About the Author
Welcome! I’m Maegan – a Pet Person turned Dog Person – and I created The Canine Chasm. Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you find it useful. I started this blog to help others and to unite two very different groups of dog lovers: Pet People and Dog People.
My Story
My husband and I began searching for a well-bred puppy in 2014. We got rejected, ghosted, or told there weren’t any puppies by many ethical breeders in our area. It was incredibly frustrating. After months of searching, I found a responsible breeder that would talk to me. We were able to bring home a precious Golden Retriever puppy named Rocket in late 2015 and our journey began.
In the years since bringing Rocket home, I learned that many thousands of others have worn those exact shoes. I feel your frustration with finding a puppy because I’ve been there. I’ve been stuck in the cycle of trying to find an ethically bred puppy and being continually unsuccessful. I also learned that many others have made the same mistakes that I made with my first puppy. A lot of people have been bombarded with the same misinformation that I was.
I can say that “I know how you feel” because I actually do. You can read the story of my journey to the Dog World here.
You’re in the right place if you are:
- Looking for a well-bred puppy
- Raising a new puppy
- Trying to get started in dog sports
- Looking for resources to understand health clearances
- Looking for balanced training resources
- Like cute puppy pics and real life stories about dogs
- A new breeder trying to improve your program
The Canine Chasm features topics on all of the above and many things in between. Above all, this blog is dedicated to dogs.
More About Me, But Mostly My Dogs
While I’ve had dogs most of my life, I got my first Golden (Rocket) nine years ago and I was immediately hooked! During this time, I trained and showed Rocket, Eevee, and now Pippen, in AKC Rally, Obedience, and Conformation. Some day, I plan on dabbling in field work and agility.
We lost our Rocketman in December 2023 at 8 years old, but in his short life he far exceeded my expectations. I titled Rocket in Rally through Rally Master (RM) and Rally Advanced/Excellent (RAE). and his Beginner Novice Obedience (BN) title. Rocket was the best pet ever and he genuinely loved everyone he met. And they loved him in return! We are so grateful to have had him in our lives as long as we did.
Eevee is my best girl and heart dog. I’ve never connected with a dog as deeply as Eevee. Eevee has her BN, CD (Novice Obedience), Dock Junior (DJ), Dock Senior (DS) (through North American Diving Dogs), and I owner-handled her to her AKC Championship and Grand Championship.
After losing Rocket last December, we couldn’t live without a boy in the house, so we brought Pippen home in March 2024. We are absolutely in love with this puppy. His dad was the number 1 Golden in 2022 and his mom is a first cousin to Eevee. Pippen is just starting his show career (he’s 8 months as of September 2024), but we are excited about his future! Hopefully he can be like Eevee and have titles on both ends of his name.
I also bred my first litter this year (2024) and am planning to write a post about it someday. It was an amazing, rewarding, and exhausting experience. Eevee was bred to a dog named Brinkley that I saw at the 2022 GRCA National Specialty and loved. She had 5 beautiful puppies: 4 boys and 1 girl. You can view my breeder website here: Laurelin Goldens
I believe in the versatile Golden that can do anything you want to do. I am member of the Golden Retriever Club of America (GRCA), the Golden Retriever Club of Illinois (GRCI), and a founding member of the Natural State Golden Retriever Club (NSGRC). In 2024, I served as chair of the Nominating Committee for GRCA and as of September 1, 2024 was elected to the GRCI Board as Public Education Director. I currently serve as chair of the Trophy Committee for NSGRC and am a past Board Member and past chair of the Breeder Referral Committee.
Outside of the Dog World, I run my own engineering firm specializing in hydrology and hydraulics. I married a wonderful man who loves the dogs as much as I do and whole-heartedly supports my crazy dog show hobby. We share a love of cycling, engineering, being outside, food, beer, music, and the Arkansas Razorbacks. When I have time, I love to read sci-fi and fantasy.
If you read all of this, thanks again and I hope you come back soon!