# Is this a Decent Pedigree?



## catandminot (Dec 9, 2008)

Hey guys! I'm new on here, but have a question that thought you guys might be able to help me with.

Long story short, my grandfather recently acquired/ rescued a Golden Retriever male nicknamed "Rusty". I'm pretty sure that he is AKC registered, but I am trying to find out more information about his pedigree. I don't know a lot about dog pedigrees (I'm a horse person and have always had mutts.), and I didn't know if you guys knew anything about Rusty's.

This is from his Lambriar Inc registration sheet:

Whelped: October 4, 2000. 
Breeders: Margene and Curt Pederson. They live in South Dakota, but his kennel was in Kansas. (Is this common for them to be at two separate locations?)

*Sire:* "Lone Hunter OFA30G" Reg. Number: SN038979/09 Color: dark golden
*K9Data Page:* http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=154372
*Sire of Lone Hunter:* "Bo Janglo"
*Dam of Lone Hunter:* "Sunset Sally III

*Dam:* "Brandy Alexandria XXXIII" Reg. Number: SN290965/04 Color: dark golden
*K9Data Page:* http://www.k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=154374
*Sire of Brandy:* TJ Rusty Buttoms
*Dam of Brandy:* Jonegeling Shelby MLJ


He is going to the vet tomorrow (for the first time in a who knows how long) to get shots and a bath. He hasn't been neutered, and we were curious to see if his line was worth "keeping" (though I know the pedigree doesn't make the dog...).

I'll try to get some pictures of him if I have time afterward. I only have a copy of his registration now, but if you can think of any other information that may be helpful, just let me know and I'll try to look it up tomorrow. 

Thanks!


----------



## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Lambriar is a puppy broker. They would have acquired the puppy as part of a lot or litter sold by the breeders.

He hopefully came from a good high volume producer and not a puppy mill. I have heard that Lambriar is focusing on making sure their suppliers comply with all USDA regulations, and that dogs are kept in sanitary conditions. Reputable breeders do not sell puppies to brokers.

It does not appear that hips and elbow clearances were done on his ancestors, and possibly neither were heart and eyes. There are no titled dogs or recognizable kennel names in the first 3 generations of his pedigree. Those do appear to be AKC registration numbers, though I did not go out to the AKC site to verify this.

I would say that what you have is a very lucky boy who has found his way to a good home, and that your grandpa has acquired a great companion and pet.


----------



## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

If you go back far enough on his sire-1980's and earlier-one dog has some good field stuff but it is so far back in the pedigree as to not really have any influence.


----------



## catandminot (Dec 9, 2008)

Tahnee GR said:


> If you go back far enough on his sire-1980's and earlier-one dog has some good field stuff but it is so far back in the pedigree as to not really have any influence.


That's what I wanted to know. I have always had mutts and have never had a breed-able dog before. We were planning on just neutering him unless he had some amazing pedigree that we didn't know about and should be passed on. 

He had an AKC flier in the folder of things that came with him, so I just assumed that he either was or is able to be registered with them.

When I was looking through his information this afternoon, I did notice tests (I think Hip Dysplasia tests) for his sire and dam, but I don't remember what the results were (I've always had smaller dogs, so I have never had to worry about it before). When I go over to their house tomorrow, I'll look and see what the results were. Either way, he's getting completely evaluated by a vet tomorrow, so hopefully he won't have any major issues. 

Thanks so much for your help!


----------



## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

It's wonderful that he'll be getting a new, loving, forever home. He's a lucky boy.

Sounds like he'll be a much loved pet .... which is all that matters to him. Please do post some pics of him. We'd love to see him.


----------



## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

catandminot said:


> When I was looking through his information this afternoon, I did notice tests (I think Hip Dysplasia tests) for his sire and dam, but I don't remember what the results were (I've always had smaller dogs, so I have never had to worry about it before). When I go over to their house tomorrow, I'll look and see what the results were. Either way, he's getting completely evaluated by a vet tomorrow, so hopefully he won't have any major issues.
> 
> Thanks so much for your help!


You can check on hip and elbow results by going to www.offa.org and putting the name of the dog in. OFA is the accepted organization for hips and elbows, and probably more likely to be used by suppliers than Penn Hip (expensive), OVC or BVA (both out of the country). Many breeders now also list heart and eye clearances with OFA.


----------



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

How old a dog is he? I notice the birth date for the sire is 1992(?)


----------



## goldengirls550 (Jun 12, 2008)

It says he was whelped in 2000.

I think he would make a nice pet but since he did not come from serious show/performance lines, he probably needs to be neutered.

Good luck with your boy. You should post pictures. :wave:


----------



## catandminot (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks for all of the replies! We really appreciate it!

Rusty went to the vet today. He ended up having heartworms, which we suspected. His old owner spent nearly a thousand dollars on him and was too cheap to get him treatment for the heartworms that he had previously been diagnosed (even though they lived in a probably multi-million dollar house with a nice Corvette and some kind of $$ Mitsubishi sports car. They are definitely not lacking in the money department to spend to responsibly take care of this dog! grr!). Anyway, they didn’t want to get him the treatment, so they just took off his collar so that no one would know that he was theirs, and let him loose. Long story short, my grandfather’s neighbors found out who the owner was after taking him to a vet to see if he was micro chipped, and my grandfather went over the next day to get him. Rusty was tied to the Mitsubishi sports car on a 5-ft-ish long leash on the cold, concrete driveway. The lady was more than willing to “get rid of him”. She went inside to get all of the paperwork and pedigree stuff and then gave him to my grandfather.

Anyway, my grandfather took him to my uncle’s today (he’s a small animal vet down near Atlanta). They diagnosed that he did have the heartworms, but since he was an older dog that it wouldn’t be fair for him to go through with the tough year long treatment to actually get rid of them. Instead, they are just going to give him a Heartguard pill once a month to kill off the larva and prevent them from multiplying. 
My uncle said that he had a heart murmur (about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5) and had a couple of intestinal worms. He got all of his shots and everything else was fine. 

Since he’s older and will probably be in the house with my grandparents and their cat, I don’t know if they are going to end up neutering him or not. All of our dogs in my family and my uncle are all fixed, and he probably wouldn’t be associating with any other dogs anyway. He has such an awesome temperament, that I couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been neutered. From growing up in the situation and ridiculous family he was in, it is incredible how sweet he is. 

I very highly doubt that they will be breeding him. My friend used to breed huskies and has told me before how over bred Goldens are (especially after the “Air Bud” and other dog movies). I’m pretty sure he has some elbow and possibly hip issues going on, since he’s kinda stiff; and that alone would be a great reason not to breed him. I don’t even know if he could physically handle breeding right now anyway.

Thanks again for all your help! He should be getting a good brushing and bath tomorrow, so I’ll try to remember to take my camera tomorrow and take pictures!


----------



## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

You might check with another vet because my 10 year old american eskimo went thru the heartworm treatment and it only took a couple of months. Just have to keep them calm after the treatment. 
Bless your grandfather for saving him and giving him a loving home for his remaining years and getting spoiled. Maybe he is alittle stiff from arthritis and not from HD. Give him a good glaucosomine pill to help. And build up on the exercising because he probaby hasnt been getting any from that mean person. 
Cant wait to see pictures of him.


----------



## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

I'd also consider going ahead with the HW treatment. He isn't "that" old. I have a 13 yr old and a 12 yr old, so this boy has a long life ahead of him.

Anyway...he sounds like a sweet guy. Wishing him the very best.


----------



## catandminot (Dec 9, 2008)

The treatment that my uncle recommended besides just killing the larva, was to give him one heartworm pill for the first month and then two for the second month in order to kill off the larva and weaken the other adult worms. We would then have to bring him in to the clinic, where they would give in arsenic injections (I think) somewhere near his spine. I think that my grandfather said that he would have to then stay at the vet for a few days and then come back in three months to do the injections again. 

The problem is, is that my uncle figures that Rusty has probably had the heartworms for a while and that they might be going into his liver. They are already in his heart and lungs, and he wheezes/ coughs when he runs around too hard. 

My uncle is mainly worried that since Rusty's nutrition is very questionable and where exactly the heartworms have taken over, he doesn't know if Rusty would even survive the treatment or not. He said that he only usually recommends it for dogs younger than 7, since they are usually strong enough to handle it. 

Those are the only two options I believe that he gave my grandparents. My grandparents didn't want for Rusty to have to have the injections since they would be so hard on him. My uncle said that he personally would just manage the larva and let him live as long as he can with the rest of the heartworms.


----------



## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

I think it's a great story and hopefully one with a happy ending! Rusty seems to finally be getting the healthcare and love and attention it sounds like he deserves!

As for the stiffness, if you put adrop of cod liver oil into his food every day, this also helps and has the benefit of making the coat glossy also. Glucosamine also helps.

Good luck, I hope those heartworms can be sorted.


----------

