GOLDEN:
Hip Dysplasia
Eye problems (CPRA) (HC) (GPRA) (MRD)
Elbow dysplasia. Hereditary cataract and Epilepsy.

FLATCOAT RETRIEVER:
Hip Dysplasia
Eye problem (G)
Patellar luxation
Cancer

Could someone be so kind as to explain what Patellar luxation is?
Can all the above in each breeds, be prevented??

Im choosing my next breed, and its going to be between these two!
I love both breeds so much.
does either one make a better pet?

thanks so much
Amy Halls , birmingham UK

i got 4 fcr and had them for 18 years.fcr is more active than a goldern,i cannot see why one breed makes a better pet than the other,both have different chartacteristcs a fcr is generosley endowed with natural gundog abilty.optimism and friendliness and demonstrated by enthusiastic tail actio,confident and kindly.lick a lot to.
we only got a small halth problem to some other breeds.

patellar luxation  is the knee,where the knee cap keeps sliping to the side .

just one thing fcr do not lost their coat like goldern do.love water.love being with humans.good with kids on a whole.

Hello Amy,
Why not join us here then we can offer more help as I am sure there are breeders of goldens as well as us flatcoats. I can't say much about goldens having had little experience of them, other than to say they do seem to be quieter and in the end more biddable than the flatcoat can be.
If you choose a flatcoat you will need to remember they are a working dog and the dog you see in the show ring is the same dog in the fields working during the season. So you will need to keep them mentally active as much as exercise, or you will run into trouble. So if you want the dog as a pet then you must do something with it, even if it is only getting it to carry things from room to room for you.
They are boisterous and do as Terri says lick. You really must like dog slobber! They lick everything, and I do mean every thing!!!!!
As far as health goes, you will need to test for glaucoma officially it is a one off test done at 6 months or there abouts, but the breeders will follow the breed Society advice and suggest you get your dog redone at 6 to 8 years of age to check on any age related changes to the eye.
We have a health committee which collects and aids research into hereditary disease, headed by Brenda Phillips of Exclyst Flatcoated Retrievers. I am sure if you wanted further information you could get this from them.
Have you looked at the Flatcoated Retriever Society web site? It is useful to keep this site handy as it has all the contacts for the breed on it.
Before you buy a puppy most flatcoat owners and breeders will ask you to go and visit them to see if these really are the dogs you want. You would be surprised at how many people are put off on meeting them! Where do you live? If you live in the Surrey training area you could go along there and meet other owners and breeders who would be pleased to help you.
regards
Polly & Foxpath Flatcoated Retrievers.

As I have neither but have so many friends in both I figure I can give an unbiased opinion.

First off Patellar Luxation is, as known in humans, "Slipping kneecaps". Yes, there is some in Flatcoats but not much so the risk is very slight. HD, The Breed mean score is (For want of an easier explanation, Breed Average) 9 (Remember low good high bad) so the average is very good but there are also some very bad ones! Glaucoma is a terrible thing which can result in the loss of one or even both eyes. I personally know a dog who has had to have both eyes removed. Please insist on seeing the test certificate. It's a once in a life test so there is absolutely no excuse in not having the dog tested and if anyone is breeding from untested dogs then I would recommend leaving them alone. If they have done no other tests they MUST test for glaucoma!

Goldens have far more eye problems than Flatcoats and I truly believe they could do more! So saying, by and large the problems are not quite as bad as the Flatcoat's Glaucoma. I would add that there is actually some Glaucoma in Goldens! Nowhere near as much but some all the same. Being involved with Eye Testing I am sorry to say that I have never seen any Golden tested for it. As I say, they could do better! The Breed Mean Hip Score is quite a bit higher than the Flatcoat at 19. Not a figure which in the normal run of things would ever give you problems but not brilliant for all that. Epilepsy is not a nice thing. Having lived with an epileptic Labrador I can say that for certain! The Late Pat Chapman of Shargleam Flatcoat fame also bred Flatcoats and did an awful lot of work tracing lines carrying the gene. Knowing of my Lab we talked at length about it but unfortunately all that information was lost with her passing.

The characters of the two breeds are rather different. Both tend to be slower maturing than the average Lab. Goldens are a breed which are easy to worry during training, certainly less "Bomb Proof" than the Flatcoat but possibly in the end more likely to comply with the owners wishes. The Flatcoat is far more of a "Peter Pan" and refuse point blank to grow up! They love life and people! As in all breeds, there are some nasty ones in both breeds but I can honestly say I have seen more nasty Goldens than Flatties. Some people find that they just cannot cope with the bouncy Flattie.

How can the problems be prevented? Sorry, there is no easy answer to that. If there was I'd make a fortune! All I can say is insist on a puppy only from tested sire and dam. Don't over feed or over exercise an early age and in the choice is a Flatcoat, whether or not you intend to breed, have it eye tested for Glaucoma when it is old enough. At least then, if after all the trouble you have taken choosing the puppy, you do have a potential problem for warned is for armed and you will know that you need to keep an eye open.

So there you are. Good and bad in both. Which to choose? The choice is yours! Both are wonderful dogs. As gundogs both are very biddable breeds and over the years I have had the pleasure of being involved in the training of so many of both.

Best wishes, John

Just a couple of thoughts :

Golden retrievers are more numerically popular, so it should be easier to find a suitable puppy. I've been told that a number of FC bitches have 'missed' this year or had small litters and they are getting increasingly hard to get hold of.

However, numbers aren't everything and I would suggest that there will be more poorly bred goldens about than FCs. I know a few FC breeders and owners and they all really seem to have the breed at heart & take it very seriously. (Not saying that many golden owners dont!)