ST. JOSEPH — Brian Sjaaheim’s journey toward becoming a dog breeder was not entirely his plan. Having established Golden Hill Doodles, though, it has been his favorite career so far, raising goldendoodles, Bernedoodles and golden mountain doodles with care so they can find their forever homes.
“It’s not that I woke up one day and said, ‘I want to be a dog breeder;’ it just kind of happened,” Brian said. “I get a lot of enjoyment out of … conversing and socializing with people, being with dogs and then seeing that they’re connecting as a good, long-time family member pet.”
Brian and Cheryl Sjaaheim purchased their land about 24 years ago, starting with their 5-acre home lot and then an additional 15 acres. The original home was built in 1977, but the Sjaaheims have since added onto it.
Brian, an Air Force veteran, initially owned a powder coating paint business, which he later sold to be a stay-at-home dad for his son, Ben, for five years. Later, Brian joined the Veterans Administration in construction management but kept an eye out for other opportunities.
Golden Hill Doodles started with Sarah, a goldendoodle Brian bought from Bemidji. He was inspired to get her while he was at the VA; a veteran, who turned out to be one of his high school classmates, came in with a service dog. Brian already had a couple of golden retrievers, but he was not familiar with poodle hybrids.
“I’d never seen that type of dog,” Brian said. “(The veteran said), ‘This is a goldendoodle,’ (and) he told me what it was. I was like, ‘Oh boy, I want one of those.’”
Brian thought Sarah was sterile until she bred with the golden retrievers and had a litter of puppies eight weeks later in 2016. One of those puppies, Jack, is still on the farm today, but the rest were sold.
“Jack is the most laid-back dog I have,” Brian said. “He sits there, waits his turn, is so polite and nice. Everybody’s all jumping around, all happy when I’m in the kennels with them, and Jack will sit there and walk up after everybody has gone nuts, and he’ll just put his nose in my hand so I know he’s there. Then, it’s time for him to get attention.”
Selling puppies was Brian’s part-time job at first, but as he looked to expand the business, he built a kennel on his property in 2017 with the help of his brother-in-law, Bob Bauer. In 2020, Brian went full time with Golden Hill Doodles.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit that year, Brian was initially concerned that the timing might not be the best. But it was the opposite. More people were working from home, so there was an increase in customers looking for an in-home companion, and Golden Hill Doodles could hardly hold onto any puppies. That market turned out to be a double-edged sword, though.
“I could’ve sold 20 litters of pups during that period,” Brian said. “The only bad thing about it is that people went out and got them because they figured they’d be stuck at home, … and then they were giving these pups away, so they kind of flooded the market.”
Later, Brian added more males and females to Golden Hill Doodles, including Bernese mountain dogs and golden mountain dogs, which are a golden retriever and Bernese mountain dog hybrid. The puppies — goldendoodles, Bernedoodles and golden mountain doodles — typically have the intelligence of a poodle and the sociability of the goldens and mountain dogs.
“Like they say about goldens, … (there’s) not a mean bone in their bodies,” Brian said. “Bernese mountain dogs have this kind of goofiness to them; they’re big, lumbering, lovable, (and they) need (and) demand attention. That shows up in the doodles.”
One of the hardest steps on the road to making Golden Hill Doodles into a business was earning a good reputation.
“A lot of people do the basement or garage breeding, and they do about one litter per year,” Brian said. “Me, I’m fully invested, and this is my job; I give it my all, and I think it shows. You build a rapport with people, and I enjoy talking with people from all over. … I have people who are repeat buyers, and they have their friends, and people come because of the experience they had here. To me, I like that. It’s a point of pride.”
Most of Brian’s customers are from the St. Cloud, Twin Cities and Rochester areas, as well as the general 5-state region. He does not fly out his puppies or ship them long-distance, as he believes that would be too stressful for them.
The dogs are fed twice a day, and Brian spends a lot of his time cleaning, building and modifying kennels, arranging which dogs go where, and taking dogs on walks. There is also a fenced-in run where the dogs can go outside, even during the winter.
“I let my Bernese out every day so they can run,” Brian said. “They love winter; this is their environment, so I want to make sure they’re out and enjoying the winter, too.”
As a breeder, Brian endeavors to distinguish Golden Hill Doodles by being concerned with his dogs’ lives and constantly improving, trying to give them a healthy, enjoyable environment. As such, he encourages people to come out to see the dogs and their facility before possibly buying one and taking it home.
“I don’t want them to feel like they (the dogs) are zoo animals,” Brian said. “It’s not about making a lot of money. It’s doing something for enjoyment, and I happen to make enough money that I can keep doing it.”
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