Large Breed Puppy Food

[axxl]

Goldielover: I think I will start show training her like you and blacklab have suggested as I am pretty sure my breeder is not interested in switching her over until everything is tested and all is ok. I haven't actually come out and said "Can we talk about the limited reg thing" as I can tell by the way she is talking and acting that she wnats to wait, plus she said straight away that she doesnt like looking at puppies at 6 months of age. So it looks like I will wait now until she is 12 months and have had her tests and then go back out and see her. If she had a major fault or anything I'm not sure she would even tell me this, she knows that I don't know anything, but I am joining an obedience club in a couple of weeks and will hopefully learn some more from the people with Goldies, maybe they can fill me in on her appearance when they see her.

[goldielover]

Hi axxl,

I think there is show training classes (privately run) at the showgrounds. Also at KCC park on Thursday evenings, but probably a little too far from you.

[blacklabrador]

May I suggest that you take the dog to see her at 12 months before you spend several hundred dollars on testing. Hopefully the dog is excellent - but if she is not the breeder might not want it out there with her kennel prefix on it.

It would just be awful to see you spend all that money on testing to have the breeder look at it and go "no way". Sometimes it's not all about a glaring fault but just the way that the dog generally conforms.

If you want to learn lots about Goldies and confirmation - obedience may not be the best place to do it!! Simply because your likelihood of running into someone who has great knowledge of showing goldies is slim. Go along to some shows and watch. Get hold of the golden retreiver standard and memorise it. Start applying it to goldies that you see - and ask lots of questions!! Lots of people are generally happy to share some knowledge with a newbie.

Good luck!!

[sandgrubber]

I breed labbies. On the size issue, all I can say is 'patience'. 19 kg isn't that light for six months, so I would guess that she's got some bone, which is good. And while I can't condone the breeder putting you off, 6 months is an awful age to evaluate. The imported dog I'm now hoping will come out as a good stud dog started growing rapidly in the bum at that age and his front legs didn't catch up until nine or ten months -- with the result that he looked awful. He's looking pretty good at 10 months.

For all I can tell, the jury is out on the food question, apart from 'don't supplement calcium' and 'don't overfeed'. Everyone has opinions and experiences, but they point in many different directions.

Big can be worse than small. The most fantastic looking litter I have had (bitch on breeder's contract, the owner feeds a strict BARF diet) filled out beautifully in their first nine months, all large and all well proportioned. Three of them have been hip/elbow scored. One had 3:3 elbows and at two and a half is limping, one had a hip that was so bad that the owner didn't get scoring done (both were castrated), and one had 1:1 hips but 0:2 (2 mm) elbows . . . she does beautifully in the show ring. Their lines have elbow problems (ie, scores of 2 on one side) here and there, but none of the immediate ancestors had problematic.

The same bitch was put to a different dog and most of the pups came out slight (fine bone) and some of them short as well. None made it to breeding quality.

If I were the breeder, the best way to approach me on this would be to ask for shift to main register so you can show, while offering to sign a Non-Breeding Contract that says you cannot breed for your bitch until such time as the breeder agrees she is of breeding quality. If you do well in shows, the breeder should come around in time and -- if you want to -- agree to let you breed from her. Most of us are proud to have winners out under our prefixes.

Others may not agree, but I think it would be better if Limited Register allowed showing up to one year of age . . . that would give everyone a chance to get pups evaluated via the showring, and give breeders a better basis for deciding which pups to promote from Limited to Main.

[goldielover]

Great advice guys!

I agree... take Holly back to the breeder at 12 months of age before you get any of the testing done, and see what she thinks. In the meantime, do check out some of the shows. The Champ show is a good one to have a look at. It's not until May 28th at KCC Park. You'll find taht even a lot of interstate breeders bring their Goldens to that show, so if you only get to one.... get to that one! But for now, just have fun!

[axxl]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I will do as you suggested and check with the breeder on what she thinks of her at 12 months and if she says she looks ok, then I will get the tests done. So what happens if at 12 months Holly isn't breed standard for her height, can she still be shown on the assumption that she won't finish growing until 18 months etc...or will I not be able to show her unless she is the right height? Sorry I am so clueless on this show stuff and my breeder is no help at all because she doesn't want her in the ring until the tests are clear, so if her tests come back good then I have missed out on 12 months worth of showing......I agree with you sandgrubber, limited register should allow showing for up to 12 months......then you could get the tests done and if they do come back good, you haven't lost 12 months.

[goldielover]

I doubt you'll need to worry about Holly growing to breed standard. My older girl was always called "small", but she is well within standard height and weight, although took 2 years to get to weight! . There are a lot of larger than breed standard goldens out there as well, which unfortunately make the smaller ones look really small.