This past January, an Instagram video about Golden Dog Farm in Cambridge, Vermont appeared in my feed. In the clip, which has since gone viral, a dozen golden retrievers with teddy-bear faces and wagging tails in shades of honey blond poke out of the back of a navy-blue pickup truck. As soon as the tailgate opens, the dogs fly out, bounding in all directions across a wide open field.

The video was showcasing the “Golden Retriever Experience,” a play date on a beautiful farm with a joyful group of dogs owned by longtime breeders Dana and Susan Menne. For $75, you get to play ball, cuddle, and enjoy refreshments with the pack.

Enchanted, I forwarded the video to my friend Alyssa, who’s obsessed with the breed. We tried to get tickets, but to our disappointment, it was booked solid all winter. So when I told her I’d have the chance to attend with a plus one for this story, she dropped everything to drive up from Connecticut for the weekend.

Following Alyssa’s GPS along twisty back roads, we admired the mountainous vistas, early morning mist rising from the cliffs. A chic sign with a laser-cut silhouette of a golden retriever told us we’d made it. Grapevines lined the long drive into the farm and the still visible white streaks of ski trails in the distance added a dramatic backdrop. We arrived to 360-degree views of wooded paths, grassy fields, and forested peaks.

Owner Doug Worple was waiting for us, his friendly demeanor making us immediately feel welcome. He pointed us toward a gently sloping path through the woods, which ended at a scene that could be the set of summer camp movie: A stand of evergreens frames a large barn with picnic tables and Adirondack chairs out front; there’s a shed full of firewood, a tennis court, and a pond, plus acres of green space to run and play. Doug’s wife Becca met us outside the barn, pointing out the Long Trail, Smuggler’s Notch, and Mount Mansfield. Her warm greeting included the origin story of her “love affair with goldens,” which began with Addy, the first dog she and Doug shared.

The Worples came to the property in 2020. With their two kids off to college, they decided to leave behind their corporate careers and travel the country in an RV. “It was around early September when we arrived in Vermont,” Becca told me. “We loved the natural beauty of the state, the water, the mountains, the craggy granite outcroppings, the lifestyle.” Despite having no previous farming experience, they took a leap of faith and bought the 270-acre farm.

Now, when they’re not beekeeping, boiling sap, or making wine, the Worples offer tours of their orchards, vineyard, sugarbush where they tap maple syrup, and two apiaries. (In their immersive “Bee Experience,” visitors suit up and witness first-hand how a colony functions.) They have three dogs who sometimes participate in farm tours, but they’ve become known for their guests of honor: Dana and Susan Menne’s brood of 12 dogs who visit for Golden Retriever Experiences. Dog lovers travel from near and far to frolic with these charismatic canines; they’ve had visitors from Mexico, the UK, and Puerto Rico.