I am considering adding another golden in a year or two. This time I want to do it right but I don’t want to bother the breeders by contacting them too early. When the ideal time to contact a breeder regarding a future puppy?

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I'm not sure if there is any "right" time because some breeders might have all puppies spoken for at the time of breeding and some might have a puppy left over from a litter for various reasons. If there is a particular breeder you would love a puppy from then contact them now and ask when they are planning a litter. I sent my Golden's breeder a Christmas card updating the showing we did for 2012 and asked them to keep me in mind if they have a special breeding planned in the next year or two.

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Be Happy With What You Have!

I think contacting breeders now and talking to them is a great idea....

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Janice and The Celebration Gang -
"Samantha, George, Tiki, Emily, Mick and Basil" Gone but not forgotten, Sally(Windjammer's Ima Country Girl CDX CGC), Laney(Mandell Marlenes Celebration UD RA CGC), and Cookie(Starseeker's Kissmas Cookie CDX RE CGC).

Thank you, thats great new! I have been itching to start my puppy search

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I am finding out that what I thought was ample time (seven months in advance) is rather short notice. It makes sense since, just from a practical point view, you have to count more than 5 months between the dam being bred and the puppies being old enough to go to their new family. Add to that the fact that the dams' seasons are not clock work and that the right sire has to be found and be available and I think that starting a year ahead of the time you would like your puppy to come home is quite reasonable.

Be careful, be as thorough as you can be. Check the registries (OFA and K9 data for the US, I do not know the Canadian equivalent of if those encompass Canada also) thoroughly. What is on one is not always on the other or some details are in one place and not the other one. My weakest point was to start e-mailing people out of the blues just to inquire about the possibility of a future litter. I got a false start (breeder who just had a knack of presenting his operation as genuine but did not pan out when I dug a little deeper) but have since been in communication with another breeder who has all her ducks in a row and , even though she will have nothing for me in the foreseeable future, is tremendously helpful and willing to help in my search.

Perhaps I will have a puppy this summer, perhaps I won't but I am learning so much along the way. Be sure to read all the stickies in the "Choosing ..." part of the forum and the Canadian equivalent of the Golden Club of America information about choosing a breeder, etc.

Your head will hurt, your brain will melt but it is a very interesting experience. Good luck in your search.

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Thank you!!! Your post really helped. There is a ton of information out there and I have only just started my search .

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