Our Story

I’ve always been an avid animal lover. I’ve had various species of animals growing up, and no matter what the species, they always seemed to gravitate to me more than to any other family member. They were just attracted to me, kinda like a modern day Snow White! 😁

I grew up wanting to be a dog breeder. So in 2002, I decided to whet my appetite and accepted a position as vet tech for a local veterinary clinic. This position immersed me into the entire scope of proper animal love and care. I was intrigued by everything I saw there, and the interaction with the animals really stimulated my hunger to know more. I realized my heart was especially in tune with the canine, and my love grew by leaps and bounds!

While earning my master’s degree, I outlined my extensively thought out Snow White dreams and turned them into my marketing project for a business class. It was during those college days (years!), back in 2008, that my fairy tale took form and was birthed as a business on paper named, “Golden Paw Pups”.

After I graduated with an MBA, life happened, I married and we are presently raising a family here in the Midwest. That is, until 2020 when COVID-19 hit...and all of a sudden families were forced to stay home, together, under lockdown. The pandemic, with a planet under lockdown, seemed to my husband, Scott, and me to be the opportune time to raise a puppy in our family home with our six-year old son, Ryker, and our five-year old daughter, Mayze. Then, my vision became the Haak family’s vision. Of course Scott, being married to me for 11 years, and being a very supportive and interactive dad, was VERY well aware of my long-lived dreams of becoming a professional, at-home dog breeder. My excitement grew as parts of the business started forming and taking shape in my mind—and it all pointed to that first lucky pup, a Golden Retriever. Quickly, Scott grasped ahold of the vision and said “Let’s do it!”

I had chosen the Golden Retriever breed years before, as the well-researched and checked-all-the-boxes perfect pet/breed to either a mature dog lover, or the perfect pet for a growing family. Through our prayers and doing our due diligence, the 14-year dreams took on legs (paws) of their own, and has come to fruition in our home as the first male pup, from Indiana, and first female pup from Ohio, became members of the Haak family. We named our first male pup Azariah, and our female is Hananiah. (Some of you may recognize from where those name were derived.)

At this writing, Azariah and Hananiah are now almost a year and a half old. Hananiah went through her first breeding/heat cycle at six months old, but was kept separated from Azariah. She was closely monitored to ensure she would not get pregnant too young, thereby intentionally and safely breeding for optimal health of both dame/female and litter. Based on proper, healthy breeding policy per the American Kennel Club (AKC), breeding of the dame should be avoided during the dame’s first heat cycle to allow her body time to grow stronger and more mature. As of today, August 20, 2021, we have about four weeks left of the 63-day gestation period until we have our first litter birthed by Hananiah. Her first litter of beautiful, healthy Golden Paw Pups! Oh, the anticipation is running high at our house!!

In June 2021, after more research, we increased our family size with another female pup from Indiana that we named Mishael. She is a beautiful Miniature Goldendoodle, and she will be breed with Azariah for her second breeding cycle, following in Hananiah’s paw prints. It is just impossible to have too much love!

Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael are loving, playful pups with their own distinct personalities. Azariah is an easy going, gentle teddy bear who learns tricks very quickly. Hananiah is our oversized lap dog who hides from the vacuum, and likes to trot around the room, with beautiful poise, carrying her prized toy in her muzzle. She takes good care of Azariah and Mishael, making sure all ears are always clean! 😆 We can see that she will be a great mommy. Mishael is a lively yet shy lovable pup, takes her a bit to warm up to people, she has let the big dogs protect her and we babied her since she was just about 3 lbs when we brought her home. We thought the big dogs would step all over her. We have added to our family in 2023, his name is Daniel. He is also a Mini Goldendoodle and he and Mishael really get along well and love to play. They will be bred together when the time is right. Daniel will also take training in the summer.

Our pups are raised in our home and loved by the whole family, thereby increasing socialization skills and better habits. Azariah and Hananiah have each had ten weeks of professional, one-on-one canine training, and Mishael has had six weeks of training to date. They were taught various socialization skills and basic commands, such as sit, down, and to stay in place until given the release command. The discipline training helps the litters to learn better skills and habits from the dame through imitation. We also enjoy giving them additional training at home, known as “playtime” to the pups. All this together helps to make a pleasant transition into your home.

Our extended family is such a joy, and we invite you to join us in this special journey as I live out my dreams of putting a little Golden treasure in hearts everywhere.

Blessings from our house to yours!
Erica Haak and family

(Updated May 2023)

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