Meet the Dutch Haven Partners!

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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!

Joe & Lydia Groen

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.
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They motivate us to PLAY, be AFFECTIONATE, seek ADVENTURE and be LOYAL. -Tom Hayden

Ready to Add a Cockapoo To Your Life?

We are accepting applications for our summer puppies, ready to go home in August! We'd love to get to know you and have you join our waiting list!
Please fill out our application form to share a little bit about yourself and your lifestyle. 

What Our Clients Are Saying

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Having been Lab lovers for 50 years, our decision to have a small dog was not easy. Little did we know that Lucy would waltz into our lives and bring such joy, that it is difficult to imagine life without her. At 5 months she is a bundle of energy, loves people and dogs, and is intensely curious about everything, except big, noisy trucks. Lucy's transition to our home was made easy due to the care she received by Lydia of Dutch Haven Dogs. Murphy, the stuffed dog with a beating heart, came with Lucy, and can still be found each morning cuddled underneath her. Lucy has slept through the night all but the first 2 nights with us. The written routine given to us helped to get us through those first unknown weeks. Included in the pages of information given to us were tips about personality, behavior, and care. I remember Lydia telling us when we came to get Lucy, that she massaged the puppies' paws and ears daily so that they were used to being touched. To this day, it is part of my "loving" routine. And we do love her so very much. Fondly, Sandy, Kittery, ME
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​We cannot say enough wonderful things about Dutch Haven dogs. Our pup has been such a delight for the short few months we’ve had her. Everything about this process was amazing. Communication, answering questions, supplies, lists. Not to mention the love and care these pups get before we get to bring them home. My girl is an angel, she loves people. She’s friendly, she’s sweet. I couldn’t be happier. ~Heather, Eliot, ME
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We absolutely LOVED our experience with Dutch Haven! My favorite part is that the puppies are so well loved by the Groen family before they are ready to go to their new homes. Lydia Groen is so thorough with her communications and so helpful! The puppy selection process was also very well done. And I was impressed by the evaluation that Lydia performed on each puppy to determine their personalities. I’ve also loved all the photos while we were waiting for our precious puppy named Birdie! This is by far the best breeder experience we’ve ever had and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a beautiful and well adjusted snd well loved puppy! ~Courtney, Dallas, TX
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I am forever grateful to Dutch Haven Dogs for uniting me with my Gemma (Santa Clara) back in 2015. From our first conversation, I knew Dutch Haven not only had the knowledge of the Cockapoo breed, but also had the passion for what they do. They raise their pups surrounded by children who nurture them with all the love and cuddles! My Gemma is the smartest, most loyal dog, and she remains by my side as my best friend. Thank you Dutch Haven for breeding dogs with good health, temperment, and beauty. Huge shout out to you from us in CT!!! Christie, North Haven, CT
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Getting my dog from Dutch Haven was the best experience I could imagine. We got Dublin 6 years ago and I still think of the first time I contacted Dutch Haven to picking him out to bringing him home. The process was seamless. I happily waited 9 months for my puppy knowing he was coming from a loving, healthy family breeder. We were kept updated about our place on the waitlist, and photos were shared once our litter was born. My dog is very healthy and happy and I credit a lot of that to Dutch Haven being so reputable and caring of their dogs. When I get another dog, it will be from Dutch Haven! Thank you and hello from Dublin! Kristin, Dover, NH
Come see more of what people are saying about their Dutch Haven pups on our ALL GROWN UP page!

Let's Be Friends!