[joangel32]

Hey everyone. This is my first post on this forum, but I have been a lurker. Anyway, my fiance and I went to visit 4 litters of puppies ranging in age from 2 weeks to 6 weeks, and my oh my were they cute! We're contemplating adding one of these precious little ones to our family. We already have 2 Saint Bernards, a male named Camelot, and a female named Kaylee. We also have 2 cats, but we're planning on moving to a house with lots of acreage, so I think we will have room for another furbaby.

Cuddling with 2 of the new moms. The one laying down is Abby, and the one standing up is Ellie May (mom of the 2 week old pups)

This one was my fiance's (and the breeder's) favorite. He cuddled with him practically the whole time we were there.

A close up of the little guy

 

[inge]

Wow, 4 litters...that's a lot of puppies!! Lucky you! Were they all with the same breeder?

 

[joangel32]

Yes, he has about 15 adult females and 3 males, and the 4 that were pregnant all decided to give birth around the same time, so he has like 34 puppies at once! We certainly didn't mind taking some of the loving duties from him for the day!

 

[inge]

34 puppies, that is a lot!!!I hope he has a lot of people to help him care for them!

 

[Traz]

Very cute. Goldens are wonderful! Just be sure the puppies you are looking at have good "qualifications" Having 4 litters at once would make me a little leery. Can he provide you with the numbers for hip, eye, elbow, heart checks for all the moms & dads? You can look them up online to be sure the checks are legit. A barn with pens wouldn't give me a lot of confidence. I much prefer breeders who have the litters in the home with people socialization.

 

[buckeyegoldenmom]

Wow! First welcome to the forum. I hope you have read all the stickies at the top of the choosing a puppy and breeder page.

34 puppies on the ground at once is quite a lot. Have you seen all the documentation for hip clearances, elbow clearances, heart and eyes?

I would be worried he is just breeding all his females for the money without doing the necessary clearances. Even if the clearances are done I would have concerns about how he is monitoring and properly socializing that many puppies.

Please go into this with your eyes open. All puppies are adorable. But you want to stack the deck in your favor for the best, healthiest, good tempered puppy possible.

 

[Oaklys Dad]

Welcome to GRF. Please make yourself at home here. It must have been great to spend all that time in company with goldens and golden puppies. Like the others said be sure to check out the "Puppy Buyers Fact Checker" at the top of the page. It is difficult to tell by looking the health and breeding of a golden puppy. They are all so darned cute. Best of luck to you in your selection process.

 

[Bogey's Mom]

I hate it when threads from brand new posters start that way because it may seem to the new member that others are attacking their choices, which is totally not the case. So I thought I would share a personal story about our first golden, Bogey, who we brought home in July 2008.

Our story started the same way yours did. We heard about a breeder who ALWAYS had tons of cute puppies, so we knew, as young impatient newlyweds, that we wouldn't have to wait. We thought we did everything right - we went to the house, checked out the parents, talked to some people who had purchased goldens from the breeder in the past, talked to the breeders' vet, etc. But I had never heard of health clearances, and I only knew that goldens were susceptible to hip displaysia.

So I asked the breeder about HD and she said they had a "two year guarantee". Okay, I thought! Sounds good to me! I was so stupid. Like I would ever ever return a puppy if he got HD after he'd already become a part of our family. But that's beside the point.

When we first when to visit there were two litters on the ground, and when we went to get Bogey there were three. The all lived in a nice, clean barn, which I thought was normal. After I joined this place I found out that was far from true. Lots of (good) breeders actually raise the puppies in their bedrooms and are playing with them tons every single day. Our breeder was a nice person, but she didn't do those things.

I felt totally humiliated after we got Bogey home and he was so sick. The breeder wouldn't help, and I was embarrassed after reading the forum and realizing I did so many things wrong. But the community was so supportive and what was done was done.

But I would really encourage you to not make the same mistake. We ended up spending THOUSANDS in vet bills trying to diagnose Bogey's problem, which turned out to be some fairly serious stomach problems that prevented him from growing for awhile and made his coat awful. Not to mention that he was really sick for months and constantly had diarrhea and was throwing up a lot.

If you want to bring a good puppy into your home that needs to be loved and can't stomach the $1000+ price tag that comes with a well-bred golden, please consider rescuing. It would be so rewarding and the best of both worlds.

I am sure the family and puppies you met are all lovely, but I know from first-hand experience how heartbreaking it is when a story starts that way and has far from a fairy tale ending. And I would hate for you and your family and other pets to go through that. It takes away time, money and attention away from them.

I hope you find the forum to be a welcoming, caring place and don't view people's concerns as any sort of attack. It's just that many of us learned things the hard way and want to spare others the same heartache.

Welcome! And I can't wait to hear more about your search!!!

 

[joangel32]

Thanks for all the concerns. Yes we did get to look at all the necessary health certifications and his dogs ranked at the top. We also got to see the pedigrees and a few of his dogs have champion pedigrees all the way back from 1906. He does keep the puppies in the house until they are between 3 and 4 weeks (one of the litters we saw was still in the house), and the barn where the rest of the kennels are is only a few steps away from the front door of the house, and it's thoroughly heated (I was quite warm in there even on a 21 degree day). His grandchildren were also there when we got to visit and they were socializing with the pups as well. He doesn't inbreed (breed fathers and daughters or siblings), and all of his dogs were in excellent health, kennels were very clean, etc.

With our female Saint Bernard, we found out the hard way after we already received her that she was from a backyard breeder, but she was our first dog and we didn't know much about breeders back then. But now we are fully aware of what is a backyard breeder and what is a reputable one. I'm fully confident that his dogs are in the best of health. We wouldn't even consider a puppy from him if there was an inkling of doubt in our minds.

I know 34 puppies at once seems like alot, and he normally does not have that many at once. He also waits at least a year between litters for each female, sometimes longer.

 

[Bogey's Mom]

It sounds like you are doing the right research. I'm sorry you got burned with your female. It's a terrible feeling, but it does teach you a lot.

If you have any questions about verifying OFA Hips, OFA Elbows, CERF eye exams or heart clearances, just ask. Plenty of people around here can help you with that. You might also check out www.k9data.com and see if they are listed on there so you can share their pedigrees with us. They are always fun to look at!

 

[joangel32]

It sounds like you are doing the right research. I'm sorry you got burned with your female. It's a terrible feeling, but it does teach you a lot.

If you have any questions about verifying OFA Hips, OFA Elbows, CERF eye exams or heart clearances, just ask. Plenty of people around here can help you with that. You might also check out www.k9data.com and see if they are listed on there so you can share their pedigrees with us. They are always fun to look at!

Fun! I didn't even know about that website. Found his oldest male, Kody, on there, and 2 of his females. Here's the link to the male http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=165117

Female "Patches" - http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=247883

And Female "Missy" - http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=247884

 

[Bogey's Mom]

Very fun! It looks like on the web site they only have OFA hips certifications, be sure to ask for elbows, hearts and eyes too!

I just noticed you are in Hendersonville. I used to live in Nashville. If you want to compare litters and/or have some more options, here is a great breeder right in your backyard. Not to be confused with a backyard breeder.

http://www.starfiregoldens.com/index.html

 

[rappwizard]

Did you check OFA too? Orthopedic Foundation for Animals web site? (www.offa.org). I don't see any of these goldens listed as having clearances. I see only one from Lavertue (that is the kennel, correct?)

I''m not criticizing your choice--my belief is that an educated consumer is a happy consumer and my goal, as well as the goal of everyone else, as you can see, is to make sure you are well informed.

 

[SheetsSM]

Just want to point out that there foundation male, Kodiak Bear at 125 lbs is well outside the breed standard, so to say on their main page that they are "maintaining a strong line, with the understanding and importance of breeding quality Champion AKC Golden Retrievers" is double speak. They've also had a litter of doodle pups.

 

[DaisyDex]

Thanks for sharing thoses adorable puppies with us!!