You are visiting here most likely because you have the simple question of: what is the average lifespan of a golden retriever? The quick answer is 11-12 years old. However, the answer is not so simple. 11-12 years doesn’t mean that your dog won’t live a long life of 17 …

It’s very common for a puppy or even an adult to have diarrhea. Often stress or just a simple upset stomach can be the cause. Sometimes, if it doesn’t go away the usual culprits are giardia and coccidia. To those unfamiliar with the parasites it can be scary when a …

Annual Costs I received an e-mail today in regards to the estimates of the annual cost of owning a golden retriever. People are often occupied with how much a golden retriever puppy may cost initially and they forget the actual costs that occur over time. I appreciated the e-mail asking …

Hip and elbow dysplasia can be one of the worse things to happen to a dog. Cases can extend from mild to severe. In mild cases pain killers may be a sufficient treatment. In sever cases the only thing that may help is surgery. I’ve heard of too many stories …

One of the questions I’m always asked is when to have your golden retriever neutered or spayed. For so long, in the breeder community and beyond, the answer was as soon as possible. Mostly this answer stems from shelters trying to prevent overpopulation and euthanization. Recent studies suggest a different …

Recently I had a puppy parent contact me about their puppy’s nose turning pink. So I thought I would write some information regarding “snow nose” or “winter nose”. This is something golden retrievers and many other breeds, like labrador retrievers, do experience. So what is snow nose? Snow nose occurs …

As I sit here next my dog Tina who now wears the cone of shame I’m reminded of the debate about dewclaw removal. For many years I’ve seen it somewhat inhumane to remove them. Now, I’m a little more open to the idea. For goldens I do see them use …

Since our puppies are old enough to be microchipped, I thought I would discuss about microchips. All of our puppies are all microchipped. Originally I use to think all microchips were created equal. All our dogs, and cats have been microchipped by AVID. Recently though I found out that they …