# Breeders in Northern California



## SyncMaster (Mar 12, 2017)

Hi,

I have been fostering for six months now and now we would like to add a Golden Retriever to our family. I am trying to find Golden Retriever breeders in Northern California. I tried contacting few breeders that I found  here. I also tried contacting  NORCAL Golden Retriever Club. I am still waiting for their responses.

Can you help me in suggesting few breeders? I found few breeders by looking up on Google. 

 https://www.classicheritagegoldenretrievers.com/available-puppies-adults
 Firemark Retrievers

But how do I narrow down on one? I want to make sure that the breeders have a healthy pedigree. I am looking for a healthy puppy from a breeders who has all the records. I have just started my research on golden retrievers. So pardon me if I am missing some information. Thanks a lot for your help!


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

For me, the first two are not even contenders. Uterus for rent, blah, blah... I just hate that whole guardian thing. It's a scam by which a family has to give up their precious dog and risk her life. 
And on both the top two, Classic heritage and Golden Treasure, the clearances are all over the place- not consistently done on all the animals and appear to be shopped- hips on one dog from OFA, on another BVA, etc. 

So given the choice, Firemark is the only one I would contact.


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## SyncMaster (Mar 12, 2017)

Thanks for your reply.

I found this breeder from AKC PuppyFinder.

How do I find the health records and certificates of sire and dam? Can you please share the links from which we can find health records and other details?
Sire: Sir Bobo Of Griswold Avenue (SR79597702)
Dam: Milly Beth Stump Of Berks (SR80704907)

I am trying to find how healthy the pedigree is and how serious they are into breeding? Thanks!


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## LJack (Aug 10, 2012)

Those puppies parents have no health certifications at all. And they are very overpriced. For $1800 you can find full health certifications if you work at it. 

Your best bet is going to be reaching out to the local golden retriever club. It seems like you're looking for puppies available right this moment, but that is generally not going to get you full health certifications on parents and good breeders. 

I will attach some infographics that I hope you will find helpful.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

You go to OFA and input the dogs' names or numbers in the search engine. If there is no record it will look like this link will look: Orthopedic Foundation for Animals

The dogs are also not on k9data, which is only a tool but is a tool everyone who is experienced uses.


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## SyncMaster (Mar 12, 2017)

Thanks LJack an Prism Goldens for the detailed replies. This would definitely help me find good breeders and healthy puppy. I have emailed the local golden retriever club and waiting to hear back from them.


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## GoldenDude (Nov 5, 2016)

SyncMaster said:


> Thanks LJack an Prism Goldens for the detailed replies. This would definitely help me find good breeders and healthy puppy. I have emailed the local golden retriever club and waiting to hear back from them.


I live in Northern California and have found the club can sometimes be a little slow to respond to emails. So, don't worry if it takes a few days to hear back. I think there's a phone number listed. You might give it a try, too.

Are you opposed to other parts of the state? There's a club in LA and San Diego. I think there's also a Golden Retriever Club of some sort for the Central Coast (San Luis Obispo, etc. but don't quote me on that. You'd have to Google it.)

One of my dogs came from Southern California. For whatever reason, I've had better luck in that part of the state.

I would also add that when you look at the club website you can get an idea of potential breeders by poking around on the website. You'll often see the name of the club officers and news about awards/titles that local members have won. I've googled those names before and been led to their websites. Breeders often have parentage information about their dogs readily available. Many times the names of the parents contain the breeder's name so you can spider web out that way to find and research breeders.

For example, look at the graphic LJack provided. You can see the dam and sire for her girl, Tilt. The dam is from Wildfire. Having read through LJack's website I can tell she's a responsible, ethical breeder so I would bet that she purchased from a similar type breeder so I'd hop over to Wildfire's website. (You've already got a great indicator that Wildfire is a good breeder because you can see the CHIC symbol next to the dam's name.) And sure enough when I look at Wildfire's website it shows they're health testing their dogs. Wildfire also tells you on the website that they don't have any breedings planned until later in the year but if you contact her she can refer you to other breeders who might. So, again, you've just spider webbed your way out to useful references because a responsible breeder like Wildfire is probably referring you to other responsible breeders. 

That example would probably lead you to breeders outside of CA. Personally, I'd travel a bit for a healthy dog. (In my case, I always travel because I usually add an older pup to my family so I can't be picky on location. I have to go to where the older pup is because they're far fewer older pups than 8-week-old pups.) 

I hope that helped and made sense.

And not to play favorites. I could do the same thing with Prism Goldens who responded to you. I can look at her website and see that one of her girls is an offspring from Goldruls. Knowing that Prism is a good breeder I'd look at Goldruls website betting that's a good breeder and sure enough Goldruls is a good breeder.

Good, reputable breeders tend to work with and acquire pups from other good, reputable breeders. So, again, with a little bit of work there are lots of ways to spider web out to good breeders in the hopes that one might have an upcoming litter that would work for you. 

I've also never had a good, reputable breeder be offended if I asked for referrals to other breeders if they didn't have any litters on the horizon. Most good, reputable breeders want you to get a great dog from another good, reputable breeder if they don't have any pups available. So, most are usually willing to let you know about potential litters they've heard about.

One other tip - I never hesitate to use the results from AKC events as a potential source. People showing their dogs tend (not always, but tend) to make responsible breeders. So, you can look for possible breeders that way. (This is especially true for conformation events.)


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

That is an excellent 'how to sleuth out a good breeder' post. Well done! 
(and thanks for the kind words)


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## Sandy22 (Mar 12, 2016)

I too live in Northern California and agree with GoldenDude, the local club is very slow to respond. Here is a link to the thread that I started last year when we were searching for our pup.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...uppy/404714-northern-california-breeders.html

As GoldenDude said above good breeders know one and other, and are usually aware when others may be planning litters. Networking is key. If a breeder I was interested in didn't have a litter that worked with our schedule, I asked for their recommendations, and most were happy to share what information they had.

Good luck!


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## DanaRuns (Sep 29, 2012)

You can try Judy Inman at Promise Goldens. She has two litters on the ground now (one out of my boy, Gibbs). Or Jan Richards at Osprey Goldens, as I think she was planning a litter. Both are members of the NorCal club.


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## Sandy22 (Mar 12, 2016)

After much research, we felt very lucky to bring home an Osprey pup last June. Jan and Wendy are a pleasure to work with. We are very happy.


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## SyncMaster (Mar 12, 2017)

Thanks all for suggesting few more breeders. I am open to traveling to other parts to get a healthy puppy.

I got a response from AKC Golden Retriever whom I had contacted last week.

I have asked for AKC / K9data registration from AKC Golden. GoldenDude's post on how to sleuth a breeders post is really helpful. I will use this to contact more breeders who have healthy Goldens. Will keep this thread updated on how my search goes.


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

SyncMaster said:


> Thanks all for suggesting few more breeders. I am open to traveling to other parts to get a healthy puppy.
> 
> I got a response from AKC Golden Retriever whom I had contacted last week.
> 
> I have asked for AKC / K9data registration from AKC Golden. GoldenDude's post on how to sleuth a breeders post is really helpful. I will use this to contact more breeders who have healthy Goldens. Will keep this thread updated on how my search goes.


That's a hefty price tag for pups from parents without clearances. I hate how they refer to purchasing a puppy as "adopting." If the litterbis planned and they're selling for profit, it's not an adoption.


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## Sandy22 (Mar 12, 2016)

SyncMaster said:


> Thanks all for suggesting few more breeders. I am open to traveling to other parts to get a healthy puppy.
> 
> I got a response from AKC Golden Retriever whom I had contacted last week.
> 
> I have asked for AKC / K9data registration from AKC Golden. GoldenDude's post on how to sleuth a breeders post is really helpful. I will use this to contact more breeders who have healthy Goldens. Will keep this thread updated on how my search goes.


I'm no expert, but I don't think you'll find your ideal puppy from the link above. The list at the top of the page linked below was provided to me last year, and has many great breeders on it, including the two DanaRuns mentioned in her post on 3/14 (A Promise and Osprey).

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...py/404714-northern-california-breeders-2.html

I understand having puppy fever, as I had it last year, but I spent time here researching and then began networking using the list above. It sometimes felt more like a job search than a puppy search, but it was well worth it in the end!


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## GoldenDude (Nov 5, 2016)

Sandy22 said:


> I'm no expert, but I don't think you'll find your ideal puppy from the link above. The list at the top of the page linked below was provided to me last year, and has many great breeders on it, including the two DanaRuns mentioned in her post on 3/14 (A Promise and Osprey).
> 
> http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...py/404714-northern-california-breeders-2.html
> 
> I understand having puppy fever, as I had it last year, but I spent time here researching and then began networking using the list above. It sometimes felt more like a job search than a puppy search, but it was well worth it in the end!


I agree. I wasn't impressed with that link. I sent SyncMaster a note about a breeder in SoCal who I think has pups. 

Osprey is not expecting a litter. (I have 4 kids. Two are adults and one of them would like to get his own Golden Retriever at some point. I've heard many, many wonderful things about Osprey so when I read DanaRuns comment, I emailed them. Jan said no litters until 2019.)


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## SyncMaster (Mar 12, 2017)

Thanks for the details. I have just started my search. By searching through the forum I was able to get few other breeders in California and nearby states. I will contact them and see how it goes.

This forum is really helpful!


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## LJack (Aug 10, 2012)

SyncMaster said:


> I got a response from AKC Golden Retriever whom I had contacted last week..


You are aware of this breeder is actually anti-health certification and testing, right?

http://www.golden-retriever-pups.com/golden-info/001_-_health_guarantee_regi.html

They offer a guarantee that requires the return of the dog, Encourage you to pay for health insurance (I am actually Pro-health insurance but it seems like they're pushing their responsibility onto their buyers to cover health problems they're likely to produce)and claim people who are testing their dogs are doing it to change more money for puppies. The last is interesting to me because they're charging nearly as much or the same as breeders who do all the health certifications and compete with their dogs. 

I agree that is a lot of money for not much value in the form of dogs who have been proven in some sort of competition and have health Certifications in place. If you want to puppy now, I am sure that this large commercial cannot come probably give you one it's just going to be very expensive for what you're getting. You could likely find something just as risky for much cheaper on Kijiji.


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## Sandy22 (Mar 12, 2016)

GoldenDude said:


> I agree. I wasn't impressed with that link. I sent SyncMaster a note about a breeder in SoCal who I think has pups.
> 
> Osprey is not expecting a litter. (I have 4 kids. Two are adults and one of them would like to get his own Golden Retriever at some point. I've heard many, many wonderful things about Osprey so when I read DanaRuns comment, I emailed them. Jan said no litters until 2019.)


Osprey was one of the breeders at the top of my list last year, and I thought we were in for a long wait, but we got lucky when they had a larger than expected litter.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

from their site: They have heritage links to some great well know kennels such as Liberty Kennels from which President Ford's golden came from; Gold Rush Kennels with their english creams and whose owner R. Ann Johnson published a well researched textbook on golden pups; and, also from Golden Glen Kennels that were well know for their dark goldens for their obedience and ...


* Well, here is just another example of 'not involved so spouting incorrect info'....Liberty came from Honors. Gold Rush is not known for the engcreme look at all - the book is not a text book,it's a puppy raising guide, and there are maybe 6 dogs on k9data w field/ob titles from GG/the Hobsons. So basically, almost every word in that paragraph is inaccurate. *

I found the entire site to be rich with inaccuracies, and for my self I would sooner buy a puppy off CL who is at least likely to have grandparents with some sort of clearance history. These folks are on generations now and they don't use outside stud dogs so their own stuff isn't going to have anything behind it. 
Agree that you are not likely to find your puppy here .


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