About us
We are a family of six, living in Colorado Springs. As a military family, we’ve lived on three continents over the last 18 years and are grateful that now we’re putting some roots down. Our four children have patiently (or not so patiently) waited for their chance to have a dog. Both my husband and I grew up with dogs and knew we wanted that experience for our children. Now we’re excited to be raising the perfect family dog for other families.
The dog who started it all for us was Avena. We fell in love with her while our family was serving an overseas diplomatic tour in Colombia, South America. It was during a waterfall hike that we met one of her half-siblings and we knew that this was the kind of dog our family had been waiting for. We got in touch with the breeder, who was not only a veterinarian but also a geneticist, toured his golden retriever farm out in the grassy countryside of Colombia (is there anything better than a golden retriever farm??!) and got on the waiting list for a puppy. Our puppy came from his best stud dog, Pistachio, who is a Champion in Colombia. She has her pedigree and all of her health testing to confirm her excellent genetics.
We took our puppy home in September of 2023. We named her Avena (Uh-ven-na), which means oatmeal in Spanish. She is bilingual and actually did all of her puppy training in Spanish! Avena has been such a joy to our family. You just can’t beat her personality or temperament – she is sweet, cuddly, fluffy, and endlessly patient. She has a unique bond with each member of our family, and misses anyone who is absent. Every time we take her out to a park a child inevitably runs up to her and gives her a hug – she’s just so lovable! We are excited to bring more puppies into the world that take after their mama, Avena.
Sunshine Valley Puppies 