Golden Retriever Puppies
Is A Golden Retriever Puppy Right For You?
All puppies are adorable, but Golden Retriever puppies set the standard for cute and make it pretty hard for other breeds to compete. It’s easy to fall in love with a Golden Retriever puppy at first sight and impulsively bring the little guy home without thinking that decision through. How much trouble could an adorable little puppy be, anyway?
The answer is, plenty! Caring for a puppy of any breed is a huge responsibility, and Golden Retriever puppies are in some ways more challenging that you might expect. Golden Retrievers are famous for their friendly, easy-going dispositions, and Golden Retriever puppies are just as friendly as their adult relatives–even friendlier, really. In fact, Golden Retriever puppies are so friendly that if you bring on home and leave it alone in its pen that first night it will likely cry and cry until you let it into your bed, at which point it will jump all over you and keep you awake anyway.
Welcome to the wonderful world of puppy training! Puppies are high maintenance companions. They must be taught to go to the bathroom outdoors and not in the house, and this usually entails taking them out every fifteen minutes for weeks after you first bring them home. They need to play and chew and will destroy slippers, clothes, and furniture until you take the time to train them not to do that. They can’t be left alone for long periods of time any easier than small children can be left alone, and they will make a terrible fuss when you leave them.
Perhaps you’ve thought of all that and are prepared for it. That’s great, but there are still other excellent reasons NOT to take a Golden Retriever home from a pet store or on impulse. Most puppies in pet stores come from ‘puppy mills’. Puppy mills are inhumane, irresponsible breeding facilities that keep parent dogs locked up in horrible conditions and force them to have litter after litter of puppies with no regard for the long term health or genetic viability of the animals produced.
Golden Retrievers are prone to a number of genetic diseases and personality disorders that will not become apparent until you’ve already bonded with your pet store puppy. The most common disorder is hip dysplasia, an inherited condition in which the hind legs of the puppy do not grow into the hip sockets correctly, causing severe lameness. Often the dog has to be put down once the dysplasia is diagnosed. Sometimes surgery can be performed, but the surgery is very expensive and the recovery time is long and labor intensive.
Reputable Golden Retriever breeders always check their dogs for genetic problems and screen for hip dysplasia. A reputable breeder will only sell Golden Retriever puppies that have been certified by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. OFA certification is not optional for large breed dogs such as Golden Retriever puppies; certification is essential if you want to make sure you are taking home a dog that can live its full lifespan of 15 years or more.
So go ahead and fall in love with a Golden Retriever puppy. Then purchase one selected just for you from a reputable caring breeder.
