Golden Retriever Breeders And Pet Stores

By Carol Matthews
One of the most popular and beautiful dog breeds is the Golden Retriever. This breed has been consistently in the top ten popular dog breeds for a number of reasons. First, Golden Retrievers can be trained to perform a variety of tasks including hunting, tracking, retrieving and even acting as guide dogs for the blind. Second, Golden Retrievers are neither hyper nor aggressive and this makes them excellent pets for families and children. Third, Golden Retrievers are aesthetically pleasing. They have thick golden fur, expressive brown eyes and an elegant carriage.

Lord Tweedmouth bred the first Golden Retrievers from a variety of dog breeds including the Tweed Water Spaniel and the Irish Setter. Perhaps due to their Irish Setter ancestry, early Golden Retrievers were dark gold to copper in color. Today, a Golden Retriever breeder aims to breed puppies with cream to light gold coats. Copper and rust colored coats are banned from competition.

Some of the most desired characteristics of Golden Retrievers are intelligence, beauty, loyalty, eagerness to please, focus, trainability, gentleness and hunting and tracking skills. Physically, Golden Retrievers should be twenty three to twenty four inches in height for males and twenty one and a half to twenty two and a half inches in height for females. Weight must be between seventy and seventy five pounds for males and sixty and sixty five pounds for females.

Many buyers desire not only purebred Golden Retriever puppies but also champion purebreds. Though the price is higher, puppies from champion lines retain their value and may pay owners back in a big way if they win in competition. Unfortunately, because of the demand for Golden Retrievers, there are illegitimate breeders who will falsify records to raise the price of non-champion litters.

These breeders use puppy mills to make a profit by churning out a high number of litters in a short period of time. This practice causes both mothers and puppies to become unhealthy.

Unfortunately, the popularity of the Golden attracts unethical breeders who wish to make a profit with no regard for animal health and well-being. These backyard breeders sell unhealthy and uncertified Golden Retriever puppies to pet stores and/or unsuspecting buyers.

It is never acceptable to buy a Golden Retriever from a pet store. Pet store puppies have been shipped (and often sedated) across the country and put up on shelves like other store merchandise. These puppies have spent their entire lives in cages, receiving little to no socialization and there is no guarantee where they have come from. A Golden Retriever breeder that brokers or sells to pet stores should be avoided and reported. These puppies have most likely come from puppy mills or puppy auctions and may have significant health and behavioral problems.

A Golden Retriever breeder that asks no questions of buyers to determine whether buyers and puppies are a good match is a bad breeder. It is important that buyers do their research before purchase so that they do not feed the cycle of bad breeders making a profit and churning out more puppies in their puppy mills. Good breeders ask buyers many questions. The goal of the good Golden Retriever breeder is to find puppies a good home.