Information About Us

Born and raised in Grand Rapids Michigan my love of animals began when I was very young. My mother now jokes that she wouldn’t bother buying me baby dolls as I would only play with the stuffed animals. I would walk them, put them down for naps, name them all and pretend to be a veterinarian.

As I got older I studied every book I could get my hands on concerning training, health, care and breeding on dogs, cats, horses, sheep, fish and any animal I could. By the time I was 12 I had every breed memorized out of the AKC breed book and was struggling between dogs and horses as my focus. Being that my family was not able to provide me with a barn and pasture, dogs were the sensible choice. Of course I would bring home various strays and my mother was always very understanding. She would tease me though and say “I better not come home to find a horse in your bedroom Lane Rae!“. I can laugh about that now but you don‘t know how close I came to actually having an equine room mate!

By the age of 21 I had been a professional handlers assistant for 3.5 years, had graduated from professional grooming school and was married and starting a family. Labradors were already a part of my life and thought I was working full time I would attend shows as often as possible. The name “Coldwater” was chosen because we read “Any good Labrador will be one that is willing to enter Coldwater” and that seemed like a perfect prefix for our program.

By the age of 33 I was divorced, had obtained certifications in small animal nutrition, canine massage therapy specializing in sports medicine and canine behavioral science. I also attended handling, breeding and grooming seminars as often as possible. I also graduated from taxidermy school, earned a black belt in Taekwondo and raised two wonderful children who I am very proud of.

I met my better half, Jody Lynch, in 2003 and we finally became a couple in 2007. Jody is one of those rare people that animals are naturally drawn to and he loves them as much as I do. Jody understands that the dogs are intricate part of my identity. They are my passion and my life and it is wonderful to have a true partner that is fully involved in all aspects of our doggy family. He helps bottle feed the puppies, takes turns staying up all night keeping a watchful eye over new babies that have arrived and is the best pooper scooper ever!

He fully understands the dedication and love I have for my dogs because he has a passion of his own. He is a very talented musician that plays the guitar, drums and just about any instrument he can get his hands on. He writes his own music, teaches and performs on occasion with a band or solo. I am very proud of him, his music and very much appreciate his creativity and talent. I think that the understanding that we have concerning our "craft" (as he says) allows us to give each other the full support we need to follow our dreams and succeed.

Now, both in our early 40's, we are settled into a lovely renovated farm house located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Valley of Virginia. Our family has plenty of room inside and out but we do have plans to expand even further. Possibly some day we will have a small boarding and grooming kennel or I will start handling again. We are not sure but presently enjoying life, our dogs and each other.

Thank you for taking interest in who we are as people and why we are so dedicated to our lovely Labradors.

Alayne Hartuniewicz and Jody Lynch