Breed Traits

Coat & Colours

Golden Retrievers sport a thick, water-repellent coat. Some have straight hair, while other coats are longer. There is feathering on the back of the front legs, underbody, chest, back of thighs and the tail. We are fond of the full spectrum of Golden Retriever colours, ranging from cream through to mid gold and also deep dark gold. We aim to produce puppies from each of these colour groups.

Trainability

Golden Retrievers are an easy breed to train due to their intelligence and eagerness to please. They respond best to food based and positive reinforcement training. This makes them an excellent choice for first-time dog owners.Their trainability has made them a number once choice for service and therapy dogs. New owners should have basic commands well under way within the first two weeks.

Health & Life Expectancy

The Golden Retriever has an average life expectancy of 10 to 12 years.

Golden Retrievers are prone to hip and elbow dysplasia. There is always a risk that any Golden Retriever can develop either one or both of these conditions. Through the purchase of your puppy you are accepting this risk as the owner/customer.

The parents of this puppy have been hip and elbowed scored and are satisfactory for breeding purposes. This means that the risk of the puppy developing hip and elbow dysplasia is significantly reduced. Please be aware that genetics are only one contributing factor of hip and elbow dysplasia. Other environmental factors such as weight, injury at a young age, over exertion on hip or elbow at at a young age and diet also largely contribute to both conditions.

It is important that you do not over exercise your puppy for the first eight months of its life. Too much exercise during this period can lead to hip and elbow dysplasia. During the first 6-8 months period of your puppy’s life is the rapid growth phase for a Golden Retriever and the bones and joints in the hips and elbows are still quite soft. Strenuous activity causes friction of the joints which is where problems can start to occur. Therefore please make sure:

• You don’t take your dog for long walks
• Don’t run your dog – in parks or along the beach
• Don’t allow them to play roughly with children or other dogs
• Never allow them to walk up stairs
• Don’t allow your dog to jump

As your puppy develops more stamina, small walks up and down the block are encouraged or light sessions of swimming in the beach or local river are also good. Swimming is a great exercise to strengthen the hip and elbow joints.

Certain eye diseases and heart conditions are known to occur in the breed. The parents of this puppy have current clear heart and eye certificates from a qualified veterinary specialist. This means they have been tested for both conditions and showed no signs or symptoms of eye or heart disease at the time of testing. This reduces the likelihood of your puppy developing such conditions. Some eye diseases only develop at a mature age.