This family has found that their dogs make life a little better.

By Wade Stoker

I was raised in Syracuse on a small hobby farm. December 25th, 1984 I awoke to a dog training book as my Christmas present. Inside was a letter from Santa Clause informing me of a Brittney Spaniel named Jake that was in the garage waiting for me. This started my love for dogs. Over the next 20 years I raised Brittney’s and Labrador retrievers.

When my wife Rhonda and I had kids, my first child Makynzee was sick and in and out of the hospital for the first four years of her life. After many doctor visits we found out that she was allergic to practically everything, so we soon got rid of our animals including my dogs.

We met Harley, an F1b Golden doodle, in April 2012 and our family fell in love. Golden doodles are a mix of a Golden Retriever and a Poodle and are supposed to be “hypoallergenic and non-shedding”. All I know is Harley does not shed and Makynzee is not allergic to her. She is very trainable and very smart.

Since getting Harley we have bought another Golden doodle and once a year we breed them. I know there will be some people reading this that will say that Golden doodles are mutts and I should not breed them. However, I have sold pups to veterans suffering from PTSD who say they are calmer than they have been in years when they are with these pups. I have also sold to people suffering from cancer or some suffering from mental issues who say these dogs help them through their most trying times of their lives.

My family and I love our Golden doodles. We take them to baseball games, camping, and fishing, anywhere we go they can go. I believe every kid deserves two things; a dog and a parent who will let them have one.