LveLine Golden Retrievers had its origin in the heart of a little girl some 35 years ago, when her father gave her an Irish Setter puppy of her own to care for and love. Over the next 4 years she and Riley were inseparable and thus began a love for dogs and an understanding of the meaning of unconditional love, as well as a desire to share that love with others.

Six Feet

My little rough dog and I live a life that is rather rare.
We have so many good walks to take and so few hard things to share,
So much that gladdens and recreates, so little of wear and tear.

Sometimes it blows and rains but still the six feet ply
No care at all to the following four if the leading two know why.
‘Tis a pleasure to have six feet we think, my little rough dog and I.

We travel all one way. “Tis a thing we should never do
To reckon the two without the four or the four without the two.
It would not be right if anyone tried because it would not be true.

And who shall look up and say that it ought not so to be.
Tho’ the earth is Heaven enough for him, is it less than that to me?
For a little rough dog can make a joy that enters eternity.

Author unknown

Her experience prompted her to dream of someday learning as much as possible about breeding the “perfect best friend”. Many years later that dream crept into reality when that little girl’s daughter set her heart on a Golden Retriever puppy. After a lengthy search we found the “perfect best friend” for her. Because of our deep appreciation for and understanding of the unconditional love that a dog can have for his friend, that first Golden Retriever puppy was given the name Agape...

A Dog’s Worship

Man is the god of the dog; he knows no other; he can understand no other.
And see how he worships him! With what dependence he looks up to him!
His whole soul is wrapped up In his god!
All the powers and faculties of his nature are devoted to his service!
And these powers and faculties ennobled by the intercourse….
Divines tell us that it just ought to be so with Christians—
but the dog puts the Christian to shame.

Agape, a Greek word describing the unconditional love that God has for mankind, was a constant reminder to us of how we should return that love to God. A passage from the Bible describes this Agape love and our response to it….“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love come from God. Everyone who love has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:7-11

After two years of a very blessed life with Agape, we realized that we had truly discovered the “perfect best friend.” The Golden Retriever is the most loveable and loyal of all breeds. We knew that there needed to be more Agapes to share with others. And so we began our search again...for Agape’s perfect best friend dog! And we found Phileo. For we had learned that the friendly nature of the Golden Retriever also epitomized the brotherly love that God calls us to have for others…..”We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God.’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 19-21 Phileo is the Greek word for “Brotherly love.”

Bringing these two together, Agape and Phileo, became a picture for us of what Jesus called the first and second greatest commandments… "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ " Matthew 22:36-39.

Each LoveLine Golden Retriever puppy is placed in a home with the prayer that it’s unconditional love for that family will bring that family one step closer to truly knowing the unconditional love that God has for them….”I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in you inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saint, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19

And thus we endeavor to propagate the ‘LoveLine” that began with Jesus Christ…”For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believers in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16