# Suggested breeders in Southern California?



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

If I lived anywhere near the west coast, I would check out Birnam Wood:http://www.birnamwood.com/come_in.php. On a whole different size.experience level, but with really nice-tempered pups so far is http://farawaygoldens.wordpress.com/. Thery just have a nice Yogi son, Finnegan, and breed occasionally to a good performance girl. I would like one of these puppies, personally.


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## ragtym (Feb 3, 2008)

Katrak,

Something to consider is an older dog to train - then she would know the dogs temperament before she started training it:

For that, I would suggest Golden Retriever rescue:

Homeward Bound - http://www.homewardboundgoldens.org
NorCal Rescue - http://www.golden-rescue.org/
Golden Retriever Club of LA rescue - http://www.grcglarescue.org/
Southern Cal rescue - http://www.scgrrescue.org/ 

If she still wants a pup, I would suggest the GRCA puppy referral list for California:

CALIFORNIA Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles - http://www.grcgla.org/
Jennifer Mohr - [email protected]
951-780-0098 
​ Golden Retriever Club of San Diego County - http://www.grcsdc.org/
Susan Burrows - [email protected]
(619) 449-1991 
​ Norcal Golden Retriever Club - http://www.norcalgrc.org/
Ken & Trudy Blanchard - [email protected]
707-455-0281 

Please, before she chooses a breeder, ask her to at least call some of these rescues and/or puppy referrals and ask them about the breeders in their area - there are MANY breeders in CA that can "talk the talk" but really are not all that reputable. A lot of these rescues have dealt with these breeders and can steer her away from the bad ones.
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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

If you are looking for a service dog here are a couple of links that may be useful. Service dog organizations obtain their dogs usually from one of two ways. Some have there own breeding programs and are very aware of the health records going back many generations on most of the dogs in the pedigree. The other way is by donations of pups from breeders. And of course there are those organizations that utilize both methods. Good luck in your search. 

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/service.html#neads

http://www.paw-pals.org/page/page/1117008.htm


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

GRCGLA's rescue (www.grcglarescue.org) or another closer to her might be able to fit you with a really nice adult dog, so she doesn't have go through getting another dog who turns out unsuitable for service work. I know a lot of the breeders in the area and most of them aren't that great as far as predictable temperaments in their dogs, even the ones that compete and would be recommended by GRCGLA and all. I really can't think of any that consistently produce non-aggressive dogs with the size and energy level you would need. If you go through rescue and get an adult dog though you'll know that the dog is a good fit. You could probably even arrange for a "trial period" to make sure there aren't any weird quirks/fears that would be too much for her to work through.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

katieanddusty said:


> GRCGLA's rescue (www.grcglarescue.org) or another closer to her might be able to fit you with a really nice adult dog, so she doesn't have go through getting another dog who turns out unsuitable for service work. I know a lot of the breeders in the area and most of them aren't that great as far as predictable temperaments in their dogs, even the ones that compete and would be recommended by GRCGLA and all. I really can't think of any that consistently produce non-aggressive dogs with the size and energy level you would need. If you go through rescue and get an adult dog though you'll know that the dog is a good fit. You could probably even arrange for a "trial period" to make sure there aren't any weird quirks/fears that would be too much for her to work through.


 
WOW, that is a pretty damming statement about the breeders in Southern California. Can you tell us the experience you have had with these all breeders that enables you to make such far covering blanket statements as those above? Especially seeing you are in Georgia?


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I agree with contacting GR Rescue. Talk to Barbara Davis - she's great. She's also a trainer and can help talk you through what to look for in a dog who will go on to have such an important career path.

For breeders, I'd try Artistry Goldens - http://artistrygr.com/ There's also Maggie Mascari, who recently moved to Arizona. I think her kennel name is Tapestry Golden Retrievers. I'm sure you can find her via the GRCGLA website.

I do think, though, that a slightly older dog would be a wonderful choice, and that rescue can be of great help to you.

Best of luck!


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## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

I wholeheartedly endorse Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue. Jody, who runs the group, is simply outstanding at matching people and dogs. I have nothing positive to say about NorCal GRR, but Homeward Bound is an awesome organization.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> I think her kennel name is Tapestry Golden Retrievers. I'm sure you can find her via the GRCGLA website.


Tapestry Goldens is actually Terrie Johnson, DVM and is someone whom I would surely recommend.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> There's also Maggie Mascari, who recently moved to Arizona. I think her kennel name is Tapestry Golden Retrievers. I'm sure you can find her via the GRCGLA website.


I see Maggie's dogs at agility trials frequently, and a must say they are a beautiful group with wonderful temperaments.

On top of all the great recommendations above you can contact some service dogs groups, as they usually have a list of breeders that they get their pups from. Here is one I know http://www.pawsteams.org/http://www.pawsteams.org/


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

AmbikaGR said:


> Tapestry Goldens is actually Terrie Johnson, DVM and is someone whom I would surely recommend.


I knew Maggie bred with Terrie (I have clients w/ their pups). Wasn't sure who the kennel name belonged to; thought it was Maggie and that Terrie was another kennel. Thanks for clarifying.


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## gabbys mom (Apr 23, 2008)

My puppy came from Jennifer Masterson/Masters Goldens in Napa Valley. Not exactly SoCal, but she has wonderful dogs.


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

My goodness, calm down. I lived in southern CA until I started school in GA (edited my location to make you feel better). A few of the local breeders just don't breed often enough to make recommending them very practical, but most of them have some reason I'm not comfortable recommending them. Certainly they look great when you're on the Internet in New Jersey and it might just be that I see their dogs in too many stressful situations, but I'm still not going to recommend them to someone looking for a service dog.

Terrie and Maggie have really nice dogs and if you can catch them when they're having a litter that'd definitely be worth considering.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

katieanddusty said:


> I know a lot of the breeders in the area and most of them aren't that great as far as predictable temperaments in their dogs, even the ones that compete and would be recommended by GRCGLA and all. I really can't think of any that consistently produce non-aggressive dogs with the size and energy level you would need.





katieanddusty said:


> My goodness, calm down. I lived in southern CA until I started school in GA (edited my location to make you feel better). A few of the local breeders just don't breed often enough to make recommending them very practical, but most of them have some reason I'm not comfortable recommending them. Certainly they look great when you're on the Internet in New Jersey and it might just be that I see their dogs in too many stressful situations, but I'm still not going to recommend them to someone looking for a service dog.
> 
> Terrie and Maggie have really nice dogs and if you can catch them when they're having a litter that'd definitely be worth considering.


Not to worry Katie, I am calm. Over the years I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous breeders from California in addition to other areas of the country along with some of their dogs. I have not noticed any more temperment isuues then I have with dogs from any other part of the country. I will always have a problem when people paint everyone with the same stroke of the paint brush whether we be talking dogs, race, religious beliefs and so on. And as you yourself admit in your reply to me there are at least two breeders you would consider recommending. Believe me there are also others in the So Cal area that are also breeding Goldens with sound temperment.
As a little side note I actually bred my Keeper to Terrie's Benjamin almost 10 years ago, unsuccessfuly unfortunately.


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

It looks like Maggie's dogs are all co-owned by Terrie and their puppies have the Tapestry kennel name, so you and Stephanie are both right there. I don't think they breed very often, so they didn't initially come to mind, but if they happened to have a litter coming up that'd be a great choice.

Like I said before, it's probably true that I just see these dogs in unusual situations and most dogs from around the country would behave the same way, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not really comfortable recommending them to someone looking for a service dog. Since you've obviously had a different experience, I think the good old cliche "agree to disagree" would apply here


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## Katrak (Jun 4, 2009)

Thank you all very much for all of your suggestions. We're currently in the process of contacting various breeders.

We would love to try a rescue, in fact that was our first choice, but many of the rescues we've contacted did not want to work with us. It was either due to the nature of rescue dogs being from unknown backgrounds and the possibility that the dog may not work out and be tossed around to another home. Barbara Davis of GRCGLAR told my cousin via email something along the lines that their adoption policy precludes placing dogs into a home where they would be service dogs. I'm not sure the exact wording, but that was that. I thought for sure a purebred rescue would be willing to work with us, but no such luck. It was very disappointing =[

I'll check into these other rescues you've all mentioned, but for now we're still looking at the prospect of a breeder. I know my cousin is getting pretty bummed out from being turned down by rescues already. I'll probably do the contacting of the rescues this time and leave the breeders up to her. 

Thanks again!


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