Sunset Valley Retrievers (Pine Island, Minnesota)

These puppies are absolutely adorable and some of the sweetest that I’ve had the pleasure of encountering. I can’t say enough good things about them!

We purchased our puppy from Sunset Valley Retrievers in July 2019. We’ve had our sweet girl for about 2.5 weeks now, and she’s been a great addition to our family. She’s had a great first check up at the vet, and has a beautiful, healthy coat. We get compliments on her every day!

The breeder was great to work with – they were very good at communicating with us and the entire process went very smooth. We are very thankful for them, and are so appreciative for giving us such a sweet, calm, and healthy puppy!

We’ve had our girl for about 2 weeks now and she is an incredibly smart, sweet, and CALM puppy- even around our two rowdy young children. She was given a perfect check up from our vet, who commented that she was clearly a well bred dog.

Like others have said, at times communication felt to be lacking and was often initiated on our part, but any time we did reach out, they responded within an hour or two.

Overall, we are extremely happy and would absolutely recommend this breeder and would without hesitation bring home another Sunset Valley Retriever puppy in the future.

I just adopted a female golden retriever from here. She’s beautiful and very sweet. Everyone loves her. After adoption, I took her to our vet and was told that she’s in great health (although a little small). I have zero complaints about the actual puppy.

My issues were with the actual breeder. Like a previous review stated, I had issues with communications with the breeder. Any communication had to be initiated by me, including the puppies’ birth, growth, not having enough male puppies for me (not a big deal, but would’ve been liked to be notified right away), and the death of a puppy at about 5 weeks (Which happens but I feel like they should’ve notified me instead of waiting until I texted them). The only time they reached out to me first was concerning the final payment of the puppy.

To sum it up: excellent puppy. I have no doubt that she will be a wonderful and healthy companion for many years. But I do believe that they could be more upfront with communication during the process as I believe that they have a responsibility to keep buyers in the loop in terms of puppy availability and health.

We adopted a Golden from Sunset Valley Retrievers in May 2019. Our pup is a playful, loving, and curious Golden with a beautiful coat. That is the reason for my 3 star review. If I were reviewing the breeder as a breeder, I would give a lower review.

I have no doubt that if nothing unforeseen comes up in your adoption process, you will have a good experience. However, our experience was not what I hoped for mostly due to poor communication on the part of the breeder. This poor communication existed prior to the adoption and after, once an eye condition (entropion) was diagnosed in our pup..

We had a deposit on file for our pup since the fall prior to her birth. When I hadn’t heard from the breeder past the anticipated spring due date, I contacted him and was told there were not enough pups born from that litter for us to have one. I was surprised I had not received a phone call since by this point the pups had been born for several weeks. I was offered a pup from another litter and accepted.

When we arrived to pick up our pup, she had a weepy eye. The breeder indicated he was aware of it and told us to let him know if it continued to be a problem. Again, I was surprised I had not been informed of this until we came to pick her up. I took our pup to the vet the next day, where she was prescribed some antibiotics for her eye and additional medication for coccidia, a parasite she picked up in the breeder’s kennel.

The eye didn’t clear. A week or two later I noticed that the lower lid of her left eye is not taught, allowing her hair to enter her eye. I took her back to the vet where she was diagnosed with entropion. This is a genetic condition that can be corrected with surgery if needed once her head assumes its adult size. I contacted the breeder who said she had been screened for entropion. I replied that she must not have been screened well. The breeder wanted us to have our pup seen by his vet – I refused. I gave my vet’s phone number to him so that he could have his vet contact my vet. That was nearly 3 weeks ago. Until today, when I contacted the breeder, I received no further communication. The breeder had not followed up with his vet.

Between the medication for the eye, the medication for the coccidia (and the additional fecal tests), the consult and initial temporary treatment for the entropion, and the entropion surgery, if she needs it once her head is full-size, we will have spent more money on immediate unanticipated vet care than we did for our pup.

Our pup is wonderful, and I wouldn’t not adopt her. But, if I were getting another Golden, I’d look elsewhere first. I believe there are other reputable breeders with whom you will have a better experience, even if no medical issues arise.

One last thing to note, you will not receive any official paperwork that confirms your dog’s bloodline. The adult parents are AKC registered, the pups are not. I do not doubt my pup’s purebred status, but I find it odd that no proof was given as to even the parents’ purebred status.

We saw one of the puppies from a recent litter at our clinic today. He was underweight, emaciated, cryptorchid, positive for giardia and full of worms. With the owner having only had him a week, it is clear he was sold in this condition. Do not claim that you are quality breeders when you are willing to sell puppies in that condition. Absolutely horrendous.