Savannalands Golden Retrievers

Our dogs

Stuart and I have owned Golden Retrievers for some 30 years and absolutely adore the breed.

Since we moved from Cape Town to 9 hectares in The Crags, in 2005, and opened Savannalands Kennels & Cattery in 2010, I was finally in the right place, with sufficient time, to start breeding and showing our dogs.

We had our first litter in August 2011 and a second litter followed in November 2012. We had a third litter in October 2014, a fourth in December 2016, a fifth in November 2018 and a sixth in August 2019. A seventh and eighth followed, together, my first time with two litters at once, in October 2020, as the girls usually come into season together. Indi had her second, our ninth litter in January 2021, as she did not come into season with the other girls as she normally would have, but only some 5 weeks later and, as we didn't have our usual travel plans for early 2021 - thanks Covid - and I was already in "puppy mode", I decided to go ahead and breed her instead of putting it off till later in 2021. We had our 10th and 11th litters together, once again with Gucci and Prada, who gave birth within 2 days of each other, at the end of 2021, both for their third and final litters. Our 12th litter was born on 1 December 2022, out of our Tess, Ch Savannalands Red Velvet, by our gorgeous Maverick, Ch Savannalands Maverick. And then we had our 13th and 14th litters together, within 24 hours of each other, on 18 and 20 November 2024, our Holly's first litter and Tess' second. We kept Gracie, Savannalands Beautiful Thing, from Tess' litter and she is now 10 months old.

I mainly breed when I want another pup to add to my breeding lines and for the show ring, so do not simply "churn out" puppies for other people, although having said that, we cannot simply keep adding to our ever-increasing pack. I am not a breeder who likes to rehome my dogs once they are past their "usefulness", as many others do, they are first and foremost our beloved pets and stay with us until the end of their days. But most of our puppies, aside from the ones we keep, go to the most fabulous pet homes I can find.

I started showing some of our dogs in 2012 and continue to do so, with success.

To add to our South African lines, I imported two gorgeous bitches, Ch Stanroph Scarlett Rose of Savannalands (Rosie), from Spain, in 2013 (who I was never able to breed with as she has both ectopic ureter and just one kidney - so our very expensive pet!) and RBISS Ch Fenpinque Pradaspelle at Savannalands (Prada), from the UK, in 2014. Floyd, BPISS Ch Zenevieva Pink Floyd at Savannalands, joined us from Ireland in February 2016. Most recently Declan, Glamour Shine I Love Rock 'n' Roll, joined us from Croatia in October 2024.

We kept little Gucci, BPISS Ch Savannalands Gucci Envy, from the October 2014 litter and she was our first home-bred champion. She had three gorgeous litters and has just turned 11, still our crazy girl.

We imported semen for Prada from the Top Golden Retriever in Australia for 2016, Sup Ch Chaleur Hilfiger and Prada had her first litter on 12 December 2016. We kept a girl, Indi, Ch Savannalands Indigo Girl and a boy, Blue, BPISS Ch Savannalands Bright Blue from that litter. Both have achieved their Champion titles.

We also imported semen from Irish boy JJ, Golden Rose-Bays Original Sin for Zenevieva, which we used for the first time on our Gucci and the second time on our Tess, Ch Savannalands Red Velvet.

We kept Faith, Savannalands I Have Faith in You, from the JJ x Gucci combination, as well as Holly, MBPISS Ch Savannalands Take a Chance on Me JM, Prada's baby from her third and final litter, with our Champion boy Floyd, the dad.

We kept Zara, Savannalands Strawberry Fields Forever, from Tess' first litter, born 1 December 2022 and Gracie, Savannalands Beautiful Thing, from Tess' second litter, born 18 November 2024.