Today I went to look at a litter of golden retriever puppies with a view to purchasing one.When I arrived I was told only one bitch remained so I asked to look at her.All the tests had been done on both mother and father and the scores and breeding were very good.The puppy i looked at was extremely heavy and had obviously been overfed,her eyes were slit as oppossed to open with one eye visibly smaller than the other,she seemed to have litle interest in life and did not move when i picked her up.When she walked she seemed to walk well over on her back legs well pased her paws.I am not quite sure if she was not well or just so overfed it was making her idle.I know its been a while since i looked for a puppy but this is not normal ,is it?

Dosn't sound right to me either. It makes you wonder why she was the last bitch to go? Did you question the breeder with any of your misgivings?I would either walk away or insist on a vet check.

Thank you all for your advice,I have decided to look elsewhere,the left eye was not sore,but a sort off boss eyed eye if you know what I mean.I would also expect a puppy to wriggle a bit when you picked it up and at least show a bit of interest in life especially when someone new appeared.its main object seemed to be lying down.although it was very and I mean very fat and heavy.I tried to question the breeder in such a way as not to offend ,but didnt get very far .he seemed more keen to tell me he had ,had other people ring and wanting to come and see her .This was the first and only litter they had bred so I think I did right in walking away.I looked at some photographs last night of my 4 year old retriever as a puppy and this one looked nothing like she did.So thanks again I will keep on looking.

I'd certainly want to see her again before making up my mind. One of my puppies had a sore eye for a couple of days and looked really 'off' whilst her eye was bad and looked good again once her eye was better. However I knew her eye was sore and took her to the vet and also pointed it out to anyone who saw her whereas these breeders don't seem to have mentioned anything.

If she remains like this I would not be interested.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

Did you ask when she had been fed? It could be that she had been fed recently and just wanted to sleep. Other than that I'd want to know more before I'd take it. Some show people do keep their puppies fatter than I like, but then, they would say that I would keep my puppies too thin! As I work my dogs I want them built for speed rather than comfort!!!! :)

Regards, John