Our Story
It Started With Joy. It Became a Standard.
Nichole and Dave, raising standard goldendoodle puppies in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, held to a standard that's truly good as gold.
How It Started
We Are Nichole & Dave
It started with George.
In 2021, Nichole and Dave brought home their first goldendoodle, and everything changed. George is smart, empathetic, and gentle in a way that is hard to put into words. Goldendoodles do not just share your space. They read it. They seem to understand what you need before you say it. George made one thing certain: they would never not have a goldendoodle in their home.
That certainty became a question: what does it take to do this right? The more they learned about health testing, responsible breeding, and what happens to families who skip that step, the more they wanted to give other families the same experience. That experience is what Good as Gold Doodles is built around.
The program started with Ingrid, an apricot standard goldendoodle from Woodview Doodles in Illinois, one of the most respected goldendoodle lines in the country. She is engaged, attentive, and endlessly cuddly. She was not chosen by accident. She was chosen the same way they approach every decision here: with the end in mind.
From day three through go-home day, both are hands-on through every stage of Early Neurological Stimulation, the full Puppy Culture curriculum, and every placement decision. They believe how a puppy is raised in the first eight weeks is not a detail. It is the whole thing.
Because a dog like that changes everything. And every family deserves to find one.
What We Stand For
A Standard Worth the Name
Health Testing Is a Floor, Not a Feature
Every breeding dog completes the full GANA protocol, five OFA physical clearances and a seven-marker genetic panel, before any breeding takes place. We show every result to every family who asks. No exceptions.
The First Eight Weeks Are the Beginning
Neurological development, stress tolerance, and emotional resilience are shaped in the whelping box, not in puppy class. Dave applies ENS daily from day three through day sixteen. Nichole leads the full Puppy Culture curriculum from birth through week eight.
We Choose the Families. You Choose the Puppy.
Every family is carefully approved before they are invited to place a deposit. We personally review every application and take the time to have a real conversation so we can get to know you, your family, and what you are hoping for in a puppy. During the seventh week, we meet with each approved family, by Zoom, by FaceTime, or in person at our home, in the order reservations were received. Before your appointment, we share what we have observed about every puppy so far, including temperament, energy level, confidence, and overall disposition. You will then choose the puppy that feels like the best fit for your family. The family who has been waiting the longest selects first, followed by each family in reservation order.
Transparency Is Not a Strategy, It Is a Baseline
Health testing results are available to every family. What we do not do is stated as clearly as what we do. We do not make claims we cannot back up, not about coat type, not about what we will promise after go-home day.
"Good as gold isn't just a name, it's a standard. A standard for how our dogs are health tested, how our puppies are raised, and how every family is chosen."
Nichole & Dave, Founders · Good as Gold Doodles · Baltimore, Maryland
