Golden retriever breeder recommendations?

Anyone?

lol I've been sifting through breeders and its just exhausting.. there are SO MANY!
between health testing, parents with the right temperaments, puppy socialization..
as well as trying to find the right match and looking through all the different show, performance and even field breeders.. its just a lot harder than one would expect lol

nothing has really "clicked" with breeders close to me, so I figured I would expand my horizons and maybe someone on chaz would know of a good breeder

Have you checked out Cindy Jones in Killingworth? She is a member of my agility club and has some really nice goldens

Gaylan's Goldens, Gayle Watkins
Gaylan's Golden Retrievers: beautiful, working golden retrievers for home and sport

Golly G Retrievers:

Home

A couple of them do agility with me, and they're gorgeous, sweet dogs.

Can't recommend my golden breeder since she isn't having a litter for a few years. Drat! I'll ask around!

Charlie's old breeder works mostly with goldens. She has a few griffons with an occasional litter of those because her husband is a bird hunter and got involved with them.

Her goldens are seriously amazing. When we picked him up we went around and met all her dogs. The most impressive was a 12 year old bitch that was SOOOO SWEEET. In caps. Her muzzle wasn't even grey. She looked like she was 3-4 years old and had no health problems. That impressed me in a breed where many end up with osteo and joint problems by the time they are 5-7.

She also health tests up the yin yang. If you go to the OFA website and type in Citrine, the griffs and goldens that come up under that kennel name are hers. The health testing goes back for generations. Here's her webpage. It's not super comprehensive, but she's really nice to talk to on the phone or through e-mail.
Web Page Copy

She does have a lot of dogs. A lot of them are retired, or older puppies she was holding onto to see how they turn out. I'm not sure how often she breeds. She also has some dogs from field lines and some from show lines. Her show dogs have actually gotten their AKC CHs too, which is mind boggling because of the number of dogs they have to beat to get their majors.

I know a litter coming up that should be really nice. I think the litter will be whelped in OH but I could be wrong. I know the sire very well and he is a super cool dog. The breeder of both dogs is well respected, shows and does some performance. Of course, all health testing is done too. If you are interested in more info, let me know

This is the sire:
YouTube - MPP 4H Rachel & Bandit Agility Practice Run Three 2/09

YouTube - Bandit Singles: UFLI Flyball Championship 2010

There is a breeder near me. Far I know. But she produces fantastic dogs. She is primarily conformation, but her dogs have been in my classes. They are not boring blah goldens, nor are they hyper field types. They are stable happy have all the energy you want when you want it, and all the calm you want when you need it sorts.

She doesn't have a website, she doesn't advertise (she doesn't' need too) so I can't point you to a site. But if you are interested PM me and I can give you her phone number.

If I was interested in a golden I personally would look at what she had coming up.

Megan, I suggested Gaylan's as well, but I guess their waiting list is like years long :/

Thank you everyone for the recommendations

I emailed Golly G, such lovely dogs!

as for Gaylans, they were one of the first I looked at, amazing dogs! but the wait for a companion puppy from them is at least 2 years. but I am on the list just in case

Thanks Romy for the commendation too, but I would prefer a breeder that doesn't have so many dogs in a kennel environment. the kennel is really nice and I'm sure the dogs are well cared for but I would just rather see dogs in a home environment (either with the breeder or in various other fosterish homes) or just a smaller kennel environment with fewer dogs, just because temperament and socialization is so important in my case

Dekka I'll shoot you a PM. that temperament sounds perfect lol its been so hard to find dogs that are in the middle

and Aleron those dogs are awesome but their litter will probably be born/ready way before next year

It would still be considered a companion puppy with it being a service dog?

Yup. If you aren't show or breeding or I think a field/hunting home in some cases, you are considered a companion home since the puppy would be a SD prospect, then a SDIT and then maybe a service dog.
Plus the puppy is a companion first/mainly. Since she may or may not graduate the program

Some breeders classify classify service dog prospects with working homes (another list for service dogs, competitive obedience prospects, agility prospects and other homes) and some breeders put SD prospects/homes in another list all together, but in this case, I'm on the pet/companion list

Its understandable. All breeders have different ways of placing puppies in homes so its very case by case and breeder by breeder

Weird. Obviously I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I would think they'd be better classified under working/performance since they are going to be doing a job and are going to need a certain level of focus and a certain temperament to be able to complete those tasks.

And I still think you should get a corgi

Lol usually if a breeder does have a working dog list, thats where I would go.

but in the case of "hunting homes" "breeding homes" "companion and everyone else"
lol I'm with companion!

and I do love their tiny lil legs! lol

Another breeder in the NE (New Hampshire) to check out is Milbrose...they breed pretty infrequently but their last litter was 2 years ago so it might be worth asking. Otherwise she may be able to give you ideas on where to look based on your requirements as she's very open and has been involved in Goldens for a while. www.milbrose.com

I know Bandit! He's a pretty awesome boy!

I would contact Gayle directly and ask about a service dog prospect. It may change things.

I highly recommend both of these breeders:

Located in California:

Shadalane Golden Retrievers

Located in Tenneesee:

Cobblestone Goldens

I hope you'll consider them and good luck!

I think it depends on breed a bit, too.

For example, if you're looking at a "working" border collie, that'll be a dog that can herd all day.... or at the very least will need to be in a highly active sport, such as agility/flyball. Most people DO NOT want a service dog that's so active.

With retrievers, a "working" dog would generally be a hunting dog. I've met many GOOD hunting retrievers, and none of them would make good service dogs.... also too high energy.

If you're looking at, say, a companion breed, such as a bichon, a "working" dog would be a sport dog, a dog decently good at agility or rally. A "working" bichon would probably have a great service dog temperment, as they're more focused than "pet" bichons, but not so intense as the working BCs.

Basically, when you're looking at SDs, you don't necessarily want a high energy, high drive dog. About 80% of a service dog's job is to lay still, so you need a dog that's content doing that even in highly distracting places.