The term Hobby Breeder or Hobby Kennel is used to make the perspective buyer believe they care more about the puppies they are selling. A hobby is collecting dolls, or trains, not selling dogs! In reality these "hobby breeders" are simply a kennel without meeting the requirements of the law such as required inspections to ensure a clean, safe environment for the adult dogs and their puppies, ultimately your puppy. AND, a Hobby Breeder is quite simply skirting the law by not claiming the income of their sales.

Breeders will make excuses, like they are only private parties, or hobby breeders, or very small kennels, having only one or maybe two litters in a year, but did you know that California law (and many other states) require that even if you have only 1 litter a year, you still must have a breeding permit from animal control! And all the states that charge sales tax, also require a "Seller's Permit". The only animals that are exempt from sales tax are animals sold for food consumption "farm animals", not pets. To sell a pet and not to charge the buyer sales tax is a misdemeanor to a felony! Hobby Breeders will so often claim that they are not making a profit from breeding. Yet they have multiple females and males for breeding and have built kennels to house them. We came across one web site that said that they were "Hobby Breeders" in Somis Ca., but yet they also stated they had a 5000 sqft. kennel, wow that sure is a big kennel for a "Hobby Breeder"! Another web site we came across said they were a "Small Hobby Kennel" in Southern CA, yet they had 3 litters of puppies on the ground and another one on the way, wow that's sure a lot of puppies for a "Small Hobby Kennel"!

Yes it does cost a good deal of money to actually breed and raise puppies. But there is an income from that! The difference from the "Hobby Breeder" and a reputable kennel is breaking the law or NOT!

A responsible-reputable breeder creates a litter of puppies with a goal in mind TO IMPROVE THE BREED. More often than not, the responsible breeders will keep the "pick of the litter" to add to his breeding program, if he succeeds in what he intended to produce. A responsible breeder is familiar with the standard set by the American Kennel Club for their breed and adheres to breeding only dogs that fit the standard. A responsible breeder does not breed dogs with "severe faults".

The DISQUALIFICATIONS from showing a Golden Retriever in confirmation are: Deviation in height of more than one inch from standard either way. Undershot or overshot bite.

A link to the AKC has been provided on our "Favorite Links" page, there you can view the standard for any AKC breed and what are considered to be "faults" for that breed. 

In planning a litter a responsible breeder selects a mate that best complements his dog's strengths and weaknesses and particular attention is paid to avoiding genetic diseases. Both parents should always be tested for those ailments common for their breed.

When breeding mixed breeds like Goldendoodles, the breeder should select partners that compliment each other and that meet the breed standard for each of their individual breeds.

As far as we are concerned, responsible breeders are mainly concerned about their long term contribution to the breed. Many responsible breeders frequently require spay and neuter agreements for "pet quality" puppies with  "faults", this is done to ensure they will not be bred and pass those faults on. The result of responsible breeder mating is a litter of high quality, genetically sound puppies that meet breed standards in temperament, ability and physical conformation. Unfortunately, as hard as the responsible breeders try to "improve the breed", there are no 100% guarantees that every puppy produced from a responsible breeder will be genetically sound. Two properly certified parents can still produce a genetically unsound puppy in cases where a parent is carrying an undetectable recessive gene for the disease. Genetic testing isn't perfect, however you can greatly improve your chances of getting a genetically sound puppy by buying a puppy from a responsible breeder!

The "reputable" part comes in, if the breeder is in full compliance with the laws of their state, county, and city! A breeder can be responsible and have the best interest of their puppies and breed in mind, but yet may still not be "reputable"! A "reputable breeder" wants to do everything the right way! Each state, county, and city, have laws for breeding animals. In CA you are required to have a breeding permit from animal control for even just 1 litter of puppies. To sell them you are required to have a Seller's Permit from the State Board of Equalization. To own more than 3 dogs, or to have more than 1 litter per year, animal control requires a kennel license. Do not confuse a kennel license with a USDA license, they are two different licenses! A USDA license is required to sell puppies to brokers and pet stores, this is the type of license that large scale puppy mills have. For more info on this subject please read about "Hobby Breeders" above.

For more info on Puppy Mills go to: www.nopuppymills.com

Choosing Puppies

Being involved in rescue we hear many horror stories, recently we have seen a rise in aggressive (believe it or not) and very hyper Golden Retrievers. We believe this to be a combination of bad breeding and the lack of puppy socialization! So when choosing a puppy keep in mind that a poorly-bred, badly-raised puppy, no matter how cheap, is NO BARGAIN!

Not all litters are created equally, not even well bred litters. Some litters will be genetically predisposed for a higher energy level and others for a lower energy level. Some litters will have a tendency to be more dominant and others more submissive. There will be differences among individual puppies in the same litter, this is when the puppy aptitude testing (a link to the "Puppy Aptitude Test" is provided on our "Favorite Links" page) can be extremely helpful.

Discuss with your breeder the type of dog you are looking for and how you expect it to fit into your lifestyle. The biggest mistake a puppy buyer can make is to buy a genetically unsound puppy. Any experienced veterinarian can recount numerous disastrous tales of clients that purchased a puppy out of the local newspaper or pet store, only to watch that puppy become stricken by some tragic genetic disorder, or end up in the dog pound because of a behavioral problem! 

Fortunately, there are some genetic tests available today that responsible dog breeders are using to avoid genetic diseases. With all the wonderful genetic testing available today, one might ask why these genetic problems are so common. The main reason is that many breeders are not responsible enough to do them, and most puppy buyers are not knowledgeable enough to require them. Buying a puppy from a responsible breeder who does the proper genetic testing drastically reduces the risks, but unfortunately does not eliminate them.

Two properly certified parents can still produce a genetically unsound puppy in cases where a parent is carrying an undetectable recessive gene for the disease. Although genetic testing is not perfect, you can greatly improve your chances of getting a genetically sound puppy by buying a puppy from a responsible breeder who is intimately familiar with the genetic background of several generations of your puppy's pedigree.