Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 February 2011 02:51

NO, YOU DON'T!

"Although people contacting GR Clubs for puppy referral will frequently say things along the lines of, “We don’t want anything special. We want just a pet,” it is our belief that buyers actually do want something very special. Most people looking for a family companion want a healthy puppy, with the best possible chance of growing up without any hereditary problems. They want an attractive dog that is a good example of the breed. They want a dog with the proper Golden Retriever temperament, that will be calm enough to live with, and trainable enough to become a valued member of the family."

- Austin Golden Retriever Club.

Isn't that what YOU want? You are getting a new family member for the next 12-15 years! How serious! You want to make sure that the puppy you have your eyes on has at least a healthy start - Dam and Sire must be certified for hips, elbows, heart and eyes. I can't stress that enough! Don't buy a puppy just to buy a puppy! Do your homework! Golden Retrievers are so inbred, that it is unbelievable how many of them suffer from the above mentioned problems (bad hips, elbows, eyes and heart). When you see an ad saying "Mom & Dad are healthy, vet checked" - don't get on the hook! Regular vets know very little about canine hearts, and breeding stock must see an actual canine cardiologist and ophthalmologist. That is a huge difference!

You don't want the puppy with hips or elbows dysplasia, with heart murmur or eye defects. The only way to make sure that it is not passed on by Mother or Father is to buy from a breeder who does care about his litters, about his reputation, and can back up his words and actions. I am not telling you this just because we did all the tests. I am telling you this because I truly want you to be happy with your new baby - it doesn't matter where you buy it - from me or from someone else.  If buyers would be more knowledgeable and stop buying from breeders that offer "vet checked Mom & Dad", it would make those breeders get off their behinds and do the tests. Yes, it is time consuming.  Yes, it is expensive! Yes, sometimes you have to drive for 2 hours just to get to a cardiologist, and yes, sometimes you have to wait for several weeks to get in, BUT... this makes all the difference! 

Let's say, there is a breeder who doesn't do these tests by some reason. What could those reasons be?

1. "It's too expensive"

Well, if you're a breeder, you should treat your breeding stock as an investment. Yes, I know it sounds very material, but it makes sense. Investment is investment. You take care of it. You take care of it top-notch. Nothing is too expensive for you especially when it comes to the health. If this is so expensive, how about feeding 8 pups + Dam (and sometimes, Sire) for 8 weeks? Oh yeah, you can get a bag of dog food for $10 in Wal-Mart... What about shots? What about dewclaws? What about microchips? What about taking time off work to let the kids roam in the backyard? What about Sire payment? What about all that laundry? Can you afford to breed? 

When you talk to a "true" breeder you don't hear a lot of soosi-moosi, pardon my language - "Oh, the puppy is so playful" or "the puppy is so people-loving". I grew up in a family of doberman breeders and I went to a special cynology school  (pronounced /sɨˈnɒlədʒi/) - the study of matters related to canines or domestic dogs.) I've been around breeders and "dog-crazy"  people since I was a little girl. Breeders will tell you about puppy's exterior, heritage, health of parents, etc. etc. Breeders go straight to the point, so to speak. That is because each and every dog is looked at from the point of Breed Standard View. All puppies are cute and playful! You've got to think about that puppy growing up into a 65 lbs dog. What I am trying to say is - yes, stuff is expensive. But you've got to do what you've got to do.

If you have no time to bring your dog to the clinic for the tests, then you don't have time to take care of the Dam and the puppies. Puppies take up a huge amount of breeder's time. It takes a special and devoted person to breed a dog and have excellent puppies. If you don't have time to take care of the pups - they will be dirty, on an improper diet (who'll take time to pick the right food?), cold, some of them will probably die because no one checks on them (I check on puppies about every hour during first two weeks - often puppies crawl under their mother and she crushes them (unintentionally of course). Puppies require a lot of attention! How do you breed the dog if you have no time? Makes sense? Of course!

3. "My dog is fine. We don't need to go to the vets"

As a breeder, I have heard it so many times: "Our Golden suddenly died. The docs said it was ..." Those people also thought their dog was fine, but it wasn't. When the dog appears healthy, it doesn't mean that it is actually healthy. Some diseases can be "invisible" for a long time while developing inside of your dog. You've got to check the dog's health if you're breeding it. It's a must!

4. "I think it's a waste of time and money". This is an actual phrase I received from a breeder in NY. No comments. He sells his pups for $1500 just because they are white color and because his dog in an import (the breeder thinks it's "honorifics"). Have you ever bought something that was nice looking but fell apart in a month? Like shoes in you-know-what supermarket. They looks so awesome - Princesses, and Dora The Explorer, and Transformers, but after a month the sole is falling off, and the backing is all worn off... Here you go. It is called "run of the mill". I did my share of buying kids shoes when we were a young couple - it was affordable! Yahoo! Nowadays I'd rather spend a hundred but the shoes will be good for many seasons, and I pass them to someone else when my kids grow out of them. 

Mills are not just a kennel with thirty dogs. Actually such kennel may be very nice - the amount of dogs tell you that people breed dogs professionally. It is their full-time occupation. You better believe that they take care of what feeds them. The mill could be a family kennel, that has two dogs, but couldn't care less about what they are breeding. That's how we have sick pups, miserable owners who spent their paychecks on treating sick puppies, crying kids who can't stand puppy's sufferings and breeders who say - "When's the next heat?"