Hi Susan and Steven

Hi Steve and Susan, here are a few pics we took recently of Neeko. Thought you might enjoy seeing him all grown up!  He was born from Tokens Whirlwind/Counterpoints Captain on 3/4/2002.  We can't say enough about what a complete joy he is to our family, and we get endless compliments on how well he is bred. Our vet has commented that he is the best bred Golden he has seen in many years!  When the time comes, I hope we can get our next puppy from you SUNSHINE GOLDENS. Neeko is adjusting to losing his companion, Animosh, just after Christmas, so we thought we would give him some time to adjust, get some very focused solo attention, and grieve.  For now, Sam and Kendra (4.5 and 3) are keeping him plenty busy!  We woud love to get our next dog while Neeko is still in his prime, so will see what the coming year brings.

Neeko is registered as Sunshine Neeko (number SR003609/03), and that is the full name.  Glad to hear things are going so well!  We will continue to keep in touch!  Neeko is getting excited for hunting season...I think he can smell the change in the air!

We are in the process of adopting a Baby Girl from China, so want to get her home and settled before taking on another member of the family!  Take care!

Dan and Ali Schmitz

Hi Susan and Steve

Thanks for the update on Cubby's sister, Katie.  That's right we decided on the name Cubby.  He just looks like a Cubby.  A cubby little bear.   Nothing to do with the Chicago Cubs either I might add. :)  Cubby is doing REALLY well.  Catching onto housetraining very well.  And enjoying playing with Cody and chewing on his leg or tail from time to time.  Cody is handling this really well too.  He's coming around a little more every day.

Will send you some pictures soon.  Thanks again Susan!  Cubby is a doll!!

Hope everyone liked your Packer cap on Sunday! :-)

Diane

September 2007

Susan and Steven

Our puppy has been a real treat. "Rusty" is registered with the AKC as "Sunshine Victoria’s Rusty" as our youngest daughter Victoria chose the name. He is already 64 lbs and as strong and healthy as can be. He is very smart and learns quickly. While we didn't plan to do any field or hunting work, he loves nothing better than swimming in the lake behind our house and crashing through the wetlands behind the lake. His natural instincts are a joy to watch. He's highly social with other dogs and loves to be around children.

We will keep you posted on Rusty's progress and thanks for a wonderful addition to our family.

Donna and Bill Zimmerman
Palatine, Illinois

Dear Susan and Steven

Fire season has more or less come to an end in Montana so I headed back to Oregon for some well deserved time off.  Hunting season is just around the corner and Timber and I are pretty excited for it.   His training has been going very well.  Sarah really stepped up to the plate this summer training when I was busy, and his obedience is  excellent.  For the last month I've been working diligently on his Trained Retrieve and he is delivering to hand at this point and fetching from a pile.  Hopefully I can track down some birds during the next month before the season really gets started so we can do some walking fetch with the real thing.  I've also had him in the fields everyday and he's starting to quarter well and surprised me  when he flushed a half dozen hens the other day in an area where I didn't think they existed.

Jon, Sara and Timber

TIMBER UPDATE:

Susan and Steve,

Couldn't pass on sending you this pheasant photo.  It's a little better than  the last one I sent you.  Looks like all your pups are doing very well, Congrats.  Timber's starting to hunt like an old pro and is bird crazy.  Two weeks til ducks!

 Thanks

 Jon

August 8, 2007

Dear Susan and Steven,

Thanks to you at Sunshine Goldens , my brother John Graf and his wife Mary, we have a wonderful extension to our family.  Not knowing what to expect, we have ventured into a new era.  This Little Guy has amazed us and continues to do so each and every day.  He is one Beautiful Dog.

We took him up to see his dad “Yukon”, this would be only about the fifth time we have taken “RED” swimming and at four months old, you can see he has no fear of the water.  If that wasn’t all, it was a little later that evening we wanted to get a good picture of him jumping into the pond.  So we got RED over to the bank of some grasses and were trying to get him to jump off shore when RED saw a huge boulder and ran for it without stopping and flew off it retrieving his dummy.  It was a few days after this when we knew we had to name him “Sunshine’s Fearless Red”.

RED has an incredible sense of smell, no matter what the cover, he always has the will to find his Favorite Retrieving Dummy.  He never comes back until he has found it.

If you don’t see him, you can usually find him by the backdoor staring up at his dummy waiting for you to grab it and go out and do some retrieve training.

We have come to love this little guy and are looking forward to having him as my hunting companion.

Scherbers, again we Thank you!!!

"Timber"

Is it a Bird, a Bunny....?????

No, Its Timber the Wonder Dog!!!

July 17, 2007
Susan/Steve

Fire season certainly is upon us here in Montana.  Missoula hit the highest recorded temperature ever the other day at 107.  It'll be a long, hot summer but what can you do....Sarah, Timber and I are all great (Sarah and I are engaged now) and getting married this December.  Neither of us can remember what it was like not having Timber around.   He's such a great addition to the family.

His obedience is coming along very well.  We're polishing him up on his "finish" when he comes, but other than that he's really solid.  Heeling perfectly even with distractions, and coming to whistle and voice as long as there aren't any kids or dogs around....and his sit/stay and remote sit are upwards of a couple of minutes.  He's flushed a couple of grouse while out in the woods and I've been working him on some dead birds.  We did take a time out with retrieving while his teeth were coming in, he was just fumbling his dummy too much.  Now that they're in we'll start working where we left off on some simple doubles.

Hope all is well and your enjoying your summer.

Jon/Sarah

June 15, 2007

Thanks for the AKC and UKC papers. My son named her Goldie she is doing great, she has even done a couple of double retrieves. I also had her swiming a couple of times. I just went to my first HRC practice. It was great. She shined there and she got on her first live pigeon. Looks like she going to be a retrieveing machine, hoping to take her to her first hunt test in Sept. if everything looks good.

Thanks for a great pup.
A.G.

UPDATE: July 10, 2007

  We are shooting for our first hunt test in August. (At 7 MONTHS)
Thanks again for a great pup.
A.G.

Sunshine Jer-Z Girl

 Baby II /Yukon born January 26, 2007

Dear Susan and Steven

 Well “Sunshine Jer-Z Cowgirl” AKA Jer-Z is doing very well.  She is so adorable (especially with her dark red pin stripe down her nose) and she just can’t get enough attention.  She has not made it to “veterinarian truck dog” status yet mostly because she finds it very fun to lick mom’s ear pieces on her stethoscope that hangs from the rear view mirror of the vet truck.  She has been such a pleasure since the day we picked her up.  She is very active and loves to play, especially running through the tall grass at the state park by our home.

She has attended some private obedience sessions with a trainer that is also one of the small animal clients at our clinic.  She did very well and also really excelled in agility stunts.  Jer-Z is the love of our life.  She and my husband spend everyday together doing yard work and running errands – they are definitely the best of friends and she is definitely part of the family.  She has such a great personality and gets along great with people and other animals.  The cat really is not sure what to think of her, but she surely does not like when the 40-pound dog comes running full force at her.

Well, my cell phone just rang and I have to go to a down cow with milk fever, but I just wanted to update you on my Jer-Z girl.  Have a Happy Fourth of July!!

Sincerely,
Joshua Happe and Jennifer Happe DVM

Sunshine Fletcher's Broken Arrow

January 26 2007
Baby II / Yukon

Fletcher is TERRIFIC!  What a WELCOME addition to our family!  This little tiger was sitting at the door letting us know he needed to go out within days of his arrival.   He crates enthusiastically and whined only the first two nights.  He picks up on new commands and challenges so quickly we’re amazed!  I’m often flagged down by neighbors when we go for walks.  They are just tickled at how attentive, social, and well-trained he is.  Training him is almost effortless as he is so eager to please and to interact!  He goes EVERYWHERE with me and does well with children, adults, and other dogs.   He’s very playful and affectionate and LOVES to have his belly rubbed!   Our vet is very complimentary of him and his progress.  I wanted to let you know that he is on the Heart guard heart worm prevention program.

As you can see from the attached photos, he’s becoming a very handsome young man who can’t get enough of the water!   He retrieves in the water more enthusiastically than the back yard!

Next week we start Adult Beginner classes at puppy school.    This weekend Fletcher and his “human siblings” have an outing planned for Elkhart Lake.  I can’t tell you how Fletcher has really brought the family closer together.    We’re spending more time in the back yard, parks, and family walks than ever before, and we are loving every minute of it!

THANK YOU for this exceptionally bright and remarkably affectionate puppy!

Todd Economy
New Berlin