Hi,
We just bought a Golden Retriever puppy (6 mo.) from Animals Benefit Club of Arizona. The original owners turned her in because they could not take care of a puppy. They gave us a copy of the AKC registration certificate which lists the original owners name and address along with the Sire, Dame, and the breeders name.
The Sire is "Billys Golden Levi" (SN033125/06 (02/97) and the Dame is "Tabitha B Which" (SN327414/02 (04/01)
The breeder is William Anderson. How can I locate this breeder? Also, how can you tell the difference between a "backyard breeder" and a well respected, responsible breeder? I thought if a dog is AKC registered, it meant it was bred responsibly. I am finding out that apparently, this is not necessarily so. Can someone help me?

Thank you,

Katherine Wendt
klwendt@home.com

It will probably be very difficult to find the person who produced your puppy. Neither the sire or dam are from Golden Retriever kennels and were probably themselves the product of backyard breeding. Normally, the date behind the registration number is the date that the dog was registered. In the event of the mother she was not registered until April 2001 and the puppies, if they were six months old now, were born from a breeding done when she was initially registered.

I checked both the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals which is a registry used to validate hip dysplasia findings) and CERF (the Eye Foundation which is a registry for eye problem-clear dogs). Neither the sire or the dam were registered with either organization, which would lead me to believe that neither has been x-rayed for hip dysplasia nor examined for eye abnormalities which are prevalent in Goldens.

A registration with the AKC or the KC (here in England) is not a guarantee of quality. The only thing it does mean is that the dog you purchased is from purebred parentage (provided that everyone was honest in registering the dogs in the first place).

You might want to look at Let's Talk Breeding for what I and some others find to be the difference in backyard breeders, puppy-raisers and real breeders.