Meet the Dutch Haven Partners!
1990: Four of the Groen kids loving on Cocker Spaniel puppies
Fenton & Shirley Groen began breeding Cocker Spaniels in 1990, passing their love of animals on to their seven children. Now that the kids are all grown, a number of us have carried on the family tradition, keeping Cocker Spaniels in our homes as part of our families, and exposing our own children to the miracle of raising puppies.
In the early 2000's, we heard about Cockapoos from friends who have a child with allergies. After a lot of research, we decided to try a litter. The puppies were so charming and adorable, they captured our hearts right from Day One.
We hope you enjoy perusing our site and looking at the pictures. We'd love to hear from you if you think it might be the right time to add one of our Cockapoos to your life!
In the early 2000's, we heard about Cockapoos from friends who have a child with allergies. After a lot of research, we decided to try a litter. The puppies were so charming and adorable, they captured our hearts right from Day One.
We hope you enjoy perusing our site and looking at the pictures. We'd love to hear from you if you think it might be the right time to add one of our Cockapoos to your life!
Joe & Lydia Groen
Joe and Lydia are committed full-time to raising our dogs and our family with excellence. We have five children: Jack, Matthew, Benjamin, Elizabeth, and Samuel. We love taking road trips and often have dogs along. We are so blessed to have a large extended family and are thrilled that our kids get to spend so much time with grandparents and cousins! Our Cocker Spaniels all get along well with our black Lab Willow and Katie the cat. Our dogs are all great with the kids and are an essential part of keeping our lives full of fun and laughter. At the end of 2020, we fulfilled a lifelong dream of moving West, and were able to purchase a rural country estate in Oklahoma. Our connections in NH remain very strong and we make frequent trips back to New England with puppies along. Meanwhile, our whole family (including the dogs!) is enjoying the big skies and room to roam!
Jesse & Catie McLaughlin
The McLaughlin family have been friends of the Groen clan for many years now. They have a busy household in Hampton Falls, NH, bustling with the love of animals all around. Tori, the oldest, loves researching best practices and implementing new programs with mom Catie to ensure the dogs are staying healthy, exercised, socialized, and groomed. AJ, Luke, and Noelle enjoy teaching the dogs new tricks. Their youngest, Lily-Cate, knows no world without doggies, and she and her friends are responsible for socializing the pups and introducing them to all the best Disney characters and songs! They all love the affection their Cocker Spaniels bring to their home. And there's never a dull moment in their home with a couple of Aussies to keep things well-rounded!
Robert & Barbie Lapointe
Barbie is Lydia's sister and a full-time mom and homeschooler, while Abraham, Samantha, Marian, Timothy, Pippin, and Henry are full-time kids, walking the dogs down their quiet country road in Barrington, NH, playing in the woods or the frog pond, jumping on the trampoline, catching crickets for the chickens, and swimming at their grandparents' lake house. Barbie and Robert have been very pleased to incorporate their kids in the joys and responsibilities of pet ownership, and their Cocker Spaniels have been happy to be included in this fun and exciting family!
Adam & Emily Vance
Meet the Vance family of Greenland, NH. Originally from the Midwest, Adam and Emily have always been dog lovers. In grade school, Emily took any opportunity to write about dogs in reports or creative writing assignments. As a child, Adam, an avid outdoorsman, explored the woods on his grandparents farm with a dog by his side. Now, they are parents of four children: Jake, Julia, Genevieve, and George, and their spoiled and beloved pets: the Cocker Spaniels get along well with their Maine Coon cat and Boston the chocolate Lab. The family enjoys spending time together hiking in the woods, playing on the beach, or snuggling up with the dogs on the sofa with a good book or movie.
Josh & Nicole Olstad
Josh and Nicole live in Farmington, NH on 5 acres of quiet wooded land with their four daughters Olivia, Danielle, Charlotte, and Clara. With both Josh and Nicole having pets growing up, and Nicole spending her high school years at the Groen house falling in love with their Cocker Spaniels and getting a small taste of puppy life, it was the obvious choice for them to have a Cocker Spaniel as their first pet for their family! The Olstad girls are so excited to help in the process of raising excellent and loving pets for others and take their job of socializing and snuggling pups very seriously. Other than actually playing with the dogs, one of their favorite parts so far has been brainstorming litter themes and future puppy names! Nicole helps Lydia answer inquiries about our puppies and you may have the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone before you meet your new pup!
Stephanie Osborne
Stephanie fell in love with Cocker Spaniels more than 30 years ago, and they have been an important part of her family ever since. So when Covid coincided with her youngest child heading off to college, she knew it was time for another Cocker adventure! Maisy Mae has been a delight and a comfort...from trips to NH and Maine beaches to snuggles on the sofa for movie night. Maisy Mae enjoys getting together with Stephanie's adult children and their dogs, as well as weekly walks with her best friend Bella in Dover, NH!
Andy & Janna Blaszak
Lydia's cousin Janna lives right outside of Omaha, NE. A lifelong dog-lover and trained as an RN, Janna is excited to be a part of Dutch Haven as she follows in her mom's footsteps into the breeding world. Janna and her husband Andy have two beautiful kids: Emmy and Ollie, and as a family they enjoy visits to the Omaha Zoo and family bike rides. Sweet Honeysuckle is their Cocker Spaniel who is one of Dutch Haven's upcoming mamas - Honey is gentle with her sister Sophie the elderly Dachshund and is hoping for a younger Cocker sister to join her in the near future!
Bruce & Pam Trefethen
When Lydia started thinking about finding a quality stud who would make a good father for future litters, it took surprisingly little sweet-talking to convince her parents Bruce and Pam that a Miniature Poodle would be a great addition to their family! Shortly thereafter, we were delighted to find Nico, who became our first official stud muffin. Young Anton was next to join the family, beginning his Dutch Haven career in 2018. Little brother Paddington joined in 2021. These boys have a pretty sweet life lake-side in Barrington, NH!
Zack & Laura Shrift
When Joe & Lydia moved we knew we'd need a stud dog here in NWA. We were thrilled when the opportunity arose to bring proven stud Paddington's younger brother Chester into our breeding family. Long-time friends Zack and Laura were happy to add Chester to their family, which shortly thereafter grew to include baby Judah! The trip from our home to Siloam Springs, AR, is a short one and we are frequent visitors at each others' homes for bbq's and game nights.
They motivate us to PLAY, be AFFECTIONATE, seek ADVENTURE and be LOYAL. -Tom Hayden
