# English Cream Breeder in SC/NC?



## GoldenOnTheWater (Jun 27, 2013)

Hey y'all first time poster, didn't really know where else to look. I've been looking for an English cream retriever for a good while now. I'm looking for English because I owned a beautiful American golden who passed away from cancer a few years ago. No dog could replace her, but I still love the breed, so I'm leaning towards English this time. I've had some trouble finding a reputable breeder though. I've tried Tanglewood since I heard good things about them, but they've been unresponsive. I'm not interested in showing or anything, just looking for a family pet. Can anyone recommend another good English cream breeder in the SC/NC area? Thanks.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Here is the link for the Golden Retriever Club of America's Puppy referral and thier home page.

You can do a search by Region or State-this will get you started. Hopefully members can also give you a recommendation of Breeders.

Golden Retriever Club of America GRCA: AKC National Breed Club

Golden Retriever Puppies: GRCA Puppy Referral: Golden Retriever Club of America (GRCA) Find your Golden Retriever Pupppy Here

Best of luck in your search.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

*Welcome to the forum*

Hi Goldenonthewater, welcome to the forum. Please accept my condolences on the loss of your Golden, it is very hard and I'm so sorry for your heartache. 

I am responding to your thread because your post could be a duplicate of me about 4 years ago. I'd found my first Golden through the Atlanta Golden Retriever Club and through their guidance found a terrific, healthy Golden from someone who had been in Goldens for many years. This dog was so wonderful and I adored him, he was a lovely medium Gold and smarter than most people I know, fooled me completely into thinking I was a decent dog trainer. 

I lost him at age 10 to cancer in his digestive tract. I was truly devastated and lost without him and without a 4-legged family member. I was miserable. My first thought was that I couldn't live another second longer than necessary without finding a nice puppy to focus on, something to help me get through the grief. I started looking around and thought it was going to be too hard to have another Golden who looked similar to the wonderful boy I'd just lost, so I needed to find one that was still a Golden but looked very different. I knew that the field lines tend to be the darkest colors and could be a bit too high energy for my family. So I decided I should try to find a very light, European style Golden who would look nothing like Baxter.

I learned a few things during the process. I hope you won't mind if I share it with you. Maybe I could spare you some of the pain and suffering....

1) Tipppykayak is a member here and he puts it best when he says "Whatever Golden you live with will become your favorite color." It's ok to have a preference but it should not be a driving factor in deciding on a breeder. Good breeders do not take color into consideration when planning a breeding and will often have puppies of many different shades. 

You will have an extremely difficult time finding a reputable breeder in the U.S. who is producing only extremely light dogs because they are not as readily accepted in the conformation show ring and they are not typically used in field work. * A truly reputable breeder will compete in some venue with his or her dogs *and if they don't they aren't producing the best dogs they possibly can. The lightest colors of cream are very accepted in Canada and you will find that a good breeder like Tangelwood is showing her dogs in conformation in Canada to give them a fair shake. Very expensive to do. So most local folks won't be doing that. If you want a reputable breeder of extremely light dogs you will need to be willing to travel a good distance to pick up your puppy. We have a couple members of this forum who tend to have lighter dogs and you could try to find them and make inquiries about any planned litters. They are Sterregold and Milbrose if you would like to do a Google search. I know Milbrose has a litter that is a few weeks old now but they all may be spoken for. Not sure about Sterregold. I believe the reason you haven't heard back from Tanglewood is because if she has a litter her puppies are all spoken for. You might try sending her an email or calling her and asking for a referral to someone she feels is reputable in the southeast and does all health clearances.

2) Breeders who are producing 'show dogs' are your very best best for a reputable breeder for another reason : They will be doing all 4 necessary health clearances for Goldens to be compliant with the Golden Retriever Club of America code of ethics. Heart by a cardiologist, Hips, Elbows and Eyes every year. It's ok that you don't want a show dog, most people don't. But you do want your dog to be healthy, both physically and mentally and to look and act like a proper Golden Retriever, the kind of dog you fell in love with. That is what reputable breeders are striving to produce. They breed a litter to keep a puppy for themselves, raise them all in the best possible environment and keep one and sell the rest to pet homes, not for profit, but to cover the costs of vet bills and stud fees and puppy food and showing the parents and getting the health clearances. It's definitely not a money making endeavor, they do it for the love of the breed. We pet owners benefit from getting the healthy siblings of their show dogs who just didn't have quite the right 'ear set' or 'shoulder angle' to show. 

3) Performance is every bit as important as looks. Your breeder of choice should be taking temperament into consideration every bit as much as looks. An obedience, agility or field title shows that your dog is trainable and smart and hopefully is not suffering from very heritable faults like shyness or fearfulness. This is where I went wrong and I will never make this mistake again. 

Please take your time and spend hours reading through the threads we have here on our 'choosing a breeder" board and about health issues etc. Scour the Golden Retriever Club of America website for information on reputable breeders and making good choices. Visit a show, )the Sandlapper Golden Retriever Club is sponsoring a show on July 25th in Greenville, head over and meet some people there, ask for referrals.)

And finally, please take a page from my book. I now have a 5 month old Golden Retriever (she's a female, I have never had one before, always swore the males were for me) this dog is one I researched and spent almost two years waiting for. (I was on the waiting list for a long time, a good puppy isn't something you can really buy out of the paper or off the shelf at Walmart, they require patience which is not my strong suit but has paid off for me with this pup.) Both her parents have all health clearances, conformation and performance titles and I am in touch with both their owners who are wonderfully supportive and responsive to any questions or issues I run into. This puppy girl is a dream come true and she appears to be turning out to be a fairly similar color to my old boy Baxter. It's ok now, she is her own unique individual and she really has earned her own place in my heart and I do not ever look at her and feel heartbreak for him (he is the photo in my avatar, top left) I think if you will slow down and think a bit you might also realize that your new pup will be his or her own person and you will always miss the dog you've lost because you loved him, not because your new one makes you think of him. Just because he deserves to always have a place in your heart, sort of like the new pup will make.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I just went and checked the Tanglewood current litters page and I see that she probably has puppies that are only a week old, give or take. I don't know how long ago you contacted her, but she is probably insanely busy right now. Beyond busy. Have you filled out her puppy questionnaire and submitted it? It sounds like she has a lot of puppies right now and a lot going on, try calling and emailing again, give it a week and try again. She has a good reputation and although she might be busy, it might be worth waiting on her for one of her fall litters if her current ones are all spoken for.


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## goldentemperment (May 16, 2012)

GoldenOnTheWater said:


> I'm looking for English because I owned a beautiful American golden who passed away from cancer a few years ago. No dog could replace her, but I still love the breed, so I'm leaning towards English this time. I've had some trouble finding a reputable breeder though. I've tried Tanglewood since I heard good things about them, but they've been unresponsive. I'm not interested in showing or anything, just looking for a family pet. Can anyone recommend another good English cream breeder in the SC/NC area? Thanks.


Sorry to hear about your first dog, and I wish you tons of luck in finding a new pup. 

Watch out for English style breeders who make claims that their dogs are less prone to cancer because they're not from American lines. Big generalizations like that don't really hold water, and are often false.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

If you search for breeders with the term "English Cream," you're going to find almost exclusively bad breeders. It's term used by unscrupulous people to market a color extreme, and so the people who use it to advertise are almost always breeding for color, which means putting other, more important factors further down the list.

If you like English-style Goldens, there are many wonderful breeders of that style, but they don't breed only light-colored dogs. They'll have dogs all over the spectrum, some of whom will be light, some darker. The English standard allows dogs a little lighter than the American standard does, so the English-style spectrum swings slightly lighter overall. Just be aware that "English" isn't synonymous with "light."

If you want a light-colored dog but don't care about the difference between the English and American standards, you can find a great breeder and then express your interest in a lighter dog. There's nothing wrong with having a color preference, but be really carefuly tp place it in the appropriate spot on your priority list. There are plenty of people out there who will happily sell you a light-colored dog because they know how popular that color is, but those people aren't doing everything they can to stack the deck in the puppies' favor when it comes to health and temperament. These people pick their breeding pairs by how light they are, not by how healthy they are or how well they express the standard of the ideal Golden.

I was quoted accurately above: I do believe that your favorite color of Golden quickly becomes the color of the living, breathing furball curled up next to you. I love light dogs, but my first dog as an grownup with my own place was a dark gold boy, and now that's my favorite color, and I have two more dark gold dogs. But their color is a coincidence; I consulted with the breeders and picked the pups from those litters who best suited our plans. When we go looking for our next Golden, I'm going to pick the breeding with the best longevity, breed type, and temperament for our needs, and I'm going to take the puppy who's showing the personality that best suits our plans for him. And if he's a gorgeous light dog, that'll be great (and convenient, because it'll be easier for our extended family and friends to tell them apart, lol).

Color has become totally unimportant to me because of my experiences, but I do respect that people have preferences, and I think that's normal and totally great, just as long as you keep it in its appropriate spot on your priority list. And be careful! There's a bit of a fad for light dogs going on, and unscrupulous people are exploiting it.


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## hockey930 (Jun 19, 2013)

You and I both can't send pm's yet as I just found out...... god a hate that crap.
My email is my screen name at gmail.com 
I am in Charlotte and may be able to give you some info as I started this same search about 2 weeks ago.


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## GoldenOnTheWater (Jun 27, 2013)

You caught me, that's exactly why I was looking for a lighter color dog. I'm afraid the new golden will remind me of my old girl. It's been a few years, and I finally feel ready for a dog again, but I still miss her.


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## SoCal Golden Lover (Jun 28, 2013)

*NC Breeder/ Twin Leaf Goldens*

I began my search this spring after losing my Golden. I, too, wanted a lighter color so as not to be reminded of my boy. A reputable breeder in Northern California led me to Twin Leaf Goldens in Summerfield, NC. This breeder is also getting a show dog from TL so I think that speaks to her confidence in Margie. After speaking to her on the phone, I also know that Margie was mentored by Tanglewood so that speaks highly of her. She has a litter due this August. Good luck!


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Welcome to the Forum.

I know a breeder with some fairly light puppies that have the blocky heads many people associate with the English style. I will send you a PM with a link. The pups are almost ready to go to new homes and I have no idea what the waiting list may be like.

Good luck!


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Since I was mentioned, just wanted to say that there will not be pups at Sterre until later in the year, and then both will be versatile working breedings --English stuff and some older US lines in the pedigrees, but they will not likely be the blocky light look that many associate with "English"!


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## GoldenOnTheWater (Jun 27, 2013)

You guys are fantastic thank you so much for your kind words and all your help. I contacted one of the breeders suggested here (will update with which one after everything's official, if it works out). This is my first time actually doing research beforehand, with my first golden it was kind of a spur of the moment discovery and she wasn't from a well known breeder or anything. Back then we ended up with a healthy golden with a wonderful temperament who lived a long life (she growled at and got aggressive with exactly one person in her entire life, a guy I caught trying to break into our house. Our kids were in the backyard playing and I was in the shower and only got out when I heard her barking and making a scene, so I don't know what would have happened if she wasn't there. To this day I'm still amazed she knew he wasn't welcome and reacted accordingly, with anyone else she would just roll over on her back for a belly rub and wag her tail). She was truly a wonderful dog. But I know we probably got lucky the last time and wanted to take my time selecting a breeder this time. I really hope this works out, I should know in a few weeks. Thanks again!


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## hockey930 (Jun 19, 2013)

We met and agreed to buy one yesterday! I know of a litter in Charlotte if you are interested let me know. There is still 8 availible as of this morning.
my username and @gmail.com


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## Capt Jack (Dec 29, 2011)

First off Ii too am sorry for the loss of your heart dog.I know I push this too often but if you're not looking for a show dog why not think about a rescue?I did & don't think I did too bad LOL! Go thru a rescue org. if you can or get ready to take the chance of dealing with some crazies.
As far as a breeder you're asking the right folks(not me but the others)There's too many BYBs out there check every one.
Good Luck!!!


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## Kizzolo (Jul 9, 2013)

I have outstanding Golden's that came from a breeder in NC. they are fantastic and beyond dedicated to the breed and their program. Look up Honor Golden Retrievers. They are in the Charlotte area. Good luck.


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## lor_lin (Mar 24, 2014)

*English Golden*

Hello,

I'm starting my search for a English Golden breeder in NC. Can you tell me who you ended up working with?

Thank you,

Lori


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

lor_lin said:


> I'm starting my search for a English Golden breeder in NC.


This is the best place to start:

English Goldens in North America - Litters - Breeders - Stud Dogs


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