Our Parent Dogs and Breeding Program
Our Parent Dogs and Breeding Program
Timshell Farm has lovingly raised a limited number of very special crossbreeds since 1999. We began raising AKC Golden Retrievers on our farm in Texas, next to our organic pecan orchard. With the guidance of two reproductive veterinarians, we gradually and carefully branched out into breeding for specialty triple-cross puppies. Our parent dogs are all tested and found to be clear of genetic faults, before being bred for puppies. This includes patella, eyes, heart exams and other genetic health faults.
Below is information about our current breeding program. Our puppies are now raised in New Mexico, and we are able to hand-deliver them to families all over the U.S. Some families come and visit the puppies to select when they are 7 weeks old. Reservation lists fill up as far as 6-12 months ahead of the litter’s arrival – so do plan ahead, and reserve soon! We will work closely with you to find just the right puppy for your home and family.
We raise healthy, happy puppies, bred for very special qualities. We offer a limited number of puppies each year - Petite Golden Cava-Doodles, and Cava-Poo-Chon puppies. Below are links to photos and descriptions of our mother dogs, and our wonderful poodle sires. Click on the names to read about our parent dogs.
CLICK ON THESE LINKS TO SEE PHOTOS & GET TO KNOW OUR MOTHERS AND SIRES!
Our Special Cross-Breeds -- The Magic of the “Triple-Cross
Timshell Farm started breeding for first-cross Petite Golden Cava-Doodles (Standard size/large) in early 2000. We had been raising lovely AKC Golden Retrievers and our vets advised that yes, indeed, genetic faults are eliminated or greatly minimized by breeding for a crossbreed, as the “gene pool” is widened with each purebred added to the “Master Mix.” We began raising the first Golden Cava-Doodles ever, by first raising “Golden Cavalier” mothers (Golden Retriever X Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) and then crossing those females with a fabulous Miniature Poodle sire. Timshell’s Golden Cava-Doodles are just perfect for many people and families, with sound health, great temperaments, intelligence and lower-shedding coats. Besides, the Golden Cava-Doodle is a beautiful dog!
Golden Cava-Doodles bred from top-quality parent dogs are a wonderful package of highly desirable traits. The Cavalier brings a gentler energy/activity level to the puppies. This is very important, because the Poodle and the Golden Retrievers are both “high energy” puppies!
Above is our puppy, SADIE, chosen after a nationwide search – to be featured on the cover of the 2003/October LIFE Magazine. We are very proud of her – she’s everything a Doodle should be! Also shown in below photo is Sadie with her family in California.
Downsized Petite Golden Cava-Doodles
Many of our adoptive families let us know they really would love a smaller, more compact version of the Petite Golden Cava-Doodles, for their children and homes. Families wanted a more “portable” companion to include more comfortably on car trips and vacations. Families asked for a smaller dog, a better size to raise with their young children. Older couples (yes, like us – “baby boomers”) requested a smaller, more manageable-sized doodle. So, we began to explore “downsizing” our Petite Golden Cava-Doodles – working to achieve a smaller sized doodle without sacrificing any of the wonderful traits of the standard-size Petite Golden Cava-Doodles.
We consulted with a reproductive specialist veterinarian in Carrollton, Texas to get his guidance on how to best achieve a downsized version of the Petite Golden Cava-Doodles. We knew that we could breed a miniature or toy poodle with a full-sized Golden Retriever mother, but the size range of the puppies is too wide and unpredictable. The offspring could technically be called “miniature Petite Golden Cava-Doodles” but in reality might grow to be quite large, like the Golden Retriever parent dog.
The genetic specialist vet advised us to first downsize the breeding mother dog, by crossing the Golden Retriever with a smaller dog that would be similar in appearance. We chose the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as the “downsizer” to breed with our Goldens. The resulting offspring are referred to as Petite Golden Retrievers. They are 50% Golden Retriever and 50% Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Our Petite Golden Retriever mothers are about 1/3 the size of a Golden Retriever.
The Petite Golden Retriever mothers are a great size for breeding with a Miniature Poodle. The resulting puppies are “Petite Golden Cava-Doodles” or “XS Petite Golden Cava-Doodles”. The Petite Golden Cava-Doodles have a Miniature Poodle sire. The XS Petite Golden Cava-Doodles have a Toy Poodle sire.
The Triple Cross
The Golden Retriever, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and Miniature/Toy Poodles are a wonderful recipe for a downsized Petite Golden Cava-Doodles. The gene pool is widened X 3, for even more “hybrid vigor”… so the result is a puppy with sound health, minimized risk of genetic faults, great disposition, low to no shedding coat, and loving personality that will grow to be a medium or small size – more manageable than larger dogs.
GOLDEN + CAVALIER + POODLE = Petite
Golden Cava-Doodles! Wonderful stuff!
The Golden Retriever brings:
a graceful, classic beauty;
a people-loving disposition;
and a playful, athletic nature.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel brings:
a downsizing of the puppies;
the “teddy bear” look (wide face, shorter nose, big eyes); and
a sweet, sparkly sprinkling of “Cavalier Magic” – the gentler energy level.
The Miniature or Toy Poodle brings:
a downsizing of the puppies;
an effervescent, lively, playful personality;
soft-curl or wavy/shaggy coats (low/no shedding); and
high intelligence.
The Cavalier MAGIC
We chose the Cavalier as our “downsizer” to breed with the Golden Retriever to produce our smaller females, to be the “Petite Golden Retriever” mothers of our Petite Golden Cava-Doodles. In addition to the downsizing, the Cavalier brings so much to the “triple-cross” Petite Petite Golden Cava-Doodles puppies! The Cavalier brings a gentler energy level to the puppies…. “classic Cavalier” or what we call Cavalier Magic. Our Petite Golden Cava-Doodles are playful, funny, athletic and have bubbly personalities but are not hyper or yappy. The Cavalier Magic is what sets our breeding program apart – what makes our puppies truly special. Most professional trainers agree that in general, first-cross Petite Golden Cava-Doodles puppies (50% Golden Retriever and 50% Poodle) have lots of great potential and wonderful qualities but the energy levels are often high, making them more of a challenge to work with. We’ve seen for ourselves but have also been told by trainers as well as our adoptive families, that Timshell Farm Petite Golden Cava-Doodles are out of the ordinary – really different from most first-cross Petite Golden Cava-Doodles.
Some of Our Wonderful Petite & XS Petite Golden Cava-Doodles
The Cava-Poo-Chons
A Timshell Farm Triple-Cross Original!
Timshell Farm raised a very sweet, small crossbreed called a “Cava-Poo-Chons” between 2003 and 2009. The Cava-Poo-Chons is a first-cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise. The Cava-Poo-Chons is much like a Petite Golden Cava-Doodles in many ways – has a low to no shedding coat, sweet disposition and playful nature. The Cava-Poo-Chons is a specialty crossbreed that is dearly loved by families all over the world – and Animal Planet featured the Cava-Poo-Chons on a dog program.
We began to get requests from some families that wanted an even smaller, loveable crossbreed with a good deal of curl in the coat. People asked for a dog small enough to carry onboard a commercial airline, and one that would be really great for people with severe allergies or asthma. Families wanted a dog with lots of play, but NOT HYPER or YAPPY!
Scarlett (photo at right) is one of our first Cava-Poo-Chons and she is a great example of this terrific triple-cross!
Timshell Farm planned for Cava-Poo-Chons, envisioning a little “raggedy coat” dog with a beautiful “teddy bear” face and sparkly personality. Again, great care was used in selecting the parent dogs, knowing how important each breed is to the final outcome – wonderful puppies!
The Cava-Poo-Chon is a terrific little triple-cross – a blend of great qualities from three breeds- the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Bichon Frise and Toy Poodle! Depending on the parent dogs, the Cava-Poo-Chons will grow to be 12-15 lbs. OR, the XS Cava-Poo-Chons should be 10 lbs. or under when grown. The CavaPooChons do very well with children.
Our mother dogs are Cava-Poo-Chons – Cavalier King Charles Spaniels bred to Bichon Frises. We selected our best female Cava-Poo-Chons puppies for our new breeding program for Cava-Poo-Chons. Roxy, Heidi and Dody are all sister dogs. Jam and Tinkerbell are our smaller Cava-Poo-Chons mothers. The sire is our spectacular “SPANKY” – a color-bred, red toy Poodle from Wildwood Kennels. Spanky comes from championship breed lines and his breeder specializes in Miniature and Toy Poodles that are not too high-energy, not yappy or hyper. This has been extremely important to our Cava-Poo-Chon breeding program. Below are the three breeds that are the magic ingredients for our Cava-Poo-Chons.
Cavalier + Bichon Frise + Toy Poodle = Cava-Poo-Chons!
~ Sparkly, Sweet Teddy-Bear Puppies ~
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel brings:
a beautiful, silky-soft coat and sturdy bone structure;
the “teddy bear” look (wide face, shorter nose, big eyes); and
a sweet, sparkly sprinkling of “Cavalier Magic” – the gentler energy level.
The Bichon Frise brings:
a sweet, people-loving personality;
a playful and fun nature;
shiny, soft-curl coats (low/no shedding); and
pretty faces with large eyes.
The Miniature or Toy Poodle brings:
a downsizing of the puppies;
an effervescent, lively, athletic nature;
soft-curl or wavy/shaggy coats (low/no shedding); and
high intelligence.
Here are some fine examples of our Cava-Poo-Chon puppies!
Main features are the “teddy bear” look, with wide faces, large/round eyes, square noses, with a soft-curl lower-shedding coat, long ears with little curls and a sturdy bone structure…. Our special Teddy Bears!
Find Your Happy Place With Your Timshell Puppy!
