# Golden retriever male puppy



## tgolike1 (Feb 6, 2010)

Hi all. My name is Tammy, and I have been a member here for quite some time. I finally have my golden retriever puppy. He will be trained for service dog work to help me with mobility and diabetic response. 

I know his parents did not have the testing they should have had, but looking through his pedigree on k9data.com he has a lot of what looks to me really good lines five generations back. I am wondering what you all think of his pedigree? I am going to be hopefully competing with him in obedience as well. 

He has a wonderful temperament, is darkish red, and was 14 lbs at 8 weeks old. I haven't gotten a current weight on him for a while. He will be 10 weeks old tomorrow. 

thanks for any help you can give me. 

here is the link to him on k9data.com

his name is Golike's Golden Shadow

Pedigree: Golike's Golden Shadow


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

Never heard of any of the dogs 5 gens back but there are a few familiar names 6 gens back but really that far back most goldens have similar ancestors. 

Now that you've got your boy enjoy him! You can always due health clearances on him if you'd like to know the state of his health, especially if he's going to be a working dog.

I used to work in training guide dogs


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## lyssa (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi there, I also am soon to be training my own pup to be a service dog. I have to say, I think you are taking quite a big risk getting a pup from parents with no clearances (and grandparents, and more if k9 is right?). A service dog experiences a lot of wear and tear on their joints and I really think it is best to have searched for quite a while for the very best hips and elbows from the best of breeders... but I guess you've made your decision now and I hope your pup turns out great. Make sure you get x-rays done to ascertain when his growth plates have closed and that his hips and elbows are good enough for a working dog.

As for his actual pedigree, it looks a bit low scale hobby breeder-ish, but further back it looks ok. There are a lot of 'unknowns' further back too though, so who knows what is there. I don't know many names of the American dogs though, being an Aussie with our English lines here.

I hope you end up with the service dog of your dreams in this lovely pup, but assuming you get a second service dog down the track sometime - do yourself a favour and get one with clearances well back into the generations to at least minimise disappointment over joint problems.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

A typical backyard pedigree. Hobbyists invest in clearances and very often compete in some venue. 
You may want to consider pet insurance. With so many generations of unverified health clearances...it would be worth serious consideration. Especially knowing how much time and money you will be investing into top notch training for years to come and how much you will be relying on this dog...the price of insurance makes sense.


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## goldensrbest (Dec 20, 2007)

Where in southern indiana , are you, i was raised in princeton.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

I agree with LibertyMe. If you want to train this dog for service work, you can be very successful. I would just be fearful that the dog's body wears out before it should- thereby erasing a lot of the hard work you've put in. A true hobby breeder would do clearances to help ensure healthy joints in their puppies, among other things. If you look at a 5 generation hip pedigree, there are only a handful with hip clearances. Five generation pedigree: Golike's Golden Shadow

If you'd look up a top winning golden like Russell, you will see the difference in the hip pedigree. Five generation pedigree: BIS GCH CH Gosling's Reel Deal SDHF


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## DNL2448 (Feb 13, 2009)

Hi Tammy Welcome to the forum! Please post pictures of your new pup when you can. 

As much as I don't want to say it, it would be a very good idea to get insurance on your new baby as LibertyME suggested.


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