You are looking for a Golden Retriever puppy as the pandemic has ended. If you’ve done your homework, you are now looking for a well-bred healthy puppy from a preservation breeder. Here are some things you need to know.
First, while you were looking, so were dozens of other people. Inquiries coming in to me alone are up about 200% since the beginning of the pandemic and most responsible breeders are finding the same thing.
Second, there is no possible way for responsible, preservationist breeders to keep up with the demand. We can’t “ramp up production” like was done with PPE or ventilators to meet the requests. Breeding doesn’t work like that. I know that none of this is good news if you are a hopeful puppy buyer.
So I wanted to offer an explanation, some information and maybe a few tips to help you at this time. For decades, as a responsible, preservationist breeder, I have committed to meet each request with a polite and educational response whether I had puppies or not. I have preached that if there is nothing available, you should be prepared to wait and start a relationship with a breeder. “Get to know a few”, “Get your name on a list” and most of all, “Be patient” is what we’ve always said.
For some of you maybe that’s not working and you are ranging further and further in search of a litter, a waiting list or even an interview. You’re frustrated and disappointed. I’m sorry – I know what it’s like to want a puppy or to be without a beloved dog who has passed. I have some optimistic news. No one could have predicted that puppies and toilet paper would be the things in the shortest supply if a pandemic hit. So there is a little bit of good news. Things are starting to look up in the breeding world. More well-bred puppies are becoming available.
First, the demand has started to go back down as people have left isolation and there may be some room to get on a waiting list. Second, as everyone starts to go back to work and families are not home full time, there might be some Goldens surrendered to rescue. If those “pandemic puppies” aren’t able to stay alone without constant attention, they may become destructive and anxious when left. Some people will work through this, some will have taught this skill while in quarantine but some families will opt for surrender. So now might be the time to put in an application to your local rescue and work to get approved and on a waiting list for when that happens. It probably won’t be a puppy, or a well bred golden (they usually don’t end up in rescue) – but it might be a Golden.
I can’t write this without bringing up online sales, unscrupulous breeders (puppy mills) and scams. Sadly, these times have brought scammers out in force and puppy mills have no qualms about trying to “ramp up production” despite what’s in the best interest of the moms and babies.
There is an excellent article on the AKC website entitled: How to Spot a Puppy Scam Online – American Kennel Club ([akc.org]
It gives a list of red flags (no phone calls, only electronic communication, copycat or stock photos, sketchy payment requests and prices that are too good to be true). I would add to that list: beware of places that you can’t visit in person to meet the mom. You may have already educated yourself about all of this but as the search goes on, the temptation may grow to visit these websites or “the farm in the next county with puppies in their barn” or the pet store in the mall. I would NOT recommend any of these approaches!
DNA testing for inheritable diseases for any golden is a MUST. Do not consider buying a golden that both parents have not been DNA tested. NCL5 is a deadly inherited disease that KILLS goldens by the time they are around two years old. Difficulty walking, seizures, aggression, blindness that causes owners to euthanize their young dog by two years old. It’s a horrible disease that can be avoided by DNA testing parents and not breeding two carriers together. Please make sure any golden retriever pup you are looking at has parents that have been tested. It doesn’t show up until the pup is about a year old and is DEADLY by age two. Other DNA testing can show different kinds of PRA that can cause blindness. Ichthyosis (ICT) can cause flaking of the skin. All of these diseases are passed on by breeding two parents that are carriers. Insist on DNA testing of breeding parents before buying a puppy from breeders. Hip dysplasia is still in the breed, so insist on parents that have had hips and elbows x-rayed and certified by OFA. Golden retrievers can have eye diseases like GRPU (Golden Retriever pigmentary uveitis). All parents need eye clearances done every year. Heart defects can be passed on to offspring. Make sure the parents have had heart clearances done once in the dog’s lifetime.
So where does that leave you if you are sitting at home with a hole in your heart or a burning desire for a puppy? What are your options? I don’t have any magic answers but I can offer a couple of suggestions. If there are no puppies, please consider a visit to your local shelter. It may not be the Golden of your dreams but yours may be the home of a shelter dog’s dream. Then, when your shelter buddy needs a playmate in a couple of years it may be easier to find a Golden. Second, as I mentioned, visit the website of your local rescue and consider an application. It’s not a quick option either as most rescues are not overfull of dogs needing homes, but it might play out. And lastly, if you are writing to breeders, it might be helpful to ask them to give you a general timeframe of when to check back to see if they are starting the list process. (For me, it’s 2023 and 2024)
Hang in there. Having a dog, particularly a Golden, and making them part of your family, will enrich your life. It just might not happen real soon, although 2023 is bringing more well bred goldens available.
Note: It is never the color of a Golden Retriever that determines its temperament or working ability or health and potential longevity. Instead, the quality of a Golden Retriever will be determined by care the breeder has taken, by adhering to the standard when breeding, as well as by doing careful pedigree research and screening for soundness of mind and body. To read more, go to the following link on the Golden Retriever Club of America’s website: www.grca.org
Responsible dog breeders work hard to produce healthy, socialized puppies, interview potential buyers, do home checks, and remain there as a resource for buyers for the life of their dogs.
Learn what to look for when searching for your next pet:
This is one of the most pervasive sentiments that puppy buyers, especially families, express when they’re looking for a dog. What they really mean, of course, is that they don’t want a show dog BREEDER – don’t want to pay the high price they think show breeders charge, don’t want to go through the often-invasive interview process, and think that they’re getting a better deal or a real bargain because they can get a Lab for $300 or a Golden for $500.
I want you to change your mind. I want you to not only realize the benefits of buying a show-bred dog, I want you to INSIST on a show-bred dog. And I want you to realize that the cheap dog is really the one that’s the rip-off. And then I want you to go be obnoxious and, when your workmate says she’s getting a puppy because her neighbor, who raises them, will give her one for free, or when your brother-in-law announces that they’re buying a goldendoodle for the kids, I want you to remember this article.
Here’s why:
If I ask you why you want a Golden, or a Lab, or any purebred dog, I would bet you’re not going to talk about how much you like their color. You’re going to tell me things about personality, ability (to perform a specific task), relationships with other animals or humans, size, coat, temperament, and so on. You’ll describe playing ball, or how affectionate you’ve heard that they are, or how well they get along with kids.
The things you will be looking for aren’t the things that describe just a “dog”; they’ll be the things that make this particular breed unique and unlike other breeds.
That’s where people have made the right initial decision – they’ve taken the time and made the effort to understand that there are differences between breeds and that they should get one that at least comes close to matching their picture of what they want a dog to be.
Their next step, tragically, is that they go out and find a dog of that breed for as little money and with as much ease as possible.
You need to realize that when you do this, you’re going to the used car dealership, WATCHING them pry the “Audi” plate off a new car, observing them as they use Bondo to stick it on a ’98 Corolla, and then writing them a check and feeling smug that you got an Audi for so little.
It is no bargain.
Those things that distinguish the breed you want from the generic world of “dog” are only there because somebody worked really hard to get them there. And as soon as that work ceases, the dog, no matter how purebred, begins to revert to the generic. That doesn’t mean you won’t get a good dog – the magic and the blessing of dogs is that they are so hard to mess up, in their good souls and minds, that even the most hideously bred one can still be a great dog – but it will not be a good Golden or Lab or Poodle. You will not get the specialized abilities, tendencies, or talents of the breed.
If you don’t NEED those special abilities or the predictability of a particular breed, you should not be buying a dog at all. You should go rescue one. That way you’re saving a life and not putting money in pockets where it does not belong.
If you want a purebred and you know that a rescue is not going to fit the bill, the absolute WORST thing you can do is assume that a name equals anything. They really are nothing more than name plates on cars. What matters is whether the engineering and design and service department back up the name plate, so you have some expectation that you’re walking away with more than a label.
Keeping a group of dogs looking and acting like their breed is hard, HARD work. Trying to maintain a healthy breed is even harder. If you do not get the impression that the breeder you’re considering is working that hard, is that dedicated to the breed, is struggling to produce dogs that are more than a breed name, you are getting no bargain; you are only getting ripped off.
How much does a puppy cost? Purchase price, adoption fees, discounts, expensive puppies, and cheap puppies.
This goes out to all the people who say “Two to three thousand dollars for a DOG? You’ve GOT to be kidding me!” I am going to tell you how we as breeders try to come up with a dollar amount for a puppy and how rescues do the same.
I am definitely not making a statement about how much we do or don’t love our dogs, or how we would or wouldn’t see them as valuable members of our families. What I am going to write is not about love; it’s about how we try to balance many considerations as we price our puppies, and how to tell if you’re getting what you are paying for.
Before we start, I want to explore a little bit of the idea of what a dog is “worth.” It’s not something that’s easy to put a finger on. Much of what we buy, when we purchase or adopt a puppy, is companionship. Dogs don’t generally bring in any income (at least they shouldn’t), so there’s not a lot of production value. You could argue that because there are a lot of dogs out there that need homes, there’s very little scarcity and so the intrinsic value of the dog is very low. And all of that is true.
I would like to invite you to consider value on two levels: first, what has been directly spent ON the dog to the point at which you are buying it; and, second, the “intellectual property,” warranty, and customer support that you are buying as intangibles when you write your check.
Those aspects we can actually quantify, and they should give you a decent idea of when you’re getting your “money’s worth” in a puppy or adult dog and when you’re getting taken for a ride.
First, the money that goes into a litter.
These are figures that I put together to describe a “typical” Golden litter that I bred. Some of mine have been more expensive, a couple MUCH more expensive. I tried to make this an expression of an average experience. (Any buyer should INSIST that any puppy has been seen by the vet and cleared for heart murmurs, and has a first shot – it is actually illegal in most states for breeders to sell a puppy without this check, but many will try to get away without it because it’s so expensive.)
Health testing dam (Penn Hip and OFA, thyroid, echocardiogram): $700
DNA testing: $150
Stud Fee — $1500-$2000
Travel & hotel bill/travel for 4 days of breeding $700
Progesterone testing, LH testing, brucellosis, etc. (pre-breeding): $475
Ultrasound–$120
Whelping supplies and box: $400
C-section — $1200-$1500
Extra food for the dam and of course the puppy feeding (easily $1000, considering we were feeding 7-8 lbs of meat a day at the end).
Puppy Health checks, worming, vaccinations: $400
Microchipping puppies–$420
Heart checks: $300
Eye checks: $300
AKC Registrations: $265
Leashes, collars, kongs, whistles, bumpers, gifts for puppy buyers: $300
Puppy testing fees $75
Pedigrees, puppy books, photos $300
So for that year alone I had big-chunk expenses of $8800 for that litter (I also had other dogs taking up money and not giving me any puppies).
I had five puppies in that litter for $1500 each.
Total intake, therefore, was -$14 for that litter. That’s pretty typical; I think I actually made money, about $2000, on one litter in 15 years of breeding.
When breeders price puppies, we know roughly what to expect in terms of outgo. We know that there’s no way we can make that up in puppy sales unless we financially soak our puppy buyers. So most of us prepare to take a bath on the litter and just try to take into account the prevailing price across the US for our breed (for Goldens in our area, this is somewhere around $1800-3000 right now; with a rather wide bell curve around that point, depending on the area). We also, believe it or not, look at what pet stores are selling puppies for. This is NOT because we want to align ourselves with pet stores – heavens no – but because we know the way the human brain works. If someone sees a Golden puppy for $1800 in a pet store but the breeders are asking $1000, they will often conclude, ironically, that the pet store puppy is more valuable.
So that’s the first thing to pay attention to when you’re considering buying a puppy. What did the breeder invest in this litter that justifies asking a particular price?
Second, you look at what intangibles come with the puppy. To put it more colloquially, if you’re a manager or a professor or some kind of an expert in something, ask yourself what a complete newbie would have to pay you for permission to call you any time of the day or night and keep you on the phone for hours at a time – for the next twelve or fifteen years.
That’s what I, or any other good breeders, “sell” when we sell a puppy. We know that you probably don’t know too much about our breed. You’re going to have training questions, health questions, socialization questions. You’re going to want to know what to do when your dog barks too much, or throws up on the carpet, or doesn’t like Aunt Belle. You’re going to need someone at the end of the phone at three in the morning when your dog is sick and needs emergency surgery, and you’re going to need that person to stay on the line until five a.m. when your dog comes out of the OR, and you’re going to need someone to talk to the vet for you if you’re crying too hard to do it. I’ve done all these things, and consider it an absolute requirement for good breeders to do.
We also “sell” a warranty, usually in the form of a written contract. The warranty usually offers a replacement puppy (and does NOT require you to return your original puppy–watch out for these, because it’s a big cheat) if your dog suffers a substantial reduction in quality of life because of a genetic disorder, and it applies for a reasonable length of time (usually two to five years). For example, if your dog develops hip dysplasia and is crippled by it, I owe you a puppy. On the other hand, if your fifteen-year-old dog has a back problem, I don’t. It’s pretty much like any warranty on a fridge or camera or wristwatch – if it’s my fault, I stand behind my “manufacture.”
You should accept nothing less than this if you are considering buying a puppy from a breeder. If the breeder you’re considering does not invest in her litters (showing, health testing, good vet care, excellent food, shots, etc.), if she does not offer constant support, if she does not stand behind her puppies, you should walk away from the purchase.
A puppy that comes with those investments and intangibles will range from $700 or $800 for the least expensive breeds to $3500 or more for the most expensive. The less-expensive breeds are lower in price because they’re easier to breed (fewer required health tests, fewer C-sections, etc.) or because the market is just lower for those breeds. The more expensive breeds generally reflect higher breeding costs and, for some breeders, a desire to weed out bargain-hunters.
One VERY important thing to realize is that the reverse is also true. If someone is offering you a cheap puppy, one you know is far less expensive than the prevailing good-breeder price, you should take a step back and look at it very carefully.
One puppy is not just like the other. There’s no “brand” to rely on. One Havanese is not the same as every other Havanese. So a cheap one isn’t a good idea, because it usually means that the breeder cut corners somewhere, or is going to stop returning your phone calls as soon as your check is cashed. Be very, very cautious when you see a puppy that is appreciably cheaper than the others you’ve been considering.
How about rescue?
There’s a temptation to say “Well, the dog is homeless, it isn’t worth anything.” And people get seriously ticked when a rescue asks $350 for a homeless dog. I understand this impulse, but you need to look at the price you’re paying in just the same way as you do a well-bred dog.
The reason that rescues (these are the organizations that concentrate on one or two breeds, or that pull dogs from shelters to find homes for them) are so much more expensive than the typical shelter, which is in turn more expensive than the typical animal control or pound, is all about investment and support. It’s the same equation.
A pound or animal control has invested only electricity, mortgage, and food in the dogs it releases for adoption. It generally asks you to cover that cost plus (sad, but true) the cost of housing and euthanizing the dogs it does not adopt out. The dog comes with little or no health information, a vague guess on age, and you won’t be calling the animal control officer at three in the morning. So $50-$75 would be typical. But you should never count on this being a “cheap” dog: you’re on the hook for vet costs, spay/neuter, training, etc.
A shelter adds a spay or neuter and shots, and sometimes a behavioral evaluation. Any time you get a spayed or neutered dog you are coming out ahead money-wise; spays are CRAZY expensive. We just paid $475. Shots are generally about $60-75 at your vet’s office. So the shelter can be assumed to invest several hundred dollars per dog but (unless it’s a very rare type of shelter) you are not going to get a lot of behavioral support after adoption; adoption fees are typically $100-300.
Rescues are a HUGE step up in terms of investment and support. A rescue typically puts dogs in foster homes, often invests in behavioral consultation and training, intervenes to cure any health issue, gets the dog in top shape, spays or neuters, and then adopts the dog out. A single behavioral consult is $200 or so – I’ve paid them, so I know – training is another few hundred, spay/neuter, several hundred in vet costs per dog if it has any issue. And rescues are usually run by very knowledgeable individuals, often breeders or trainers themselves. A rescue offers behavioral assistance for the life of the dog and also guarantees the dog a home for life (if anything changes, they’ll take it back from you). The typical rescue fee – $350-$500 – is a bargain when you look at what you get for it.
So – and you know it’s going to come back to me – how much am I going to charge for my next litter? Well, I’ve not made a final decision, but it will be around $2500.
Considering what you will get from me for the life of your dog, I believe it is worth it.
