Health

Overall Health

Many folks state they would never have a purebreed dog of any breed - it appears they have far more health issues than "mutts".  Not so, the biggest difference is a good breeders tests for the common health issues of their breed.  They acknowledge this and do not hesitate to remove a dog from their breeding program.  Many months and even years are taken to study pedigrees before a breeding takes place. 

So in the Golden Retriever Breed some of the Health issues that MUST be tested for and a dog clear before breeding are: 

Hips, Elbows, Eyes and Hearts.  The testing is done based on age. 

• Eyes are at 12 months and continue yearly tesing for life. 
• Hips, Elbows and Heart are completed when the dog is 24 months.  Each test is finalized with a  Certificate from CERF or OFA for Eyes and OFA for Hips, Elbows and      Heart.   

Many breeders go on to test for other health related issues to ensure they are using only the best dogs possible for their breeding program.  Please ask what they test for. 

If the breeder you are considering cannot provide up todate certificates ... you may want to reconsider.

NOTE (July 2013) - more info to be added in the coming months.