The Good Breeder Spotlight Column: Dianne
Meet Good Breeder Dianne Eves, and learn how this pioneer of mobile dog grooming went on to breed a Grand Champion dog!
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
The Good Breeder Spotlight Column is a place to share the stories that matter most...YOURS!
Each month, we’ll be spotlighting a new member of our Good Breeder community. We created this column to amplify your voices, recognize the incredible work and sacrifices you make for the dogs we love, and provide you with a safe space to share your unique breeding stories.
We’re so excited to introduce you to this month’s Good Breeder columnist, Dianne Eves of Mountain Bay Goldens!
Good Dog is on a mission to educate the public, support dog breeders, and promote canine health so we can give our dogs the world they deserve.
Dianne Eves, Good Breeder of Golden Retrievers
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Good Dog: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background with dogs?
Dianne Eves: I always wanted to work with dogs and started working at a kennel while I was in college, then I started learning grooming. I apprenticed under somebody there and worked at this kennel for about three years. And then I ended up opening up my own mobile dog grooming business. Way back then, in 1985, they didn’t even make mobile dog grooming vans. I had to buy a cargo van and raise the roof and put a tub in the back. When I was calling the van conversion places, telling them I wanted a tub in the back of the van and needed electricity, they were like, “And what are you using this van for?!” Like, “Dog grooming! Mobile dog grooming!” I actually had that business for 34 years. The only reason I’m not doing that is because we moved. I finally found somebody who took over the business. I didn’t want to just walk away from it. It took me forever to build it. And I really felt a dedication to my clients. It’s a very personal business. If you find a hairdresser that you like, you just want to stick with it. Same thing with dogs. The dogs knew me.
GD: What made you want to become a dog breeder?
DE: Our first Golden Retriever was just basically a pet, and he grew up with our son. So then when he died, we were then looking to maybe show the dogs a little bit and get maybe into breeding. That’s when we started looking for a female, and found a female Golden Retriever from a breeder in Massachusetts. She basically said, “I want you to show the dog. When she becomes a champion, then you can breed her.” As it turns out, Aneira, the dog that we got—within 18 months of age, she became a champion. We ended up putting a handler on her because she was doing so well. But she was still our pet!
In 2014, Aneira went to the Westminster Dog Show. At that time, we were still really unknown in the dog show/Golden Retriever world. She ended up getting what’s called Select Bitch in Westminster, and that was basically second place female out of all these dogs! So then we kind of got rocketed into a whole other level of dog shows. At age 2, she became Grand Champion; she won in Westminster and placed.
So that’s how I got into showing dogs. And then because our dogs were beautiful and did so well, we’re like, “Let’s start to breed them!” The nice thing now is that people know me in the show and Golden Retriever world. They know the quality of dogs that I breed.
GD: How did you get started, once you decided to become a breeder? Were there any resources that you consulted?
DE: I actually joined a Golden Retriever Club. I joined the New Jersey Pine Barrens Golden Retriever Club and got a lot of information from them and learned a lot from them. Also through recommendations and referrals: What vet do you use for this or that? Reproduction vets? Basically, I really credit the Pine Barrens Golden Retriever Club for opening up my eyes to how much more I needed to learn, which I’m still learning! Every litter is different, and you’re learning different things anyway. But I couldn’t have done it without them.
GD: What was it like when you bred your very first litter and the puppies were born?
DE: It’s a lot of work! You lose a lot of sleep! But I wanted to do it again.
GD: Looking back on your career with dog shows and as a breeder, has been your proudest moment so far?
DE: I would say the proudest moment is hearing from other people that I have a good reputation as a breeder, and that I’m an ethical breeder. And that I care about my puppies. We have a whole Mountain Bay Family Facebook page, and past buyers send me pictures of the dogs they got from me. We’re even trying to do an annual Mountain Bay puppy gathering. We actually have a dog going out to California, so we’ve got Mountain Bay dogs all over the country now.
GD: What brought you to Good Dog and made you want to become a member of the Good Breeder community?
DE: I found out about Good Dog online, and I've been a member for less than a year. I was looking for more education, and classes. I know I still have a lot to learn, and I want to learn. That’s what definitely attracted me to you guys. That course, Your Litter: A to Z--I use that a lot.
GD: If there was one misconception you could clear up about dog breeders, what would it be?
DE: People think we make a lot of money doing this. You don’t do it for money! I try to give the people ideas of why my puppies are as expensive as they are—because the cost that I put into all of the health testing. Even with my current litter, I drove two and a half hours each way every day to get a progesterone test to see when we were ready. People think with breeders it’s like: just let the male and the female go out in the backyard and hang out for two weeks, and you’ll have a pregnant dog. No!
GD: Looking to the future of dog breeding, what do you hope to see the dog breeding world look like in 20 years?
DE: I just hope to keep improving the health of the breeds. The way you guys at Good Dog are educating the public is so important. I hope people start to realize that owning a dog is a commitment, and they have to start thinking about it and maybe waiting a year or two years before the proper pet comes along. That’s with any breed. And just researching the breeds, too. Hopefully that’s something that people will learn. You’re going to get a dog for a certain reason. If you want it for just a pet, you still have to do the research as to what kind of “just a pet” do you want.
GD: What has your relationship been like with your puppy buyers, and are there any in particular that stand out to you and are close to your heart?
DE: Oh, absolutely. I have a great relationship with most of them. I’ll send them Christmas cards, just to keep in touch. Hopefully, then, when they’re ready for another dog, they’ll get back to me. I also have so many people—new people—who say, “I saw one of your puppies somewhere, and the person said you’re a great breeder.”
