[logan_c]

We are looking at getting a new Golden. We lost our last beautiful Golden to cancer a few months ago. We since gotten a lovely ~5year old Aussie from a rescue and had her for about two months. She is a doll and is great with our two elementary age kids, and great with other dogs as well.

I've meet with a home based breeder who seems pretty good, and came with a referral from a person who runs our western regional GRCA. Here is the dam and sire:

GCH CH Happy Hour's An A-Phare To Remember BISS BOSS aka "Cheater"
Rivers Cashmere Irish Cream (Am Ch Ptd) CGC aka "Maggie"

The k9data site is great and I'm having a lot of fun looking back. But what I can't really tell is if the OFA all looks good, and it appears the puppies lineage looks nice. What can be told of this data in regards to the puppy?

 

[HiTideGoldens]

I actually know Cheater, the sire, and he does have all his clearances. I like his pedigree and he's a beautiful boy, he's been shown out here quite a bit. I saw some pictures of this litter on Facebook yesterday and I thought the puppies were lovely. I don't know the dam of the litter but she has her hip, elbow and heart clearances, her eyes are in there too but they have not been updated on the OFA website. I would just ask about that, it's quite possible it's been updated and not sent in. My dog's are updated but I haven't sent his in so it's not a big deal. It says on her k9data page that they were updated, so just double check that. Her pedigree looks nice as well.

 

[Megora]

Dad: Pedigree: GCH CH Happy Hour's An A-Phare To Remember BISS BOSS

Mom: Pedigree: Rivers Cashmere Irish Cream (Am Ch Ptd) CGC

 

[solinvictus]

Go to www.offa.org and plug in the names.

Rivers Cashmere Irish Cream has an outdated CERF. It is from 2008. It needs to be done yearly. You can check with the breeder to see if they did it but didn't send it to OFFA.
I don't see any titles on the parents themselves. (I just looked quickly) So, you need to ask the breeder what has she done to prove her dog. What did the stud do that she thought he was good for her dog. And what did she feel putting these two together would do to improve the breed.

I am very new at looking this stuff over so someone else on the forum with more knowledge than me. But you do need to check on why there is only and outdated CERF.

 

[tippykayak]

k9data is a voluntary site, so any listing on there has to be added by the breeder, the owner, or an interested party. Any clearance information is voluntary and probably hasn't been verified. What you really want to do is check offa.org and CERF with the registered names or AKC numbers.

I ran both AKC numbers through offa.org for you. Cheater's are all in perfect order. Maggie has everything, but her CERF was last done in '08. CERF (eyes) needs to be done every year. It's possible that she's had specialist exams since then and they just haven't mailed in the CERF form to make it official, but that's something I'd check. It was only recently that the GRCA changed the CoE to more strongly recommend that CERFs actually be registered in the database, so it wouldn't be a deal breaker to me if they had an exam done in the last year but didn't mail it in.

However, the CERF from '08 shows distichiasis (abnormally placed eyelashes), so I would be extra careful about discussing that with the breeder. Distichiasis is considered a breeder's option in Golden Retrievers (i.e., you can breed a dog with it) since it rarely causes problems. However it does occasionally cause issues (my Jax has distichias and one caused an ulcer on his cornea), so you should be completely aware of how severe Maggie's is (it can range from a couple of teeny, almost invisible ones to a much more serious problem) and the potential problems for your pups.

Personally, it wouldn't scare me away. I took Jax as a pup knowing that he already had some because his breeder pointed it right out to me when I was looking at him and talked about the potential problems down the road. He needs to have his lasered off since they've caused one ulcer, but it has only had a minor impact. The ulcer healed right up once we caught it. And, there's every chance that some (or all) of Maggie's pups won't have it anyway.

BTW, they look like lovely dogs from the k9data entries.

 

[HiTideGoldens]

Cheater is an AKC Grand Champion and the dam of the litter is AKC CH pointed (albeit only 1 point according to the AKC website).

I know people generally recommend asking those questions but just be respectful in how you ask. Don't just say "what have you done to prove your dog????" I would say "I know breeders generally have a reason for pairing two dogs together, so I'm curious what made you choose Cheater for Maggie?"

 

[Kmullen]

I am in love with Cheater! He is on my short list for my girl and his owner Marianne is so nice. Good-Luck If you do get a pup...please post pics. I seen the pups the other day on face book and they are adorable.

 

[logan_c]

Thank you for sharing this information... particularly about the CERF information and the information about Maggies' Distichiasis diagnosis.

Could I also ask about names? It there any form of respect to name a dog? Again, this is a pet only, so chances are no one will know what we name him, but I'd like to know as far as their call name to breeders mind if we look back in the dogs pedigree and give them a call name used in the past?

So excited!

This litter is a litter of just three. The breeder said she is not keeping a puppy this time (should that make me slightly nervous???). One of the pups looks really nice...very thick coat, and nice build, very solid. The other two pups appear very nice as well, but maybe not "show quality" like the first. As we are #3 on the list and do not have a choice as to which of the three pups... I'd really prefer if the breeder would have selected a pup for us based on our family, though she feels any one will be a good fit. Regardless we loved all three and we're sure we'll love any of them!

I realize many of you on here are very much into the technical side of this, and the idea of not getting a choice would be hard, please keep in mind we've had a Golden as a pet and enjoy everything about them! We're seeking out a nice solid pet. They have such great personalities, just the right amount of "clingy", a "today is gonna be great!" attitude that every human should have..., their size, the way even dog scared people can tolerate GR's, their gait, I could go one, but I'll stop for now Ha!

 

[HiTideGoldens]

I don't think there are any "leftover" puppies in a litter. Most people just choose based on gut instinct, i.e. he crawled into my lap! or he looks just like my dog I grew up with! One person's first pick would be the another person's third, I wouldn't let that deter you in the slightest.

 

[Sally's Mom]

My 3rd golden was from a litter of 2... no problems there. Her daughter just had a litter of 3.. again all healthy. I was going to try to keep one (i.e. sneak her past my husband...oops I "couldn't " sell her) then the perfect home came up and we co-own her.
Don't worry about "picking" it is really not that Disney moment that everyone is looking for. I have had big boned pups be more slight as adults and pups with less bone get really big boned... don't worry about all that.

 

[Sally's Mom]

And my ophthalmologist believes that distichia are no big deal in a golden... I have had 2 CERF 1X with one distichia and it never showed prior or after....

 

[logan_c]

We plan on registering the new puppy with the AKC...not so much because we will utilize much of the AKC benefits ourselves, but more to support the organization. Though I have thought about learning more about the CGC, as my wife has always wanted to share the healing powers pets have on those who may need it more than others.

As far as the k9data site...is there a benefit for us to enter in our soon-to-be Golden into the database? We are not breeding the dog, so it's kind of a dead end there as far as trees go...

Ya know...I should post some pics of the puppies!

Here is a photo or two from the breeder. They are roly-poly! Only three of them (all males) so they are getting plenty of mom's milk! (too much?)

 

[tippykayak]

And my ophthalmologist believes that distichia are no big deal in a golden... I have had 2 CERF 1X with one distichia and it never showed prior or after....

My understanding is that it usually isn't, but my experience is that you do need to be a little more vigilant about eye problems. I obviously don't need to tell you as the real vet here, but just for anybody else who reads the thread, an ulcer on the cornea can cause serious problems if left untreated.

I also think the severity of the condition matters a lot. A couple of Jax's are fairly heavy eyelashes, but in many dogs, they're such fine, short lashes that they're almost impossible to see with the naked eye. That's why it's important to discuss it openly.

 

[HiTideGoldens]

One great thing about this litter is I know Cheater's owner, Marianne, will very much want to hear how the puppies are doing and would probably love to see photos of the pups as they grow. And I'm sure she would love for you to get any title you can on the puppy, including CGC.

I would always enter my dogs in k9data, even if I weren't showing them. I think it's helpful to have a complete database so that future generations of dogs have the full picture when looking at pedigrees. It doesn't matter if he's not going to be bred.