We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Dorsky and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
As responsible Golden Retriever breeders, we invest a lot of our time into our program financially, physically, and emotionally. It’s a job that requires a lot of ongoing learning, research, and preparation. The work is often around the clock, 365 days per year and revolves around our dog family! This can make it challenging to have a work life balance but we profoundly enjoy the lifestyle and find it fulfilling to make it worth the many sacrifices we had to make. The sacrifices we had to make include but are not limited to our social life, vacation, and quality time spent together and with loved ones when it coincides with our dog’s needs. As breeders, we often have to put our dogs’ needs first even above our own needs.

Last year, we both worked full time jobs with opposite work schedules to make sure our beloved dog family received the attention and care that they require and deserve. I am a nurse and would work every weekend and evenings while Jace worked a normal Monday through Friday work schedule. This allowed us to have weekends, evenings, and some days off during the week for our dogs. On days we were both not home, we were very fortunate to have family available to help us.

Jace and I recognize all aspects of breeding, some including health testing, temperament, and bloodlines. All of our dogs complete breed specific health testing recommended by the Orthopedic Foundation of Animals before they are considered to be in our program. Before breeding a pair, our dam is evaluated by our reproductive veterinarian to make sure she is healthy and have her progesterone levels monitored. The days leading up to her due date, we take our dam in to have an ultrasound and x-ray, we gather supplies, we work on acclimating the dam with her whelping area for delivery, we set up cameras, and more!

When our dam starts the first stage of labor, one of us cannot leave her side or go to sleep. One of us also cannot leave her side for the first 24 hours after giving birth to monitor her and the puppies closely for complications. The first two weeks post delivery are the most critical for puppy survival and often require work around the clock. Outside of their health needs, we incorporate daily puppy curriculum activities, which can take up a big part of our day.

After our puppies leave for their forever homes, we stay in contact with our clients to make sure their puppy is thriving in their new home. We are happy to be a resource for all of our clients, especially those that have not raised a puppy before. They typically require more assistance from us to get started and have a lot more questions that need to be addressed.

This was working for us until our program started to grow and expand. That was when we decided one of us had to sacrifice their full time job in order to be home more to meet the demands our program requires. I ultimately left my secure full time job as a nurse and this was honestly terrifying. Contrary to what some people think, we do not earn a lot of money from breeding our dogs after calculating all the hours and expenses involved to maintain our breeding program standards.

Since I left my full time job, we couldn’t be happier! Not only do we have more time for each other, friends, and loved ones, but we can also take care of our own individual needs. In addition to that, we have more time to work towards goals that line up with our vision. Our vision is holistic and focuses on breeding healthy, quality puppies capable of dealing with the world.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
When we look at our dogs, we view them as a family unit and our companions for life. Therefore, we naturally want to make sure they live their best life because they deserve nothing less than that. When our dogs are not busy whelping, raising puppies, or training, they are cuddling with us in bed, they are going on fun adventures with us such as hiking and snowshoeing, they go on weekend trips with us when permitted, and they take daily trips with us to run errands. We can’t imagine life without our dogs!

Because the future of our puppies and their health/wellbeing is important to us, we test our adult dogs for DNA genetic conditions, Brucellosis, hip/elbow dysplasia, and eye/heart conditions prior to breeding in addition to yearly preventative care. All of our puppies are thoroughly examined and given their vaccines by a veterinarian before they leave. We also invest a lot of our time providing the puppies with daily curriculum activities that help enrich their learning. This starts at three days old with early scent introduction and early neurological stimulation followed by whelping box novelty item exposures, handling exercises, noise/sight exposure, and other exposure activities as they get older.

Prior to taking a deposit, we have our clients submit a questionnaire to help us learn more about them and screen out any people that may not be a good fit for our puppies. It is a 10-15 year commitment when one takes home a puppy and their relationship with their breeder is lifelong, therefore it is crucial to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Around 7-8 weeks of age, we perform puppy evaluations in order to learn more about individual temperament. People come to us with different requests and we can learn a lot about an individual puppy when they are evaluated separately from their littermates. Some items we evaluate for include sensitivity to sound/sight, prey drive, confidence level, energy level, etc.

Our health testing standards, screening process of potential clients, lifelong relationship with clients, and holistic method for raising puppies may be different, which sets us apart from many other dog breeders. We strongly believe in empowering our puppies by giving them a voice through the curriculum/evaluation process and setting up our clients for success with all the work we do with our dogs and their puppies. There is a lot to consider before committing to a breeder and selecting a puppy beyond timing, photos, and cuteness factor!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Because Colorado is nature’s paradise, we would recommend visiting Rocky Mountain National Park especially Estes Park for hiking, fishing, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and/or camping. Our favorite hikes for fall foliage are located in Vail, Golden Gate State Park, and Telluride. Regarding downhill skiing and snowboarding, we often visit and recommend the following ski resorts, Crested Butte if you have 4+ days, and Cooper Mountain or Breckenridge for day trips from Denver. Best time to visit these ski resorts is during the week when ski lift tickets cost less and there are less people!

Since I grew up in NY, the food capital of the world, I hold high standards for food. We are both foodies and I spend a lot of time looking at reviews before checking out a new place to eat. For breakfast/brunch, we recommend Star Kitchen or Super Star for authentic Dim Sum, Snooze for excellent pancakes and omelets, or the Denver Biscuit Company for delicious, mouth watering biscuits. When it comes to lunch and dinner, you cannot miss Linger in the highlands for eclectic cuisine, Watercourse for vegan food, Rosenberg’s Bagels and Delicatessen for NY style bagels/sandwiches, and Dog Haus for handcrafted burgers and hot dogs.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Jace grew up on a ranch breeding/training horses and dogs for his entire life. We have been preparing for several years before launching our own program. We want to personally thank his mother, Holly Bakke, from Legacy Ranch Australian Shepherds for everything she has taught us and for always being supportive. Holly has been there for us in more ways you can imagine. Thank you Holly for being a great mentor and a second dog mom to our dog family!

My mother, Silvia Dorsky, has no prior experience with dogs but she has been helping us during the whelping process (when puppies are born) these past couple of years. We are extremely grateful for her eagerness to want to learn and help us. She has earned herself the title, “assistant dog midwife.”

While making connections in the breeder community, I was very fortunate to have met Laurie Zalewski, owner of Laurie and Joe’s Labs in New Hampshire. Laurie agreed to mentor us virtually. It was Laurie that introduced us to the Badass Breeder method for puppy curriculum and evaluations that we now incorporate into our program. Laurie was so kind to share her knowledge and be of assistance to us whenever we had any questions. She has saved us multiple trips to the pet hospital by helping us troubleshoot obstacles during and after the delivery of puppies even in the middle of the night. We couldn’t be more thankful for everything she has taught us and hope one day to return the favor to another breeder in need of a mentor.

Website: www.Goldensontherocks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldensontherocks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldensOnTheRocks/

Other: https://www.gooddog.com/breeders/goldens-on-the-rocks-colorado

https://marketplace.akc.org/breeder/goldens-on-the-rocks?source_breed=golden-retriever

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