I'm wondering, if there's anyone out there in the Golden Retriever world, who can steer me in the right direction. I am K9 handler for a search and rescue group, and I'm wondering, if there's anybody who breeds working golden retrievers? I currently work a GR, and am planning on adding to my pack for next year. I've considered a GSD, but my heart breed is still the GR. Naturally, with SAR work/training I need a high play/hunt driven dog. Not sure if I want a pup, or perhaps just a young dog. My experience has been, that sometimes it's easier to assess the drives, when they are older than 9 weeks old. Any suggestions, would be greatly appreciated!

Where are you located?

No advice but one of my favorite search and rescue vids.

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Check with board member Swampcollie. He has just bred a litter of working/hunting dogs. If they are all spoken for,or is in an area not convenient to you, I'm sure he can direct you to other breeders he knows that are producing the drive you need in an SAR dog.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...our-guess.html (What's your guess?)

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...sorry...I should have clarified that....I'm up in Alberta, Canada. I'm willing to entertain anything across North America.

Well of course I'm biased towards my own breeder: Sunfire Golden Retrievers - Home and News

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Jodie

AJ's Maiden By the Sea CDX RE (Annabel - retired)
Mud E Paws UDX OM2 RE OBHF (Conner - retired with 28 OTCH points)
Sunfire's Flying Head Over Heels UD BN RA (Flip)
And the odd one of the family - Colby Jack Teeter Smack CDX GO RA (Colby - Lhasa Apso)

I don't know if this will help you any, but Alpine Meadows Ski Resort in California had a bunch of search & rescue goldens. Maybe you can somehow track down where they get their dogs from?? It's been 12 years now, but one of my goldens was sired by one of their search & rescue dogs way back when, but her breeder is not breeding anymore.

This might be a long shot - but I put it out there because the dog you describe could be my dog. High energy, high play - and her mother was a tracking champion to boot. She has it in her genes. That said, both my dog's parents (and owners/breeders) have died and I've never found any of her siblings on K9 Data.

However, here's what might help: I was first put in touch with my dog's father's owner 13 years ago by Jane Christy of Fyreglo in B.C. One of her dogs was my dog's father (his name was Cabot - she'll remember him well). She might be able to point you in the right direction of someone in the west breeding hunting/working/field dogs. She is (or at least was) very active in the Golden Retriever Club of Canada. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to her.

Good luck - let us know what happens.

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Tesia
"Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine."
The Laughing Dog Press

Sept. 21, 2000 ~ Feb. 5, 2013
My sweet, joyful, beloved heart.

Thank you everyone for your input. I have also considered contacting GR rescues, but re-homing goldens here in Canada isn't that popular. I'd have better luck going through kijiji (which I really would like to NOT do). Crazy, how some people try to sell purebred GR's (because they don't want them anymore), rather than contacting their breeder first {shakes head}. But I digress...

There's plenty more choice (for rescue GR's) down in the U.S., but most won't ship out of state. Anyhow, I need to get going on my breeder research fairly quickly (even if, I'm not planning on getting a dog until next year).

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Stay Gold!

Did you ever locate a breeder?