About Us
Our names are Paul & Gina Grote. Together, along with our Daughter in law Kerrie and her husband Charlie, we care for our dogs on our 63 acres in beautiful Northern Michigan! We get to take them on hikes in the woods and romps through huge fields.
Our dogs are our passion. I have been involved with dogs since I was a young girl. I’m a second generation Sporting dog enthusiast! My father raised pointing dogs and hunted over them. Many an afternoon were spent “running the dogs” in farmers fields outside the city. I began a career as a Professional Pet Groomer by serving as an apprentice at a local Pet Salon in 1972 at the age of 15 years old. Completing my program in 1973, I went to work at a boarding kennel in January of 1974. Eventually, at the age of 28, I purchased that property. For 52 years I have been involved with all aspects of dogs. Being a groomer exposed me to synergistic activities in the dog world, Training, Grooming, Showing, Boarding and Breeding. I love raising a well bred puppy from the best pedigrees and helping people get the perfect pet for their family. We have bred, raised and shown to Championship requirements, in Conformation, Obedience, Filed & Agility with the AKC and CKC over 26 Champions under the prefix of Clinton Oaks. We have also the honor of having bred Search & Rescue dogs and many many Assistance & Certified Therapy Dogs. One of them holding a record for her hundreds of daily visits to Detroit’s Children’s Hospital. These days, now in my 60’s, I have retired from active showing myself, but we still have clients and partners that show our dogs and enjoy the various dog related activities. Kerrie has worked side by side with me and to the best of my ability I am sharing with her all I have learned from my mentor and from hands on experience through out the years. However, the most rewarding part of what we do is to breed the finest dogs possible and match them to families that want one. As a breeder only a small fraction of the dogs we breed go on to become a Champion. They have to not only be beautiful & healthy, but they have to have “it”, that quality that distinguishes a Show Dog from a Companion dog. Breeding dogs is a costly endeavor and sometimes frustrating. Clinton Oaks, armed with the technology currently available we make sure all breeding pairs are healthy. This has enabled us to produce some of the finest companion dogs anywhere. Each dog in our breeding program is screened for abnormalities relevant to their breed. All of our dogs are Vet certified prior to entering into a breeding program. If a dog is not suitable, they go on to be out or someone’s couch potato. None of our dogs have ever ended up in a shelter or rescue. We are responsible for them being on this earth, if someone can no longer care for a dog bred by us (and many times by others) we contractually require those dogs be returned to us. In our 52 years we have received back 7 dogs that ended up in our home or that of an adoptive family.
We warranty all of our puppies temperaments under normal conditions of stress.
Read about our Puppy Matching procedure! Dog Breeding Information & Dog Breeding Advice
Our dogs are our passion. I have been involved with dogs since I was a young girl. I’m a second generation Sporting dog enthusiast! My father raised pointing dogs and hunted over them. Many an afternoon were spent “running the dogs” in farmers fields outside the city. I began a career as a Professional Pet Groomer by serving as an apprentice at a local Pet Salon in 1972 at the age of 15 years old. Completing my program in 1973, I went to work at a boarding kennel in January of 1974. Eventually, at the age of 28, I purchased that property. For 52 years I have been involved with all aspects of dogs. Being a groomer exposed me to synergistic activities in the dog world, Training, Grooming, Showing, Boarding and Breeding. I love raising a well bred puppy from the best pedigrees and helping people get the perfect pet for their family. We have bred, raised and shown to Championship requirements, in Conformation, Obedience, Filed & Agility with the AKC and CKC over 26 Champions under the prefix of Clinton Oaks. We have also the honor of having bred Search & Rescue dogs and many many Assistance & Certified Therapy Dogs. One of them holding a record for her hundreds of daily visits to Detroit’s Children’s Hospital. These days, now in my 60’s, I have retired from active showing myself, but we still have clients and partners that show our dogs and enjoy the various dog related activities. Kerrie has worked side by side with me and to the best of my ability I am sharing with her all I have learned from my mentor and from hands on experience through out the years. However, the most rewarding part of what we do is to breed the finest dogs possible and match them to families that want one. As a breeder only a small fraction of the dogs we breed go on to become a Champion. They have to not only be beautiful & healthy, but they have to have “it”, that quality that distinguishes a Show Dog from a Companion dog. Breeding dogs is a costly endeavor and sometimes frustrating. Clinton Oaks, armed with the technology currently available we make sure all breeding pairs are healthy. This has enabled us to produce some of the finest companion dogs anywhere. Each dog in our breeding program is screened for abnormalities relevant to their breed. All of our dogs are Vet certified prior to entering into a breeding program. If a dog is not suitable, they go on to be out or someone’s couch potato. None of our dogs have ever ended up in a shelter or rescue. We are responsible for them being on this earth, if someone can no longer care for a dog bred by us (and many times by others) we contractually require those dogs be returned to us. In our 52 years we have received back 7 dogs that ended up in our home or that of an adoptive family.
Currently we screen for the following:
- All of the dogs (requiring the test) used in our breeding program are PennHip or OFA Certified
- We do eye exams. Those exams are done by Board Certified Canine Ophthalmologist, Dr. Daniel Lorimer, DVM.
- Cardiac Exams on Golden Retriever's
- We also adhere to the breed standards as written by the GRCA, ASC, VCA and published by the American Kennel Club.
- All of our dogs offspring are Registerable with the American Kennel Club on the Limited Registration option.
- Each puppy is microchipped and we register the chip and order an engraved tag.
- Puppies are PAT tested and matched to families
- Our dogs represent nearly 12 generations, (at least 50 + years) of certified dogs.
We warranty all of our puppies temperaments under normal conditions of stress.
Read about our Puppy Matching procedure! Dog Breeding Information & Dog Breeding Advice
