White Oak story to tell, and it will be in some way similar to mine, because these sweet dogs have enhanced all of our lives. But each one is unique as well, as we have each have the perfect match. Please comment and share your stories and photos! Maybe that’s the fairy tale ending – a happily ever after for all of us!
If you’d like to consider a While Oak Golden for your very own, check out White Oak Golden Retrievers. Be sure to read the testimonials and like their Facebook and Instagram pages as well – an added bonus as this is where all the puppy pics end up!
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