March 5th, 2015 Beamer’s Bio – Chapter 1 – Before Beamer

Hey Everyone!

dowagerdogWhile sitting in the car the other day I thought, “you know….perhaps people are wondering why me! Why did I get selected as the Good as Gold Mascot?”. At that moment, I decided we would publish a series of blogs that tell you a little bit about me and my beginnings and adventures.

Before I can tell you about me and my adventures, I think you need to understand how my bloodline came into being and how my human, Nancy, ended up keeping me as a puppy…….

Some of you may not realize but my amazing human, Nancy, has a visual impairment (I know! hard to believe, right?) The fact she doesn’t see things the way other humans do has not stopped Nancy from accomplishing her goals or slowed her down in any way. Years ago, she decided she wanted to University in Toronto.

To help her navigate through city streets and keep her safe from traffic, Nancy decided it was time to have a service dog. But she had heard a heart breaking story about a woman who’s circumstances changed and her guide dog was taken from her and replaced with another. Nancy was so worried that could happen to a dog she had come to love and respect that she decided she wanted to own her dog outright and ask a specialized service dog trainer to train the dog.

Nancy had a Golden Retriever named Reliance. She began contacting service dog schools all over the U.S. and Canada but no one was willing to work with her dog. Most schools select the service dog candidates and train them before matching them to a human who needs a service dog. Eventually, Nancy found 1 man who was willing to do what she asked. It would mean Reliance would be gone for at least 8 months but it was so important to Nancy to have her own dog trained that she felt it was worth the time sacrifice.

Well, when Reliance first got to the school things did not start off very well! The first time they put the harness on him, he rolled on his back and peed in the air! The trainer almost called Nancy to say it wasn’t going to work but he knew how important it was to Nancy so he decided to keep working with Reliance. Two days later, the trainer realized Reliance would be the most brilliant dog he had the pleasure to work with up to that point! Instead of 8 months…..Reliance was trained in 8 weeks!!

As Reliance got older, Nancy wanted another dog that shared the same blood line as Reliance. She contacted the CKC and found a breeder that had the same bloodline as Reliance…and they had 2 puppies 8 weeks old! Nancy took one of the boys. Remarkable was the nephew of Reliance and Nancy’s second guide dog. Nancy loved the temperament and intelligence of these dogs so much she wanted to promote their excellent qualities so she decided to become a breeder herself. She got a female retriever from a wonderful woman in Ontario and named her Shine. 🙂 Shine herself became a fantastic agility dog and had a great temperament! But because Reliance and Remarkable were neutered (as all service dogs are!) Nancy had to find a stud from the same bloodline. Through the CKC she found the owner of a dog named Synergy…..Remarkable’s brother! Yep, Synergy was that other 8 week old puppy Nancy found when she got Remarkable. What are the odds of THAT!!! So cool!

So the stage was set. Nancy had Shine and Synergy was to be the stud to start Nancy’s breeding program. The first litter of Good as Gold puppies was to be born.

And that is how my life began! I come from a bloodline of accomplished, intelligent, even tempered Golden Retrievers and Nancy’s desire to breed them thanks to a dog named Reliance! 🙂

Stay tuned for the next chapter of my story called Beamer’s beginnings.

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