Hi everyone
This thread is meant to help people in India looking for responsible breeders here. I am sharing my experiences. The thread itself is going to be a work in progress for a little while, as I haven't confirmed my decision yet, so will add to it as and when I get more information.
I live in Mumbai, but was happy to travel in order to find the breeder in question.
My criteria for shortlisting was based on the breeders' patience answering my questions, and their openness to us visiting them and their adult dogs.
My final shortlist was down to 2 breeders, which I will get to in a minute.
Here are the breeders that didn't make it. Please note that I'm not saying that they are necessarily bad breeders, just that I was more comfortable going elsewhere. Do feel free to let us know if you think we are wrong.
1. Yashbans in Bangalore: They are quite big here, but I got the feeling that it was too much of a business for them. They had differential pricing based on the pups' conformation to breed standards, which I wasn't a fan of. I got a guy called Delano Henriques Dogs Training | Everything For Your Dog to advise me as well, and he wasn't too keen on this breeder either.
Prices: INR 60-75k, 100k for the pick of the litter
2. Kaps Pets Mumbai: Seemed promising, they're agents for breeders and source their dogs from different parts of the country. I had a god conversation with the owner, but subsequent calls to them made me feel like not enough vetting happens at this place, and there is a higher than average probability of ending up with a pup from a puppy mill.
Prices: INR 30k or so, they have a price list on their website.
3. Poornima Nagarkar, Ambergold Kennels, Pune: This is basically a family run operation, and I had a couple of very good conversations with Ms. Nagarkar. She was very open to having us visit her before deciding. The only issue for us was timing, she will have pups available around Feb 2015, and we were looking at October/November. She was concerned about our lifestyles and how we would care for the dog. I would definitely consider her if it weren't for the schedule.
Email Id : ambergoldkennel@gmail.com
Mobile : 9764001064
Mobile : 9422330892
Location : Maharashtra > Pune
4. https://www.facebook.com/murchana.barooah: I didn't really speak with her, but she was highly recommended by pretty much everyone. In fact, one of the 2 breeders we were keen on have got their bitch from her.
5. Vinod Gatta, Bangalore: Didn't seem very enthused with the idea of us visiting his adult dogs, conversation didn't go any further.
Email Id : gattavinod@gmail.com
Mobile : 9620300567
Location : Karnataka > bangalore
6. https://www.facebook.com/drtkennels.ankeetatikka?fref=ts: She came recommended by a friend who knows someone that got a dog from her. I got the feeling that she was also an 'agent' and my wife and I had decided to avoid them if we could, so didn't go further. She can source American goldens if that is something that you're looking for. We were initially, but then decided that we don't care about how they look, and would decide on a dog based on overall health and temperament.
Now coming to the ones that we are considering..
1. https://www.facebook.com/HappyMindsKennels: They're based in Bangalore, my wife and I visited their home recently. They have 3 adult Golden Retrievers, a Siberian Husky and a German Shepherd. The dogs they are mating were both there and have won numerous shows. They were very patient with our questions and let us spend a lot of time with their dogs. The female is from Ms. Barooah's kennel mentioned above. My concern was that they would keep the pups for 12 weeks before sending them to their homes. Whilst this is in itself not a bad thing for them to do, we got the feeling that their dogs get little exercise, they are free to run around in the house, but not a lot of time dedicated to walking/running with them. The male was very hyper and unruly (very very friendly though, so it was a lot of fun meeting him). I was concerned that the pups would learn that sort of restless behaviour from their parents (is this a valid concern??)
Price: INR 45k
2 :: ::Â* Golden Retriever Club IndiaÂ* :: ::: Carolina Mom from this forum suggested that I look here for info, I got the contact details for Ms. Radhika Chandrashekhar from the website. I initially asked her if she knew any breeders in or around Mumbai. She mentioned that she didn't and was a breeder herself. Even though at this point I wasn't considering getting a pup from Chennai, she spent the best part of an hour speaking with me and making me aware of issues with breeders. I spoke with my wife and we thought we might want to consider her as she was obviously knowledgeable, cared for her dogs and was the only one out of the lot that was actually vetting prospective clients. I am visiting her on the 27th, and will have a look at her adult dogs then. We are very keen on her and will most probably finalise the pup around that time. I could see the pedigree of the dam and sire on k9data (rarer than you'd think here)
Dam: Pedigree: Springfield Serenade
Sire: Pedigree: Otterdawn Pridoeboy
She's sent me pictures of the two, and of a dog that she sent to Ahmedabad from their previous mating 2 years ago, and lots of pictures from a previous litter.
Price: INR 45k
I'll add my experience from the visit later this month.
This has been a longer post than what I envisioned, and I am sort of losing my train of thought here. I hope people here find it useful. People from India, I request you to add any information you may have uncovered in your search here as well.
It looks like our search is soon coming to a close and we are very excited about getting our first dog. This forum has been immensely helpful, and I'm sure I'll keep coming back here with my 'noob' questions and issues. Right now, we're burying ourselves in research and enjoying the ride!
This thread is meant to help people in India looking for responsible breeders here. I am sharing my experiences. The thread itself is going to be a work in progress for a little while, as I haven't confirmed my decision yet, so will add to it as and when I get more information.
I live in Mumbai, but was happy to travel in order to find the breeder in question.
My criteria for shortlisting was based on the breeders' patience answering my questions, and their openness to us visiting them and their adult dogs.
My final shortlist was down to 2 breeders, which I will get to in a minute.
Here are the breeders that didn't make it. Please note that I'm not saying that they are necessarily bad breeders, just that I was more comfortable going elsewhere. Do feel free to let us know if you think we are wrong.
1. Yashbans in Bangalore: They are quite big here, but I got the feeling that it was too much of a business for them. They had differential pricing based on the pups' conformation to breed standards, which I wasn't a fan of. I got a guy called Delano Henriques Dogs Training | Everything For Your Dog to advise me as well, and he wasn't too keen on this breeder either.
Prices: INR 60-75k, 100k for the pick of the litter
2. Kaps Pets Mumbai: Seemed promising, they're agents for breeders and source their dogs from different parts of the country. I had a god conversation with the owner, but subsequent calls to them made me feel like not enough vetting happens at this place, and there is a higher than average probability of ending up with a pup from a puppy mill.
Prices: INR 30k or so, they have a price list on their website.
3. Poornima Nagarkar, Ambergold Kennels, Pune: This is basically a family run operation, and I had a couple of very good conversations with Ms. Nagarkar. She was very open to having us visit her before deciding. The only issue for us was timing, she will have pups available around Feb 2015, and we were looking at October/November. She was concerned about our lifestyles and how we would care for the dog. I would definitely consider her if it weren't for the schedule.
Email Id : ambergoldkennel@gmail.com
Mobile : 9764001064
Mobile : 9422330892
Location : Maharashtra > Pune
4. https://www.facebook.com/murchana.barooah: I didn't really speak with her, but she was highly recommended by pretty much everyone. In fact, one of the 2 breeders we were keen on have got their bitch from her.
5. Vinod Gatta, Bangalore: Didn't seem very enthused with the idea of us visiting his adult dogs, conversation didn't go any further.
Email Id : gattavinod@gmail.com
Mobile : 9620300567
Location : Karnataka > bangalore
6. https://www.facebook.com/drtkennels.ankeetatikka?fref=ts: She came recommended by a friend who knows someone that got a dog from her. I got the feeling that she was also an 'agent' and my wife and I had decided to avoid them if we could, so didn't go further. She can source American goldens if that is something that you're looking for. We were initially, but then decided that we don't care about how they look, and would decide on a dog based on overall health and temperament.
Now coming to the ones that we are considering..
1. https://www.facebook.com/HappyMindsKennels: They're based in Bangalore, my wife and I visited their home recently. They have 3 adult Golden Retrievers, a Siberian Husky and a German Shepherd. The dogs they are mating were both there and have won numerous shows. They were very patient with our questions and let us spend a lot of time with their dogs. The female is from Ms. Barooah's kennel mentioned above. My concern was that they would keep the pups for 12 weeks before sending them to their homes. Whilst this is in itself not a bad thing for them to do, we got the feeling that their dogs get little exercise, they are free to run around in the house, but not a lot of time dedicated to walking/running with them. The male was very hyper and unruly (very very friendly though, so it was a lot of fun meeting him). I was concerned that the pups would learn that sort of restless behaviour from their parents (is this a valid concern??)
Price: INR 45k
2 :: ::Â* Golden Retriever Club IndiaÂ* :: ::: Carolina Mom from this forum suggested that I look here for info, I got the contact details for Ms. Radhika Chandrashekhar from the website. I initially asked her if she knew any breeders in or around Mumbai. She mentioned that she didn't and was a breeder herself. Even though at this point I wasn't considering getting a pup from Chennai, she spent the best part of an hour speaking with me and making me aware of issues with breeders. I spoke with my wife and we thought we might want to consider her as she was obviously knowledgeable, cared for her dogs and was the only one out of the lot that was actually vetting prospective clients. I am visiting her on the 27th, and will have a look at her adult dogs then. We are very keen on her and will most probably finalise the pup around that time. I could see the pedigree of the dam and sire on k9data (rarer than you'd think here)
Dam: Pedigree: Springfield Serenade
Sire: Pedigree: Otterdawn Pridoeboy
She's sent me pictures of the two, and of a dog that she sent to Ahmedabad from their previous mating 2 years ago, and lots of pictures from a previous litter.
Price: INR 45k
I'll add my experience from the visit later this month.
This has been a longer post than what I envisioned, and I am sort of losing my train of thought here. I hope people here find it useful. People from India, I request you to add any information you may have uncovered in your search here as well.
It looks like our search is soon coming to a close and we are very excited about getting our first dog. This forum has been immensely helpful, and I'm sure I'll keep coming back here with my 'noob' questions and issues. Right now, we're burying ourselves in research and enjoying the ride!
