Hello everyone  i have just lost my 4th Golden retriever he was very ill and vet couldnt save him so i am heartbroken he was only 10 & 4 months  I want another  as my house is empty  & i have a lot of Love  & time on my hands to spoil one and make them special .I am very good with dogs as i have worked with them many moons ago .I dont work and i am fed up seing my Husband go on the dogs walk alone every morning as he misses him also  I have years of happy memories  all have been boys   the first was a rescue   all have lived good healthy lives until the  end  usually about 12 so loosing one who was special at 10 is  upsetting me..Hope i get one  soon even though i have moments of guilt at replacing this one as he was so loved and special to us both.

As you may have realised many of the good breeders have shelved their plans until the coronavirus problems have declined. If you really want a puppy then have a look on the breeder GR page on the website here and contact any that you like the look of and who are health testing their dogs and get in contact. Don’t expect immediate answers as many are being inundated with phone and email messages and are finding it difficult to answer everyone.

If you are thinking of a rescue then I should imagine over the next few months many hastily bought puppies at the start of lockdown will be looking for new homes and are being handed in to rescues etc as owners go back to work and don’t want the dog anymore. Get in touch with GR rescues to see if there are any available yet and to put your name down for any that do come in

Unscrupulous breeders are charging horrendous prices for puppies more then three times the normal price, so do avoid those greedy types.

Thank you for answering  yes i am well aware of  issues etc I wouldnt go to a unscrupulous breeder  the three i have bought going back 39  years now have all been  from assured breeders & health checked which is important to me .No doubt sooner or later i will find one to spoil as all mine have been  much loved  and spoiled with attention and good food etc .Heartbreaking when they go .Thank you for your response

Dont assume because a breeder is an assured breeder everything is good or that because someone isnt an assured breeder they arnt to be trusted and dont have excellent or  possibly better ethics . There are some very good breeders here who for different reason do not belong to that scheme and actually have higher expectations. 
Check each situation thoroughly it really can be a mine field.
Pedantic I know but you are looking for a breeder who has had all  the correct health test done and can show.the results not one that says they heath check.
Peole do get confused between the two different terms even if you are aware :)

Absolutely agree re the ABS, I don't breed GRs but I did join the scheme when it started up (initially called the accredited breeder scheme and then changed to the assured breeder scheme), as it seemed like a good idea.  But when I saw that a lot of those on the scheme weren't genuinely following the ethos behind it, and it has since become a front for puppy farmers and those who want to appear as a good breeder, but aren't really doing their best to produce good quality pups.  During this lockdown I've had a few people contact me and ask for help, two of them had put down deposits on a puppy from an ABS breeder, without going into details neither ended up with a puppy and one lost a deposit that suddenly became non-refundable.  Unfortunately the KC don't want to know either, it's so frustrating.  I go well beyond what the KC requirements are for the AB scheme, but I wouldn't be a member even if it were free.  I think the KC have got things on their head with the ABS, and they need to start by changing KC registration, making it more expensive for those who don't do the health tests recommended by the breed clubs and cheaper for those who do, possibly having an easy to understand traffic light system where dogs are rated on what health tests they have and the results, and also include things like showing, and possibly even working ability for some breeds.  That would make it much easier to see, at a glance, which breeders were making an effort and which weren't doing anything, or ignoring poor health test results.  It doesn't exclude dogs from breeding on, it just shows what the breeder has done in the way of health tests, proving healthy/correct conformation and if relevant, working their dog(s).

I’m an ABS member and I’m absolutely horrified that all these things go on. I wish people would name and shame as then maybe that would put them off and also allow people to know who not to go to. I have and always will do everything I can to produce quality pups and raise them to the highest standards.

I posted recently about one member who bred on from a Labrador bitch, four litters, they had health tested, hip score was 21/22.  Another one who told all the people on their waiting list that they could no longer sell pups to pet homes due to Covid-19, they had to go to other breeders.  I replied to this person and said that it wouldn't surprise me if they were contacted again and told they could have the puppy after all but would have to pay more, sure enough that's exactly what happened.  I can think of plenty of examples of ignoring health tests, simply not doing them as well and allowing matings where the status just isn't known for a condition easily tested for, and when pups have been tested they have come back affected.  That, to me, is absolutely not the spirit of the ABS, but then it's impossible to police, so in my book they should scrap it and use the information already to hand, such as health tests, and show results and even working tests etc, and if you can prove you've been awarded a place, which isn't difficult, get a nice green light against your dog.  When you get the health tests, again, get a nice green light against your dog, or if they're not good enough, then a red light.  Things like hips are a bit more difficult as I wouldn't exclude dogs above the breed median, but perhaps have green for on or below, amber for above by 'X' amount, and a red light for too high.  Also possibly look at the evenness of the score, if it's 9/0 for example, then that might be better as amber, but again, agree on what's acceptable and then draw a line.  Also put the EBV right at the front of information so people can see that without looking for it, a lot of people don't even know that information is there.  That would be much easier for people looking at dogs and seeing which breeders are doing health tests, proving their dogs in what ever way, or just bunging two dogs together doing the bare minimum.  So you might see a breeder with one green light for health tests, and that's it, and then come across another breeder who has green lights for health tests and showing, and so on.  Just a thought, I'm sure there'd be a way of making it work somehow, and it's a nice easy visual cue.

That’s a really interesting idea Sleeping_Lion, as a person relatively new to the world of KC registered dogs I would have found a nice easy to understand system like this invaluable when I was looking for breeders last year for a papillon.

It’s very easy to assume that ABS is the way to go if you don’t know your way around the breed (and I’d expect the majority of newcomers don’t, same as I didn’t) and that everyone else is a puppy farmer, or decide it’s all too confusing if you “just want a pet” and just go for whatever’s available.

I’m one of those people who loves to spend time learning and researching before doing anything and I shortlisted breeders based on the “feel” of their website, how they talked about their dogs, whether their dogs did sports or PAT or Good Citizen or whatever. Then I met my top choice at a show and felt like I could work with her, liked the look of her dogs, went on her waiting list and got River from her 9 months later. Your average person wanting a puppy isn’t going to go to all that trouble so the easier we can make it for people to recognise good breeders and good pups the better.

I’d also like to see more information clearly displayed in the puppy finder section of the KC site. At the moment it’s just name and address, number of pups and nothing else. Why do I have to google or contact them to find out the kennel name of that breeder? Why aren’t the parents listed? The majority of P4H ads give you more information than the KC does.

I think it would be so much more helpful if there was something like that available, if the KC don't then maybe Champdogs could think up something?  I don't know how many people look through things like show results on here, probably not many, but if people knew that a healthy conformation has a direct impact on some health issues then they might be more likely to consider looking at this as well.  For some reason, a lot of people make the assumption that all show Labradors are too fat and can't do anything, and yes, there are some that are too substantial for my tastes, and that all working Labradors are fit as a fiddle.  I see some working Labradors that make me cringe with some of the conformation faults, and I'm sure they are fantastic workers, and the apple of their owners eyes, but things like hare feet and a complete lack of angulation just makes me think how much better could that dog do if it wasn't hampered by poor conformation. 

The KC keep updating their website and adding things on, myKC is brilliant, I'm not sure why you have to apply for a separate account, to me, the information that's on there should be just part of the main website, and yes, dog names etc should be available rather than trying to google breeders and work out which litter is which.