Golden Retriever Dog Forums banner

Any info on Goldrush in NJ?

75K views 151 replies 68 participants last post by  gwen poet 
#1 ·
I am looking for any info I can get on Goldrush in NJ. They came highly recommended by the breeder of my last Golden (who does not have any litters coming up) and are members of the Garden State Golden Club as well as the NJ Pine Barrens Golden Club. I have my name on lists for their litters that are due to be born this week, but I've started to hear some things about them and really want to make the best decision possible. If you have any info (positive or negative) I would really appreciate it.

Also, has anyone heard anything about Goldilocks Goldens in PA?

Thank you for any help.
 
#4 ·
I would never buy a puppy that was not guaranteed. Breeders know that we owners would never return our beloved puppies so many of their guarantees are meaningless. You need a breeder that will refund your money-up to the price of the puppy-for Vet bills due to inherited defects. That's the guarantee we have for our two guys and, unfortuatwly, have had to use it twice!!!
 
#5 ·
Gold-Rush

Do not have time this second to write much but I have dogs
from Gold-Rush who have been breeding & showing goldens for
more than 40 years.
Also looking up Goldilocks, many (at least 85%) on the OFA
database go back to Gold-Rush at least on one side.


Later I will write regarding breeders and owners and
their goldens.
This will include clearances, how to check and what they mean.
Gotta fly out the door
 
#6 ·
I know that Gold Rush has been breeding/showing Goldens for a long time and that they're a big name in the NE. I've never bought a dog from them myself, but my parents' Goldens and my new Golden are descendants of Gold Rush dogs and have been healthy and great dogs overall.

From what I understand, Gold Rush is a NE Golden powerhouse. Just do your homework, ask for clearances and guarantees (will they take back the dog if things don't work out?).
 
#12 ·
I've never heard the forgery bit about them before. I'm not sure that is a legit link - this is NJ Consumer Affairs here: New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs

I have heard about cancer but hey - this is NJ - the cancer state. It's all in the cards. Hips? two "good" hip rated parents CAN throw puppies with Displaysia. As far as cancer and longevity - my Jake had a heavy background of Gold-Rush on his mother's side. While she died at 8 of cancer, Jake lived to be 17. We were lucky. I hope we are as lucky this time around with Griff.

Do your best to feed them right and avoid putting chemicals on your lawn.

Can you find a breeder that can guaranty that your dog won't have cancer? I don't think you can.
 
#13 ·
I had looked into Goldrush when I first started my search for a golden pup, not knowing anything about them. Since I live in NJ, I was able to visit. They actually have two locations and one is only 20 min. from me. This one had a few sires and moms, and lots of pups. There were at least four litters there and I did not like how they were kept. At night they slept in these huge wire bottomed cages. In one litter, all the pups were about 16 weeks already, and apparently unspoken for. Since all the pups there were weaned, the moms weren't with them, but were in seperate crates in the garage. Two litters were in those huge crates in the garage also. Honestly, I hated the place, and this was before I'd heard anything about cancer in their lines. A female pup was $2,000 and $1800 for a male.

I know two people who have/had Goldrush dogs and one has hip dysplasia (since she was quite young) and the other died of brain cancer at 3 years. I just don't have very good vibes about them.

I had also briefly looked into Goldilocks, whose prices were still a bit higher than I wanted to spend, 1200 for a non-champion sire and $1600 for a champion sired pup. When I asked another NJ breeder about them, she wouldn't give me any details, but wasn't very positive. I honestly can't remember what the issue was, though.

Personally, I like the smaller breeders, not backyard breeders, but hobby breeders. They have all the clearances, can have champion dogs, are involved in the clubs, and take wonderful care of their males and/or females. (this is not to say that a larger breeder doesn't take good care of their dogs, but I just personally didn't like what I saw at Goldrush. Can't speak for Goldilocks)
 
#16 ·
Remember there is Goldrush and Gold-Rush, two different kennels. Goldrush was Jean Baird Crowley and Gold-Rush is R Ann Johnson

I am not a fan of Gold-Rush but I do find it interesting that the only dogs so far that I have bred and which had cancer prior to age 10, were both on the East Coast.

No breeder is going to be able to tell you that their lines are cancer free, or problem free. Hopefully, cancer will be limited to older dogs (age 10 and up). The older a dog gets, the more likely he or she is to get cancer. Kind of like prostrate cancer in men. My father's physician told us that basically if a man lives long enough, he is likely to get prostrate cancer. Except for the two dogs on the East Coast, I have seen little cancer so far in my dogs (who are primarily in Wisconsin) and it has been in older dogs. We lost 2 girls at 11 and 13 to breast cancer, which is probably more related to their breeding careers. And even the one on the East coast with lymphoma lived to be a little over 11. The one in Florida had a very rare and virulent type of cancer and I still don't know for sure what happened there.

I sincerely believe that much, but not all, cancer is related to chemicals in our daily lives. Especially chemicals used on our lawns and golf courses. Frequently when I would talk to prospective puppy buyers I would find that they lost their previous companion to cancer. Further questioning would often find that they or their neighbors used lawn services to keep their lawns nice, and/or took their dogs to golf courses. I do not allow my puppies to go to homes that use lawn services or walk their dogs on golf courses-too many chemicals.

All that said, I will also agree that some lines seem to have younger cancers, and often the same type of cancer, such as hemangiosarcoma. My lines are in general older lines but I do worry as I incorporate new lines into my breeding program.
 
#17 ·
I bought Putz from Goldiloks in PA (Export) I LOVE HER. Her prices are NOT $1200, we got Putz a year and a half ago and paid either $800 or $850. She does all the health clearances and is a wonderful person and breeder. Putz is HEALTHY and happy. Our Vet was VERY impressed with him and wanted to know who the breeder was, she is considering a Golden and after examining Putz said she WOULD buy from her. I believe there may be ANOTHER Goldiloks with a different spelling - the one I am referring to is: Goldiloks Kennels - Murrysville, Pennsylvania
 
#19 ·
My cousin's family had a female they got directly from Gold-Rush in Princeton, NJ. For some reason, they decided to breed her at 4 years old (don't ask me why, and in my opinion they were not knowledgeable enough to be doing that...and I don't know who they bred her with or why they didn't have something in their contract from Gold-Rush preventing them from breeding her). In any event, shortly after the puppies were born, she died of cancer at 5 years old. Even more sadly, already two of the puppies have died of cancer before reaching the age of 3 years old.

They still have one puppy (now 4 or 5 years old) and are living on pins and needles hoping not to lose him, too. They have said they will never have another golden again after what they went through.
 
#28 ·
My cousin's family had a female they got directly from Gold-Rush in Princeton, NJ. For some reason, they decided to breed her at 4 years old (don't ask me why, and in my opinion they were not knowledgeable enough to be doing that...and I don't know who they bred her with or why they didn't have something in their contract from Gold-Rush preventing them from breeding her). In any event, shortly after the puppies were born, she died of cancer at 5 years old. Even more sadly, already two of the puppies have died of cancer before reaching the age of 3 years old.

They still have one puppy (now 4 or 5 years old) and are living on pins and needles hoping not to lose him, too. They have said they will never have another golden again after what they went through.
I'm interested in knowing the names of their females sire and dam. Since I raise most of Ann's females I have knowledge of them. Also I would like to note that they do limit the registrations. Did they register this litter?
In all fairness to Ann, I do get the first phone call from people looking for puppies, I talk with these people because most of them are grieving the lose of their loving pets. I do know where they purchased their pups and I can assure you that many goldens are dying of cancer at a young age from some very reputable kennels.
 
#20 ·
Gold-Rush

We bought Casey from Gold-Rush almost nine years ago. A day or two after we brought her home, we went to our vet, and the first question out of his mouth was whether she was from Gold-Rush. When we said yes, he told us that they saw a lot of retrievers with cancer from them.

Seven years later, Casey was diagnosed with cancer, and given 4 months. She beat the odds, and gave us 21 months of additional joy and love. Two weeks ago, she was diagnosed with two new strains of cancer unrelated to the first instance. This cancer was much more aggressive, and we had to put her down this afternoon.

I've spent a lot of time at the vet with Casey over the past two years, and usually I see at least one or two other goldens there getting treatment for cancer. And usually, they have a good amount of Gold-Rush in them.

In fairness to Gold-Rush, I live only about 30 miles from them (I'm in Monmouth County, NJ), so it is not too surprising that so many Gold-Rush dogs are in this area. And in terms of intelligence, gentleness, and disposition, you can't do better. I've done some research, and I've read that 60% of goldens will die from a cancer-related illness, so I don't know if Gold-Rush is worse than any other breeder. But it would have been nice for them to advise of the health risks before we made such an emotional investment. We probably would have bought Casey anyway, but nine years ago they were primarily interested in just taking our money. Hopefully things are different now.


Casey
1999 - 2008
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Hailey has Gold - Rush in her background but it 5 generations back.
Would I buy a dog from Ann Johnson, not in a million years. Her reputation has been shot for a long time. Very sad from a kennel that had bred the great Teddy Bear and others.
 
#24 ·
Temper,

I am so sorry to hear about Casey. No matter how old they are or how long we have had them, we still miss them, and always will.
 
#30 ·
Have to say I have dealt with 3 different people at Gold-rush since Amber died and all have been more than kind and sympathetic. My first contact was Peg aka Historicprim who is on this board. She has been absolutely wonderful! Her love for dogs and their care is so apparent when you talk to her. I have also spoken to Robyn and to Ann herself. Amber came from Gold-rush and when I found Amber's brother on the Gold-rush site, I knew one of his pups one day was meant to be with me. I was informed that he was bred, received an excited call when it looked like Annie was pregnant, and all were great about my loss of Amber. I also got to meet first hand some of the Gold-rush dogs at my first dog show recently. Nate (aka National Treasure) was probably the sweetest dog I have ever met and so handsome! And he was handled with love. Trust me, I was watching. He appeared a few days after that show in the Westminster show. And he just became a father again for anyone looking for pups! Cancer is a big problem in all Goldens. The number of Gold-rush dogs with cancer will seem high because there are so many Gold-rush dogs. And the high cancer rate across the board in dogs over the last few years in general is being linked more and more to diet at this point and chemicals all over our lawns. To sum it up, my experiences with Gold-rush and the people that are Gold-rush have all been good ones--from our first contact about 6 years ago to my most recent contact this week.
 
#31 ·
After years of owning GRs from breeders including Goldrush I recently adopted a rescue dog. i dont think i will go to another breeder again. sonny is 2 1/2 and his former owners thought he needed too much attention! (he's a GR not a cat!) He is a fabulous dog smart sweet and now best buds with our lab. People get dogs and have no idea of what to expect. There is nothing wrong with most of these dogs except the humans that own them! Think rescue!
 
#32 ·
Glad you are here and so great for rescuing! I am leaning that way myself when you see on all the beautiful goldens listed on Petfinder that so desparetely need loving homes. My concern is my dog aggressive golden... I think he may accept a pup easier than an older dog.
 
#34 ·
Thought I would post a few pictures of Murphy from Gold-Rush.

Also, my English white on the right (Murphy on the left) has nasal cancer which extends into his brain. He is from England.

Apache had liver cancer and we had to put him down at 13.5 years and he was a golden from OK.

You will find cancer in a lot of goldens. Thankfully we have only had it in 2 of our 7.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top