# Cancer free bloodlines???



## Pilgrim123 (Jul 26, 2014)

Welcome to the forum, even if it is under difficult circumstances. You ask about cancer-free bloodlines. I don't believe such a thing exists. American lines have hemangiosarcoma, while British ones have more lymphoma. The problem, as I see it, is that cancer is not caused by only one thing. Sure, genetics can play a part, but so does environment. It seems to be the luck of the draw, to some extent.


----------



## LJack (Aug 10, 2012)

No, there are no Cancer free lines. Anyone selling that is either brand new, does not know their lines or lying. 

All dogs have a roughly 30% cancer risk. Goldens have an even higher risk with some estimates putting it at about 60%. That risk is similar regardless of what continent the lines originated from. American lines are more likely to have Hemangioma and European lines more likely to have Osteosarcoma. Both lines can present Lymphoma. 

It is a lovely dream to believe that we have control over Cancer but we really don't. I am sure you can find a breeder willing to sell you this dream but it is not a reality that exists. 

Your best bet is to find an established breeder that discloses cause of death, which you can track to limit the risk. You can't however eliminate it.


----------



## Vinnie (Jun 12, 2017)

Is there any particular breeder that breeds goldens less likely to die early from cancer or is it a roll of the dice? I see the look in my wife's eyes and I know her heart and our home is incredibly empty right now... I just hope to find the healthiest pup I can to reduce as much as possible a repeat of losing our buy early... If it sounds odd calling them our boys I understand... We raised both of our dogs with the same love and attention that we gave our Son... it doesn't feel right to refer to them in any other way. My wife retired about 12 years ago and I recently retired. We have the means to just go buy a golden but I just hope to reduce the cancer risk in our next boy... Thank you...


----------



## Vinnie (Jun 12, 2017)

Thank you for the reply... beautiful girls... We thought when we bought our dogs from a breeder working with Laurells goldens and from a champion like Cause For Applause that we wouldn't have this problem... thanks again for your advice... Our best to you and your girls..


----------



## Vinnie (Jun 12, 2017)

Thank you for your reply... your Honey is precious!


----------



## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Vinnie said:


> Thank you for the reply... beautiful girls... We thought when we bought our dogs from a breeder working with Laurells goldens and from a champion like Cause For Applause that we wouldn't have this problem... thanks again for your advice... Our best to you and your girls..


Applause was a lovely dog. I don't think there is more cancer down from him than from any other dog- Laura is conscientious and you were working w a good breeder- so you did all you could on the front end. I think that you are naturally hurting and will hurt forever over the losses you have suffered- 

Let one of us put them on k9data- post a picture there, list the DOD and COD there, and know that they are a part of breed history by being on the database. Cancer is an ugly enemy and the best we can do is get behind some of the research such as GRF Shine On and when you feel like you can get another Golden and love again.


----------



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

So sorry for your loss. I do think of the Laurell Goldens of having good longevity, but just like us humans face a cancer risk just by being alive, so do dogs. Goldens, painfully, have a solid risk no matter what, but the joy now is worth the sadness, to paraphrase C S Lewis.


----------



## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

I am so sorry to read about the loss of your precious boys. Most of us here know the pain of loosing our precious girls and boys to this dreaded disease.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a GR cancer free blood line!!! 

I agree that doing our best due diligence to ensure that our pups come from healthy bloodlines with clearances is a very important first step. That alone though seems not to have much impact on whether a dog will develop one of the horrible cancers that are felling so many of our GRs and alarming rates and at younger and younger ages.

There seems to be more evidence that what we expose our dogs to both environmentally and medically, what diet we choose to feed etc. likely has a huge impact on the rising disease rate in dogs, including cancer. In fact, dogs now have the highest cancer rate of any mammal on the planet. 

Cancer in dogs, specifically GR's, the Golden Retriever Cancer Study is mentioned in the video below and an important watch IMHO:






There also will be a documentary released later this summer which may shed more and important light on why cancer is claiming so many of our precious dogs and what we may be able to do about it: 

Dog Cancer Survival Series - Rethinking the Canine Epidemic


----------



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Ljilly28 said:


> So sorry for your loss. I do think of the Laurell Goldens of having good longevity, but just like us humans face a cancer risk just by being alive, so do dogs. Goldens, painfully, have a solid risk no matter what, but *the joy now is worth the sadness*, to paraphrase C S Lewis.


I love that. So true of having Goldens.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think you can't worry about stuff you can't control. And considering that I do have friends with other breeds... they consider 10 years to be a long full life for a dog. It does put stuff into perspective. Just the same as having a dog who is 10 can put things into a different perspective.

No matter how old or young your dog is... a dog's life is never long enough.

I sheepishly admit to viewing that a lot of rainbow bridge stuff is pretty corny... it really is. Real cheeseball fare.  But that doesn't mean losing a dog is a hopeless venture. I believe that if you love a dog inside and out, that you are going to meet him again. You're going to see him in the next dog you bring home. You will relive the happiest memories with the next dog. 

I did lose 2 dogs to cancer. The one was almost 14 years old. The other was almost 13. It still was too soon. Especially since the boys died 1.5 years apart. Even though both ages are a pretty long life for a male golden retriever... it still felt too soon and unreal to be dealing with their deaths. 

I did lose our first dog when he was 6 and that was a loss we mourned for 20+ years before the pain in remembering began to fade. Early on, we could not talk about him without crying. We literally had to put up blocks to avoid thinking about when he died. And what he suffered. And no, he did not die from cancer. But his death was horribly worse than when the other boys did die from cancer. 

That dog taught us how to be better prepared the next time.... and give the next dogs every benefit that he did not have, including easier deaths when that time came. We were not ready to say goodbye, but the very least, we knew that they suffered as little as possible before the end. 

Hemangiosarcoma is one of those cancers which happens very quickly. You literally only have 1-2 weeks between the first sign of cancer and when the dogs die. Putting it in perspective between that and a dog living his whole life with pain or discomfort... and dying for 6 months... it is not the worst thing. 

I guess my thing is don't just ask about cancer. Ask about other illnesses, make sure the clearances are all there, make sure the breeder is going to be there if anything goes wrong. 

IF you ask about cancer - ask about young cancer. If the breeder knows of any prevalence in what they breed. You can also spot this by checking the pedigrees on K9Data. Not everyone enters date of deaths in there (though they should). But sometimes people do... and you can see some patterns. 

And sometimes knowing that there is young death in a pedigree (like for example, I know of a litter where the grandfather died VERY young, this was a dog I knew of personally and he usually was at the same shows as my dog as a special). The dog did die of a different cancer than the usual hemangio. I don't necessarily think this is a "don't touch" kind of litter, because the grandmother's side was a bit more long lived. 

My vet told us that if a dog lives long enough - he's going to die from cancer. It's going to be just the same as with people if THEY live long enough. In old age, funky stuff happens to cells.... 

If somebody tells you that there is no cancer in their lines or what they breed.... to me, that somewhat indicates that either they are very new and haven't had litters age enough.... or they've sold puppies to people who disappear into the woodwork and haven't kept them in the loop when bad stuff has happened. 

Personally speaking... my Jacks came about because I looked at pedigrees and tracked down the breeder where my Danny's mom came from. I knew she had been long-lived (she was 15 when she died). Other things I knew about Jacks was his mom's side was familiar to me - related to dogs I'd known about when both Danny and I were much younger. Those dogs, fwiw, had been bred by Bertie's breeder.... so there was that connection when I got my Bertie, although I had not been deliberately tracking pedigrees before finding Bertie's litter. 

So I do somewhat believe in tracking down pedigrees related to what you knew and loved in your prior dogs. Just obviously be particular. And good luck.

Don't worry about things beyond your control. 10-14 years might be a short life... but it is well worth it with every golden you bring home. The puppies have a way of filling those empty holes in your heart.


----------



## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

There is no such thing as a cancer free line of golden retriever or any other kind of dog for that matter. 

"When" dogs develop cancer is the bigger question. Does a line have a history of early onset cancers or does cancer tend to show up much later in life? That is the real question you need to ask.


----------



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Believe me, if there were a breeder who had this figured out, there would be a very long line for their puppies. I am pretty sure everyone on this forum who has had more than one Golden has lost a dog to cancer. I know it is cold comfort, but most of us here understand what you're going through. 

I hope you will take Prism up on her suggestion: go to k9data.com and enter your boys there, let us help you if you'd like. You can enter their registered names and their photo graphs and they will be part of an official record. There is something very comforting about that and while it won't change anything, it is useful knowledge for others to access someday. Thousands of Golden Retrievers are entered there. It is a widely used database.

Since you are here asking the question about breeders, I am going to guess that you may be ready to start thinking about having another Golden to love. I hope you will use this forum as a resource for finding a reputable breeder. There are breeders out there who would give their right arm to produce Goldens who are cancer free. They don't have all the answers, but these breeders are doing their best, no one loves their dogs more than they do. Make a question about taking cancer into consideration with their breeding decisions part of your interview process when speaking to breeders. Understand that no one can make a promise to you about longevity, but you can look for people who are making an effort to keep up with the latest research and support them. You might also like to make a donation to canine cancer research through the Golden Retriever Foundation in the names of Bailey and Barnum. Here is a link for more information: Research-Collaboration


----------

