The Cold Spring Farm Dogs
Have you ever attended a wedding where the signature drinks were named after the couple’s dogs? Or maybe there was a picture of their pup on the cocktail napkins? This is one of our favorite things to see at weddings (besides getting to meet the actual dogs of course!) If you are planning to do something similar – we see you and we get it, we’re dog people too.
If you have been to the farm or you follow Cold Spring Farm on social media you have likely met or seen our beloved pups. Unlike the horses, they are mostly kept away from weddings and events, and likely won’t be gracing the backgrounds of your sunset photos, but they are still an integral part of our life at the farm. They are our enthusiastic greeters, security system, source of never-ending silliness, comfort, and best friends. It is safe to say we are “dog people” in every sense of the word, and we would love to take this moment to introduce you to our furry family members.
Scout is a 5-year-old female yellow labrador with a true “old soul.” She is everything you expect from a labrador – very loyal – stuck to us like glue, snuggly, funny, and loving personality, very confident yet humble – unless any food is in the picture. She can hear the treat drawer open from anywhere in the house, even if she is in a deep sleep – if there is a chance of food, she’s on it.
Scout is bold. She howls with the coyotes when we hear them. She courageously walks out into the pasture almost every night to make some noise and draw an audible line around her territory – no matter how dark or cold. While she is a very sweet girl, she protects her home base with all her heart. This means that introducing her to new doggie friends can be a little challenging at first, but it’s something she’s working on all the time.
Scout is smart as a whip. She’s got a calm understanding about her. She understands her role with our other pup and does her best to keep her little sister in line. An inseparable pair, these opposite personalities are perfectly matched with Daisy keeping Scout active (and teaching her patience), and Scout reeling Daisy in a bit.
Daisy is our big Bernedoodle puppy (Bernese Mountain Dog and Standard Poodle.) She will be 2 years old in May. She is huge! As tall as we are when standing upright on her back paws (and much larger than Scout.) She is nuts but in all the best ways. She is the goofball of our crew, the creator of chaos, fun, and endless belly laughs. If you catch us when she’s out – she will be the big black and white floof ball darting through the woods with the ability and clearance of a deer to gracefully avoid obstacles. Scout would be content to take a leisurely stroll outside most of the time, but Daisy helps to keep her moving in a way she simply wouldn’t on her own.
Daisy is scared of everything. That same coyote scenario – Daisy would run home and hunker down to watch what happens. No call of the wild enticing her. While she will chase and catch field mice and chipmunks, nothing that poses a serious threat will ever get close to her because she will already be home waiting for Scout to take care of things. Despite looking so big and grown, her bark is still that ear-piercing high-pitched puppy bark. (We can’t wait for her to outgrow that!)
Daisy looks like an alive Muppet. After a little more than 20 years of owning and loving labs (and all the shedding that goes along with them) having this lovely crazy mess of soft floof brings a new challenge. Being afraid of almost everything, Daisy is not a fan of being groomed so we tend to keep her hair on the longer side – meaning we need to brush her daily. While she doesn’t shed, maintaining her coat has become a daily job for us in a different way.
Daisy is also a bit of a counter-surfer. This means that whatever you leave on the counter is at risk of being stolen the moment you look away. She has stolen an entire batch of homemade donuts, sticks of butter, homemade dinner rolls; the list goes on… She is just tall enough to reach the counter without jumping. With patience, commitment, and keeping our counters clear of everything, we are changing our behavior – and hers.
We are grateful to work with Laura Gendron of Miss Behavior – trainer and general lover of animals. Laura has helped us with several of our dogs over the years. She is an amazing, calm, extremely well-versed supporter and teacher and works with how you want your dogs to live and grow. You can find her at www.missbehaviortraining.com. She has been instrumental in training the pups (and us.)
Both Daisy and Scout are smart, resilient, affectionate, and fully motivated by fun and treats. You may run into them when you come to tour, or during your decorating/rehearsal day. They generally stay in during event days but will be walked on leashes as needed (away from your event unless you’d really like to say hi.) We generally work to keep them away from the celebration because who needs a cupcake-eating muppet monster crashing their wedding?
Can we bring our dogs to our wedding?
We love to see it! We just have a few rules regarding bringing them with you on your big day. We ask that you limit their involvement to the ceremony and photos that follow. We require and appreciate you designating someone they love to take them offsite where they are comfortable for the remainder of the evening. We never want to see dogs left in cars, having to endure loud music, or stressing out in a new place with so many people and other animals. Because of our other animals, we also ask that you keep your pups on a leash while they are on the property – dogs have an easy time slipping into the horse pasture, but this can create a dangerous situation we would very much like to avoid.
Give us a heads-up if you’d like to include your pups in your ceremony and we are happy to help support that in any way we can! We suggest checking out any of our favorite florists to create an on-theme floral collar piece to help them color-coordinate.
Are our guests allowed to bring their dogs?
For the same reasons discussed above (strangers, crowds, loud music, and the general safety of all the animals,) we ask that your guests leave their furry friends at home unless they are registered service dogs.
Can we pet your dogs?
Absolutely! If you see them and you wish to engage – they love to make new friends!
We have had pups here at the farm since its inception. They were the first animals we brought here, and we never plan to be without them. A post about our love for dogs feels incomplete without paying respects to the ones who loved and supported us through the early years of creating this space.
Cody – Our handsome black lab who moved to Alton with us in 2003 while this property was still raw and we were renting a house in town. He spent his days running the property while we built the house and barn and enjoying the space although he passed before we officially moved in. An incredibly skilled hunting dog and captain of mischief – he was truly one of a kind, and will be forever missed.
Hunter – Our first female yellow lab joined our family while we were still building at the farm during Christmastime in 2008, not long after we lost Cody. Hunter had a huge personality. She was smart, sassy, and sweet – all at once. She was a challenge to train, but worth every bit of effort and taught us just as much as we taught her. She moved to the farm with us in 2010 at 2 years old and had full run of the space until we added one more to our pack shortly after we arrived. Hunter was a great big sister and loved having Chase to play, run, and conspire with.
Chase – Our second female yellow lab and a biological half-sister to Hunter. Chase was an easy addition. She fell right in line and although we went through with the same training processes, she barely needed it compared to the pups who came before her. She was a great listener with infinite energy and unmatched sweetness. There has never been a hug quite like a Chase hug.
Chase paid it forward by being a great big sister to Scout in her later years. She did her best to keep up and never seemed to lose patience with Scout’s puppy energy (although I’m sure she was over it at times.) That brings us up to the present day.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our life and our beloved animals at Cold Spring Farm. If you have been spending time on our blog, you already know that we use this space to share about farm life, barn weddings, and to support other local small businesses and locally owned wedding venues.
In the Lakes Region, New Hampshire – you have many options for locally owned wedding venues and vendors. As a locally owned wedding venue, Cold Spring Farm adamantly supports our fellow small business owners in the wedding industry (and beyond) and encourages our couples to do so as well We believe that choosing to patronize small and locally owned businesses provides you with the best, most personalized experiences as a consumer.
In an effort to lift up our peers in this industry – we are including a link to several locally owned wedding venues and vendors in each of our blogs who we are proud to support.
River House Montana | Carolyn Baldwin Lake Pavilion | Venue De La Chute | Barn At Cedar Grove | Pine Lake Ranch | The Stables At Cypress Creek | The Mill District