Here's the latest news: We have puppies available to go now because a few people decided to postpone to later litters. Price: $3000 + $237 sales tax (7.9%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Welcome to the home of happy puppies!

For over 25 years Laura has raised multiple species with health and soundness as the top priority. Laura has studied various types of animal breeding for decades now. That's what happened when this former city girl finally got to live in the country.  She has bred purebred alpacas, dogs, poultry, fish and rabbits and almost a horse...just needed the right stallion...but then life changes happened...darn it! Breeding animals is very challenging work and also a labor of love. For your peace of mind, every puppy is sold with specific health guarantees to three years of age on the fair, two-page contract. We promise to do everything possible to raise sound, healthy beautiful dogs.  This is Laura's full time job and she'll be there for you down the road to provide support after the sale, so please stay in touch!

 

 

 

 

 

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People tell us that we have "very happy" dogs...could it be that fresh county air...the acres of green grass...the pond splash into...all that freedom? You are welcome to come for a visit.  Just contact us to make an appointment. 

 

Our Goldens are all with us.  Goldens absolutely LOVE being farm dogs and thrive in their natural element. Golden Retrievers, an AKC sporting breed, have been the third most popular AKC breed for a long time and for good reason! Once you've owed a Golden you will fall more and more in love with the breed.  They LOVE people, are very intelligent, very biddable / easy to train, very eager to please, loyal, brave, devoted, very patient, and are very obedient, caring and respectful. They are just beautiful dogs, inside and out. 

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We breed for overall health, physical and mental soundness.

 

Our AKC European "English Cream" Golden Retrievers are from imported champion European bloodlines.  Note: These are the same bloodlines and pedigrees that occur on all of the European "English Cream" dogs.  We use k9data.com to keep track of lineages and to keep the COI (coefficient of inbreeding) low.

 

Please know that the term "English cream" is a color term only based on the English GR breed standard which allows the lighter colors.  Our puppies can range from very light to dark cream and into the golden shades as their adult coats grow in. There are no genetically pure white Golden Retrievers, nor should there be as health problems can arise from a lack of pigmentation and they were originally bred to be yellow...golden colored!

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The best way to pick a puppy is to make sure it comes from carefully bred and selected, health tested parents.  Here, you may visit the litter anytime by appointment and you actually pick your puppy on the day you take it home which is after the pre-purchase veterinary exam has been done. We feel it's important that you have those results before you pick your puppy. Also, seven to eight weeks of age is when their personalities are blossoming, so you simply don't know what you're getting if you pick at a younger age. Generally speaking, males are devoted and loyal and females are sweet and precocious.  Both are wonderful...they're Goldens!

 

We will work with you to find the best puppy match whether you are looking for a family pet, service / therapy work or field / hunting companion.  When you visit us, you will see where and how we raise our puppies and you will get to meet both parents of your puppy. We work hard to produce healthy, robust, sound, beautiful dogs with correct dispositions through consultation with various veterinarians, research, trait selection and health testing parents for eyes, heart, hips and elbows as well as genetic testing for heritable conditions with Paw Print Genetics, the later of  which enables the breeder to choose to produce puppies that will not have certain tested genetic conditions such as Icthyosis and the PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) eye diseases and other conditions.  With time and effort breeders can completely remove these diseases from the breed.  How cool is that? But, breeding is more than just basic health testing. We use the breed standards as guidelines and we select for physically and phenotypically correctness, and we carefully choose dogs with correct dispostions and temperaments and efficient breeding traits.  

 

What is the difference between an American and an English / European Golden Retriever?

1) There is only one Golden Retriever breed in the world and it was originally created and developed in Scotland.

2) There are different Breed Standards for the GR breed:  American, Canadian, English.  Since these standards are different, over many decades the breed developed differently in different parts of the world.  The English standard allows for extremes of coat color and is the standard used in Europe.

3) "English Cream" is a color name only.  Some people like the golden shades and some people like the creams. Golden coat colors generally darken during the first couple years.  A light "cream" puppy can end up a light to medium golden color at 2-3 years old.  We love them all for their beauty, intelligence, eagerness to please making them very easily trainable, extremely patient and calm-tempered, and wonderful cheery dispositions.  Our puppy's colors will range from very light cream / off-white to honey golden coats as adults.

4) Please note: IF YOU WOULD LIKE THE BENEFIT OF A POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER CANCER RATE AND LONGER LIFE SPAN, THEN YOU NEED TO BUY THE PEDIGREE (EUROPEAN BLOODLINES), NOT JUST THE CREAM COLOR.  Large studies in 1998 (US) and 2004 (Europe) on Golden Retrievers indicated longer life (19 mos.) and much lower cancer rates (38.8% versus 61.8%) in the European bloodlines. However, our veterinarian told us that these days most Goldens live full lives.  Good news!

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​​We do physical and genetic testing:

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A) Physical Testing for Sires and Dams - Eyes, heart, elbows, hips.  We have our dogs hip tested using OFA certification, Penn Hip and / or Ortolani procedure so that we only breed dogs with the tightest hips which a veterinarian with 40 years of experience told us is highly heritable and the main factor in healthy hip joints over the life span of the dog. In 2019 we hip tested 6 four month old females from our litters in order to keep two of them and they all passed! We also assess our adult dogs  by the breed standard looking for correct amiable disposition, coat type, overall conformation (structure), balanced body proportions, head style, bone size, and movement in all gaits.

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B) Genetic Diagnostic Testing through Paw Print Genetics - Identifies heritable conditions (known in the breed and with identifiable gene markers) and carrier, affected or clear status which allows breeders to choose to produce puppies that are not affected and not carriers, so eventually, certain health conditions can be completely eliminated from the breed...if all breeders make these breeding choices.

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VOLHARD Behavior Testing: We have done this testing on four breeds of dogs and our Goldens always score in the middle.  Just let us know if you would like to do this testing with your puppy and we'll do it together! It's just a wink in time, but it should give you a clue as to your puppy's future tendencies. Through our years of experience, we find that at just eight weeks of age puppies consistently either gravitate more toward people or being adventurous.

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GUARANTEES: We stand behind every puppy we sell with a specific health guarantee for three years, as long as you keep all receipts for having fed a large breed puppy / dog food of your choice and there was no inappropriate exercise, accident or injury as determined by a veterinarian.  We now recommend that you utilize the AKC's 30 days free heath insurance and consider insuring your dog for life, or setting up a pooch savings account (about $50 per month), just in case of major expenses related to your dog down the road.  If you choose to save for your dog yourself and if the dog ends up not needing it (which is likely) then you can choose to buy a new puppy and go on a nice vacation with the money you would have sent to the insurance company. As we all know, vet bills can be very expensive, so being prepared is a real good idea.

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​​​Laura has over 25 years experience carefully breeding award-winning registered livestock...alpacas, and over 12 years breeding canines starting with Great Pyrenees (2 dogs)  and then English Springer Spaniels (3 dogs) before switching to American Cocker Spaniels  (3 dogs) and Golden Retrievers (a pack!). After acquiring our first breeding Goldens, we now typically retain the best females from our own litters to be  future moms (and they LOVE being moms!)...just like we do with the alpacas, so that we know we have the best specimens to produce future generations. 

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With all the right ingredients, beautiful puppies become beautiful adults...

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A NOTE TO BUYERS REGARDING PRICING - $3000 is a premium price for any puppy, so make sure you are getting a premium puppy from a breeder who does more work than just the basic health testing. European (bloodlines) "English Cream" colored Golden Retrievers all have the same lineages! You can view pedigrees, COI (coeffient of inbreeeding) and other data for Goldens at k9data.com.  Parents should be carefully selected for correct traits with physical health testing (eyes, heart, hips, elbows) as well as genetic testing done. We use Paw Print Genetics and the results give us information to make breeding decisions which will produce puppies that do not have the heritable diseases for which there are markers and tests available.

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We offer extensive guarantees, such as three years on hips, for your peace of mind. If you would like to give us a Google review, that would be appreciated.  Thank you.)

 

Thank you for visiting Tradition Kennel at Kissing Cousins Alpaca Farm.  Visitors are welcome - By appointment.

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