# Looking for golden retriever in Ct



## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

I recently lost my 8 year old golden retriever to hemangiosarcoma. I am looking for a puppy but am not sure how to best go about it. I have written to a few breeders but only heard back from one, who seemed to have litters available from just about every month of the year ..which seemed like a red flag to me. My golden came from a home in which the owners bred their golden once to a friend's golden... so I am not really familiar with the breeder search process. Any suggestions for breeders in Ct.? I am looking for a light colored, large dog if possible. Thank you for any help.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Hey there! I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. I hope you share a little bit about your lives together in the relevant part of the board. I find it helps to share stories and pictures of a dog who has died.

I'm in CT too and have bought a few Goldens over the years.

As far as large dogs, I'm not sure what's large to you, but many Goldens being sold out of backyards and pet stores are a bit oversized, so if you have that in mind, you probably won't be able to get a dog who's being bred for the absolute best health and longevity. The Golden standard maxes out at 75 pounds for boys, so there aren't going to be excellent breeders producing dogs too much larger than that.

As far as finding good breeders who are dotting all of the i's and crossing all of the t's, I'd start here, the Golden Retriever Club of America's information page on finding a reputable breeder. That'll help you identify some of the red flags you see with bad breeders. You are right, by the way, that litters available continuously all year is a big ol' red flag.

Whereabouts are you? We have the Connecticut River Valley Golden Retriever Club and the Southern Berkshire Golden Retriever Club in CT. There's also the Hudson Valley Golden Retriever Club to our west. All three have breeder referral services. Getting referred by the local club doesn't mean the breeder is necessarily excellent, but it's a great way to start your search, since it'll knock out most of the worst breeders before you even get started.

As far as specific breeders, there are some hobby breeders (breeders who compete in dog shows or other dog sports and produce litters occasionally) in the state who have truly lovely dogs, but it would help to know a bit more about your needs before folks recommend anyone specific. Different breeders produce dogs for different kinds of competition, and thus their dogs are good for different kinds of lifestyles. For example, an active single person who wants to hike and run would want one style of dog, while a family with young kids would want another. So let us know a little bit about what kind of plans you have for your dog and we can be more helpful.


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

Hello and thank you for your response to my question. I also live in Branford! I spend a great deal of time on the water in the summer.... so my dogs love to swim. I have an old golden (looks like your profile picture) which I got from a shelter in 2001 and an old beagle which I also got from a shelter in 2001. My Bailey, the golden who died, was probably a bit oversized. I hadn't had a puppy in years.. instead adopting dogs from shelters.. and happened to see an ad in the bargain news from a woman who had bred her golden (unexperienced,, couldn't wait to get rid of the puppies). He had "papers" and I did see the father and mother but I really didn't know anything about the bloodlines or any of that. He was a great dog though.. very active, loved to swim, friendly and generally healthy except .. he got cancer...
My older dogs miss him and we really miss him a lot. I am in no real rush but would love to have another golden puppy. I appreciate any advice you have and have just stumbled across this site and will do more with my profile soon! Thanks !


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Here are two very good breeders

Cloverdale Golden Retrievers

Jane A. Zimmerman
Tolland, CT USA 06084 
[email protected]
www.familyfantastic.com/cloverdale 
860-875-2200


FoxRun Golden Retrievers
Kathi Schnapp
Torrington, CT USA 06790 
[email protected]
FoxRun Goldens 
860-489-6727


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Your previous Golden sounds just wonderful. It sounds like you're looking for a fairly active companion that loves to swim? I assume you also want a Golden who can a calm cuddle-bug around the house when it's not time to go all out? That's what we have, and it's terrific.

In addition to the breeders LJilly mentioned, we have Sunfire Goldens here in CT, and they're sort of famous (in Golden world) for producing incredible working dogs. They tend to produce dogs with relatively high exercise and stimulation needs, but they're good at matching people up with a dog that's appropriate to their activity level.

Let us know how the search is going and if I can be of any help. I'm so happy you're in Branford! We can never have too many Goldens around here.


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

Thank you Ljilly28. I have written to both breeders and will see what happens! Tippy kayak.. I will check out Sunfire Goldens as well. Thanks! Enjoyed checking out your blog.. we hang out in a lot of the same places !


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

Anyone purchased a pup from Crane Hollow Goldens in Bethlehem,Ct?


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

BCMmom said:


> Anyone purchased a pup from Crane Hollow Goldens in Bethlehem,Ct?


They don't say what they do with their dogs other than they are pets and members of the family which all Goldens should be. They seem to us their own male for all their litters. They also refer to him as an "English Cream" which is a no-no word combo, at least around here. They don't list AKC names so you can't look up clearances. I would walk myself based on the website.

Crane Hollow Goldens | Family Raised Light Golden Retrievers


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

I'd pass for the same reasons listed above. Have you contacted the GR club for a breeder referral?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BCMmom said:


> Anyone purchased a pup from Crane Hollow Goldens in Bethlehem,Ct?


A review of their website isn't encouraging. They seem to indicate that they breed for color, which is generally a red flag, and they don't give any information about their dogs' registered names, which prevents you from looking them up on offa.org to find out if they have clearances. They also have no information about any way they prove their dogs are worth breeding.

There's not enough information on their site to be sure either way, but I'd be very surprised if they turned out to be people who do careful clearances on their dogs.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

OP- I would look into the breeders and resources other have recommended.

I personally like Sunfire as do many other here. Sunfire Golden Retrievers - Litters. 

I don't own one of their dogs.


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

Thanks for the advice... I have written to all the breeders suggested and have not heard back from any of them. I have also applied for two golden rescue dogs and heard nothing from either application. I'll keep trying.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

The best things in life come to those who wait! It took me over 2 years from the time I started looking to when I got Lucky in my hands. It took 18 months for Cozy. Roxy did not come til her Mama Cozy was grown and Lucy came a year later.


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

I think you are right!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BCMmom said:


> I think you are right!


Definitely! Good breeders want to be careful to find wonderful homes for their dogs, and they don't have to run around chasing buyers. They also don't tend to breed more than one or two litters a year, if that. Rarely do they have puppies in the pipeline who aren't spoken for (though occasionally you do get the larger-than-expected litter).

It can take months to find the right breeder, and then a while of waiting for a litter, but getting a dog with the odds trimmed in his favor is well worth the wait.


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

I just want to say, for the record, the breeder that I asked earlier about in this thread replied to my email and I also spoke to him on the phone. He was knowledgeable and seemed to know his dogs very well. He was happy to have me come and visit his kennel any time and said the dogs do have their clearances. That being said, I'm slowing down on my search a little and figuring out exactly how I want to go about it! Again, I appreciate all the feedback and tips!


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

BCMmom said:


> I just want to say, for the record, the breeder that I asked earlier about in this thread replied to my email and I also spoke to him on the phone. He was knowledgeable and seemed to know his dogs very well. He was happy to have me come and visit his kennel any time and said the dogs do have their clearances. That being said, I'm slowing down on my search a little and figuring out exactly how I want to go about it! Again, I appreciate all the feedback and tips!


Did you by chance get the registered names of the sire/dam so you can plug the names into offa.org? I will say I've seen quite a number of "creme" breeders say clearances are in place, but they are either clearances issued by their local vet or were done in Russia or Romania and the dog was less than 2 years old--which means they aren't clearances in accordance with the GRCA Code of Ethics. I think slowing down & taking your time is your best bet. I would not waste my time visiting kennels where I could not verify that legitimate clearances (throughout the pedigree) were in place prior to making the trip.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

The current Sunfire litter, Darwin x Goldie, appears to be a lovely litter. They are six and a half weeks old right now.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Lots of longevity and titles in the current Sunfire Litter! Nice pedigrees!


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

According to their website, Cloverdale has 8 week old pups available ( unless they did not update their website). I think a lot of breeders prefer to be called instead of e-mails, but that is just my opinion. 

Here is the Cloverdale link:

http://www.simplesite.com/cloverdale/591786


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

The owner, Jane Zimmerman had a pup showing all weekend. We were in the same 9-12 month puppy bitch class at the Specilaty, so she might take a little bit to get back to you.


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

I wrote to Cloverdale last week but never heard back.. I will call tomorrow. Sunfire pups are spoken for. Thank you for all the help!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BCMmom said:


> I wrote to Cloverdale last week but never heard back.. I will call tomorrow. Sunfire pups are spoken for. Thank you for all the help!


I'm not surprised that the current litter of Sunfire pups are all spoken for. That's going to be true with pretty much all of the excellent breeders when it comes to litters already in the pipeline, with a few exceptions when the litter is larger-than-expected or a family's plans changes. But even then, there's often a list of alternates.

Your best bet is to find the breeder you really like (or more than one, as long as you're open about that and don't commit to multiple litters at once) and get on the list.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Cayberry Golden Retrievers in Newtown, CT is expecting two litters: http://cayberry.com/index.asp?ID=30


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## BCMmom (May 24, 2013)

Well .. making some progress in my search.. located a few litters thanks to all the tips. All the parents look very small to me and have much shorter noses than my dog did. He obviously was not anywhere close to breed standards.. though we thought he was handsome!! Haha .. I guess every parent thinks their child is beautiful....Maybe I should get back on the rescue sites!


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

BCMmom said:


> Well .. making some progress in my search.. located a few litters thanks to all the tips. All the parents look very small to me and have much shorter noses than my dog did. He obviously was not anywhere close to breed standards.. though we thought he was handsome!! Haha .. I guess every parent thinks their child is beautiful....Maybe I should get back on the rescue sites!


I'm sure he was truly handsome. Breed standard and handsomeness aren't the same thing, and loving a dog who's out of standard isn't wrong at all.

I think you'll find that if you get one of these dogs who's got the deck stacked in his favor for health and temperament, which typically does mean going for a more standard-looking dog, you'll find you appreciate his handsomeness in its own way. 

Rescuing a dog is, of course, an awesome way to get a dog too.


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## Wilton Mom (Jul 8, 2013)

We bought a girl from Crane Hollow - her mom had a great temperament - we put a deposit on her at 2 weeks and visited her several times before we brought her home - and anyone who knows the history of the breed - that it refers to the dogs coat - and has been recognized in the UK since 1936


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## bonefishjake (Aug 8, 2013)

anyone else have more info than the person above on Crane Hollow?

yes, they are using the buzz words that are BAD here...but the rest of it seems pretty legit considering all the research i've been doing. yes, the clearances absolutely need to be verified, but is there anything else i'm missing?

our last golden was lighter in color so that's ideally what we'd like to get again. i'm not married to it but i also don't hold it against these folks for breeding the lighter dogs.


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## bonefishjake (Aug 8, 2013)

bonefishjake said:


> anyone else have more info than the person above on Crane Hollow?
> 
> yes, they are using the buzz words that are BAD here...but the rest of it seems pretty legit considering all the research i've been doing. yes, the clearances absolutely need to be verified, but is there anything else i'm missing?
> 
> our last golden was lighter in color so that's ideally what we'd like to get again. i'm not married to it but i also don't hold it against these folks for breeding the lighter dogs.


quoting myself here- i did some additional research here on the site and now understand exactly why those terms are frowned upon...


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## hermien (Oct 26, 2013)

Hi have a look at our website Hermajante Kennels - Home


BCMmom said:


> I recently lost my 8 year old golden retriever to hemangiosarcoma. I am looking for a puppy but am not sure how to best go about it. I have written to a few breeders but only heard back from one, who seemed to have litters available from just about every month of the year ..which seemed like a red flag to me. My golden came from a home in which the owners bred their golden once to a friend's golden... so I am not really familiar with the breeder search process. Any suggestions for breeders in Ct.? I am looking for a light colored, large dog if possible. Thank you for any help.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Valentia Golden Retrievers
Claire Burchfield
Hampton, CT USA 06247
[email protected] 
Valentia Golden Retrievers and Pugs 
860-455-1247





Rensselaer Golden Retrievers
Saundra R. Badhe
East Granby, CT USA 06026 
[email protected]
Welcome to Rensselaer Golden Retrievers 
(860) 653-5346



Cayberry Golden Retrievers
Ann Marie Cioffi
Norwalk, CT USA 
[email protected]
Cayberry Golden Retrievers - Connecticut 
Cloverdale Golden Retrievers

Jane A. Zimmerman
Tolland, CT USA 06084 
[email protected]
www.familyfantastic.com/cloverdale 
860-875-2200

FoxRun Golden Retrievers
Kathi Schnapp
Torrington, CT USA 06790 
[email protected]
FoxRun Goldens 
860-489-6727


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Hi, I have kind of kept out of this thread but thought I would just chime in to let you know that there have been an extraordinary amount of breedings that just did not take during the July/August time frame around CT; possibly due to the extended hot/humid weather we experienced.

But girls are coming into season again so hopefully there will be more puppies available from really good to great breeders in the coming months if you can be patient  and consider asking to be put on the waitlists?

Good luck with your search. You are looking in an area with some really great breeders.


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## LJack (Aug 10, 2012)

hermien said:


> Hi have a look at our website Hermajante Kennels - Home


I looked and noticed some very different terms than I am used to seeing. Are you located in South Africa?


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## lookingforapuppy2015 (Feb 25, 2015)

I recently went to Crane Hollows in CT to look at a puppy. I can confirm that yes - these people say their dogs come from Russia and Australia. Additionally, there is a strong disconnect from their website to what is the reality. They do not socialize their puppies - more than random strangers stopping by. Also they do not match dogs to families - contradictory to their website. They also only guarantee the health of the puppies until the first vet visit.


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