Questions:

How do I find a good Golden Retriever?

How do I find a good puppy of any breed?

How do I find a good professional handler?

How do I find a good obedience trainer?















Question:

How do I find a good Golden Retriever puppy?

Answer:
There are Golden breeders and there are Golden breeders.


Anyone can say their Goldens are show dogs.
Anyone can say their pedigree's are full of Champions.
Anyone can say their dogs have "clearances";
Anyone that is a GRCA member can say they are GRCA members, this is no guarantee they do all recommended clearances.

and the really big one:

Anyone can say their Goldens have good temperament, the Hallmark of the breed.


Be a knowledgeable buyer!


Know that there are ways to check on the veracity of what you are told.

You can check the AKC website (www.akc.org) to see if the dogs in the pedigree you plan to buy are indeed registered Champions, or pointed .

Do not feel embarrassed to ask a breeder to provide you with copies of health clearances. You can check the Orthopedic Foundation of America (OFA) to see if the sire and dam of your dog do indeed have hip, elbow, heart and thyroid clearances. If the other dogs in the immediate pedigree have hip clearances.

You can check the CERF (Canine Eye Registration Foundation) site to see if the dogs do indeed have eye clearances. If they do not have CERF numbers you should insist on receiving a copy of the Veterinary Ophthalmologist report.

You should receive copies of all clearances as well as at least a three generation pedigree.

You may find pedigrees you are interested in at the k9database.

Know what the guarantee you are receiving means.

Are you entitled to a refund if the puppy you buy develops hip dysplasia? Eye problems? Seizures? SAS? Do you know that OFA will not certify a dog's hips until it is two years old? The guarantee should be for at least that long.

Are you entitled to a refund if the dog develops a disqualifying fault? Know what the disqualifying faults are, learn the breed standard.

When the guarantee says refund OR replacement are you able to CHOOSE which litter you will take a replacement from?

Who is responsible for paying to ship the dog back to the breeder?

What happens to a dog that has to be returned?

Who is responsible for Vet bills?

Does the breeder carefully screen potential puppy buyers or do you get the feeling that as long as you can pay the price you will get a dog?

Is the breeder happy to supply references of other people who own their dogs?

Buying a puppy is a long term arrangement. You should be planning on living with this Golden for the life of the dog, ten to twelve years at least.

Know what you are getting into.

Insist on full disclosure.

If a breeder is unwilling to answer your questions, or supply references RUN until you find a breeder who will.

You can find a good breeder. The purchase of a Golden Retriever to live with you for its lifetime is not something to be rushed into.

Contact the Golden Retriever Club of America.
Contact a GRCA puppy referral person.

Learn what you should know to be an informed consumer.

Read:

ACQUIRING A GOLDEN RETRIEVER

Learn how a litter of puppies should be raised and socialized. How much time and effort it takes to raise a litter.

A Golden puppy that has not been socialized and raised with a lot of attention may not become the dog you hope for.

Know that acquiring a Golden Retriever, whether a puppy or an adult, should be a huge commitment, one that will be your responsibility for many years and one that will provide you with some of the happiest times of your life and all the love you could ask for.

Please feel free to use any and all of this information to help educate puppy buyers.



















Question:

How do I find a good puppy of any breed?

Answer:
Follow the advice for finding a good Golden Retriever.






















Question:

How do I find a good professional handler?

Answer:
A good professional handler can finish a dog in less time, for less money than an amateur handler especially if your breed is a competitive breed like a Golden Retriever.

It is true that when you send a dog "out" with a professional handler that you are putting the dog "at risk." But you are putting your dog at risk just taking it to dog shows. These risks are part of what you must decide you want to take in order to have an AKC Champion dog. No, your dog will not get as much personal attention as it does in your house as an only dog. But even if you were to handle your dog yourself the dog would spend a lot of crate time on the weekends at the dog shows.

When you make the decision to be a "dog show" person there are some concessions you must make. Otherwise you are just wasting your time and your money. Dogs shows are very completive and especially so if your breed is the Golden Retriever. If you have spent the time and effort building that all important bond with your dog when he was a puppy, then life on the show circuit should not affect him. Making hard choices is what separates the winners from the wannabes, and trust me the wannabes far out number the winners.

The dog show "game" can be confusing when you are new to it. It seems as if everyone knows what you should and should not do and the trick is figuring out who truly knows what they are talking about.

A good handler will not make promises they can not keep. If you talk to a handler and they are not enthusiastic about showing your dog ask why. The reasons may surprise you. The handler may be booked far in advance and not be able to take on another dog or they may not think your dog can win.

If you talk to good handlers and they do not think your dog will finish you need to reconsider your choice to show the dog.

Some good handlers are licensed by the AKC, some are not.

You should go to dog shows and watch the handlers handle your breed then speak to the handlers whose handling you admire.

Go to their "set-up" after they are done showing, observe how the dogs are cared for. If you can see the vehicle the dogs travel in do so. If there are many dogs, see if the handler has assistants and how those assistants interact with the dogs.

Make sure any agreement is in writing and that you receive timely bills. There are many things you should discuss with a handler before making a decision.

Any handler not willing to communicate with you should be passed over for someone else.

As with anything, you get what you pay for. A respectable, successful handler is going to cost more than the lesser competition.

Question:

How do I find a good obedience trainer?

If there is an obedience club in your area ask if you can observe the class you are interested in, if you are told no observers are allowed you will know you want to run.

If allowed to observe do so quietly and do not interrupt.

Ask questions after class. Find out if the instructor has trained and titled dogs herself. Find out if the instructor has students who have titled dogs. Find out which titles. Ask what the scores were and how many trials it took to get the titles.

These same questions should be asked of someone you are considering for private lessons.

Any good trainer will respect your desire to learn what their qualifications are to take your money.

Anyone training classes should have at least titled dogs to a UD.

Anything less will not allow them to know how to provide your Novice dog with a good foundation.

There is a big difference between a dog that has taken 30 trials to get 3 legs in the 170's and a dog that gets a UD in less than 10 trials with scores in the 190's.

If possible you want a trainer that has an OTCH titled dog and students that have reached that goal.

As with a good professional handler you get what you pay for.

Then again there are a lot of so called "instructors" charging a lot of money for useless information.

Ask for qualifications. People who have qualifications do not resent being asked.