Frequently Asked Questions

Q: WONDERING WHAT HEALTH CHECKS ARE IN PLACE?

A: All Joyso Golden Retriever puppies are the result of:

1. breedings where the parents possess all required breed specific health clearances (hips, hearts, eyes and available DNA testing) and wonderful Golden Retriever temperament
2. careful and thorough pedigree research.

Although we would love it if all pedigrees of all dogs contained only desirable traits which would be passed on to the offspring of the dogs involved that just isn't the reality of life. 
With pedigrees of all dogs containing both desirable and undesirable traits, the job of a responsible breeder is to know their pedigrees well in order to combine dogs / lines which will breed toward desirable traits and away from undesirable ones.

Q: ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A GREAT PET, NOT A SHOW DOG?

A: The most important job that any dog has is to be a good pet!

There are several qualities that a dog needs to have to be a good pet. It should be healthy and well-socialized (to children, other people, and other animals). In addition, it should grow up to look and act like what you would expect of a dog of that breed- after all, you chose a breed based on the characteristics that it should have. A Golden Retriever puppy should grow up to be 60-70 pounds, trainable, loves everyone and can play all day. It should not grow up to be a 120-pound dog that fights with other dogs, hates kids, cannot be housebroken, or worse.

Anyone who buys a dog as a family pet wants to ensure that the dog is healthy. Responsible breeders will ensure this by doing the proper genetic testing to ensure that the parents of their puppies are healthy.

Your best chances of getting a healthy puppy are to buy one from someone whose motivation for breeding is to produce the finest possible dogs. That means someone who breeds only dogs that are themselves good pets and good representatives of what their breed should be. It also means someone who tests their dogs to make sure that they are free from any genetic defects before they are bred (and saying 'my vet says they are healthy', isn't good enough). It means someone who knows the background of their dogs well enough to know what they should produce.

In most cases, the people who are truly responsible breeders do show and/or work their dogs, in order to determine that they do indeed resemble the breed that they are supposed to be. Show and performance events are how responsible breeders make sure that their dogs both look and act how their breeds are supposed to look and act.

Every litter of "show puppies" has some dogs that will never see the show ring. They may be half inch too big, half an inch to small, or have a slight overbite. These pups have been raised with as much planning, medical attention and socialization as their show-quality litter mates. They make the best possible pets.

Q: CAN YOU PICK YOUR OWN PUPPY?

A: As the breeder of your puppy, I am with my puppies 24/7 as such no one knows these puppies better than me. I am not about to let a long term family companion relationship be based on things like:

• "this one fell asleep on my foot it picked me" - (when in reality it was simply tired)
• "this one came running over to me it picked me" - (it is the most active puppy in the litter it does this with everyone)
• "I just feel something about this puppy it is meant for me" - (that is something you are creating in your mind if you couldn't tell them apart, you wouldn't know 1 puppy from another during your visits)

As close to 8 weeks of age my breeder friends and I get together for what we call a "puppy evaluation party".
At this get together we spend the morning temperament testing each individual puppy.

The exercises we do with the puppies evaluate things like

1. confidence, independence or lack thereof - by exposing the puppy to new places, people, sounds & sights we can determine the confidence, social and the independence level of a puppy whether the puppy is frightened by loud noises and or sudden movements.
2. dominance submissive tendency - by putting the puppy in situations where it is being dominated such as rolling it on its back, lifting the puppy completely off the floor and hovering over it when standing near it, we can determine if the puppy is comfortable being in that  position  .. or not.

In the afternoon, we evaluate each puppy with how it conforms to the breed standard in how it is constructed, how it is built.

With each breeding, a breeder should have in their mind what it is they hope to produce from that breeding.

When the evaluations are complete, my breeder friends and I combine the temperament & structure evaluations to determine which puppy / puppies have come the closest to giving me what I had hoped to achieve with a breeding.

With that information in hand, I decide which puppy / puppies I am going to keep, which puppy any breeder friends of mine may wish to have.

Then I look at all the information I have at my disposal, input as to what each puppy buyer is looking for in a companion: characteristics I feel each puppy possesses and match up the puppy I think will best fit with them. I go over these results with each individual puppy buyer.

Q: DO WE OFFER A GUARANTEE ON OUR PUPPIES?

A: I guarantee all of my puppies for 3 years, a copy of my guarantee can be found on this web site.

I try my best to avoid producing known breed problems such as hip/elbow/heart/eye abnormalities.

I do this by studying pedigrees, obtaining all appropriate heath clearances on breeding dogs, and researching individual dogs.

Because of the nature of genetics, obviously I cannot guarantee that even with my due diligence, none will present in a golden I produce,.

What I can guarantee is

1. I will be there to help assist you with any concern you may have about your golden retriever
2. I possess the knowledge and resources to be able to help you with any concern you may have about your golden
3. I am prepared to help out financially should there be a major expense associated with the health issue.

Joyso golden retriever puppies are sold for $1,800

Q: HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN BREEDING GOLDEN RETRIEVERS?

A: I purchased my first golden "Sammy" in the mid 1980's and like most, I simply wanted a loving golden companion.
Back then I used the resource available which was akin to internet classified shopping, I looked in the paper.
I found a near by breeder, went there, saw this poor puppy sitting by its self in a kennel run.
I know what you are thinking and you are right, before I got out of my vehicle, In my mind I was already taking that puppy home with me.
Sammy, although my cherished canine companion who I loved with all my heart, came with both temperament & health issues.
Neither of which his breeder volunteered to be of any help with when I contacted her.
That feeling of being on my own to deal with Sammy's problems is one I carry with me to this day and as such is just 1 of the reasons I promise none of the people who purchase puppies from me will ever have to feel that way.

In the early 1990's when I went looking for a second golden companion, I took with me that first sorrowful experience as well as my own personal purchasing tools, my head, my heart and my intuition (gut feelings) and I listened to all of them!
In following that path, I purchased "Joy" from a very reputable breeder.
Mary Morris and I worked together, as a team in every aspect of Joy's life and we are still friends today.
She guided and supported me, even when it came to the decision of whether to breed Joy or not.
Now breeding Joy had not been a goal of mine but through the friendships of golden retriever breeders I had cultivated when out at dog shows with Joy, and their opinions of her, I decided to give it a go, under their watchful eyes of course.

And the rest as they say is history.... complete with hills n valleys and always opportunities to learn and grow both as a breeder of pure bred Golden Retrievers and personally.