A PROMISE KENNELS

Okay, I've been around the Web too, and I would like to shed the "Golden Light" on a few....interesting "breeders". If you find yourself at a website that includes any of the following descriptions, it might be best to KEEP LOOKING! I have taken the copy from actually sites (and deleted any info of what site to protect myself from being FLAMMED or worse, sued!) I hope you ENJOY learning a little......MY comments are in BOLD type.

Hint: If someone is telling you they have any sort of “rare” Golden, you're being had. There is no such thing as a rare color, a rare pattern, rare eye color. Although some sort of mismarks rarely occur, the dogs are not more valuable, they are MISmarks. There is nothing wrong with a mismark, but it should cost you less , not
more! There are a few other interesting descriptions listed here over and above color issues…

##AKC REGISTERED ENGLISH/AMERICAN/CA CHAMPION LINES. OFA EYE/HIP/HEART CERF.OR PRELIM.   ALL OUR GOLDENS HAVE BEEN CHECKED OUT FOR HEREDITARY DISEASES. WE ARE JUST A FAMILY HOME WITH A FEW GREAT GOLDENS!WE ARE SERIOUS GOLDEN RETRIEVER FANCIERS. ---- Okay, your dogs are checked out by WHOM? Is their proof by way of certification? I highly doubt that last sentence….

Let the buyer beware!
Here are some MORE!

##We specialize in breeding rare and exquisite English Creme Golden Retrievers
---Some RARE Goldens....

##Our "original" breeding dogs have been certified, and we have kept the "best of the best" for breeding replacements. We prefer to rely more on the "history" of our dogs rather than what some piece of paper says; however, many of our dogs are certified. We have been very fortunate to NEVER had, or produced, any puppies with eye, hip, or elbow problems ... And we have been raising quality, happy and healthy puppies since 1977! We offer top quality puppies at affordable prices! We have puppies now!----So, all their breeding stock ISN’T OFA certified for hips, heart, elbows, or their eyes CERF’d…. And best yet is that they seem PROUD of that?

## rare “white” Goldens ---might be a very light cream colored gold (not rare at all), or worse, an albino. Albinism refers to a group of genetic defects that cause decreased levels of the pigment, melanin. The eyes might also be affected and have an iris that is pink, dull-gray to blue. Their skin is a very pale pink, and if their eyes are pink, this is called tyrosinase-negative. Dogs with Albinism *are* very rare (thank goodness), and are likely to be deaf , and have sensitive skin problems.

##rare white -- Once again... not rare, just wrong! READ THE BREED STANDARD

##Ultra Blonde or White, (or HERE'S a great one...)

##“Since they are still somewhat rare, they do cost a little more, but they are really neat dogs”. --Are you starting to see a pattern? You're going to pay more for a normal/common light cream colored Golden, or worse, for an albino( you pay more for the mistakes of nature-- yes, albinism is extremely    rare!) You'll never find a Golden registered as white. Again, this person lists normal colors as RARE.

##White Goldens... They do exist, very rare...
------There sure are a lot of these RARE whites, aren’t there?

##Breeding cream, white, dark reds... bred for beauty, intelligence and great      temperament ---Cream is just a light shade of GOLD. Humm... here we are again...dark reds are NOT rare. And if you DO breed, you SHOULD only breed dogs that have a good temperament!

##Goldens in exceedingly rare colors
------Wow.. exceedingly rare! This must be for the exceedingly naive buyer!

## specializing in the rare Goldendoodles;--A cross between Goldens and poodles! Unfortunately, this is no longer a “rare” breed combo.

##rare miniature Goldens --Oh goodie. A Golden for apartment dwellers! There is no such thing as a miniature Golden. There are Goldens that are smaller than breed standard. And this MAY be what you are looking for, but you shouldn’t have to PAY MORE for one!

##We have been training, hunting, and raising Goldens since ... [year given here. ---There is no problem with this statement. However, remember, a breeder can do it right for 30 years or wrong for 30 years.

##We clear eyes every TWO years, because of the expense of checking eyes is high ---The standard for breeding stock is to clear eyes YEARLY. The cost at the eye clinic given by a club or at a dog show each year is about $20/dog. HARDLY costly! Not even one fraction of the cost of a puppy out of that dog. How can someone charge you hundreds of dollars for a puppy, then claim that $20/year is too much to pay? Are you willing to bet the vision of your puppy on their need to save $20?

##Our dogs come from other States, because the local snobbish breeders won't sell to us. -- Best that you contact those “snobbish” local breeders, and see if you can gain any insight. Are they really snobbish, or are they protective of their dogs? If it is the latter, there may be a very good reason they won't sell a dog to an individual. Don't expect a breeder to bad-mouth anyone. You will have to use your intuition here.

But one of my FAVORITES was a site that BOASTED they would NEVER show their dogs because it was WRONG to stress them out and treat them like they were a prized bull... Well, if you don't have a peer review, or a judge look at your dogs, HOW DO YOU KNOW if you have an animal WORTH breeding??? (and by the looks of the dogs on their site, THEY DIDN'T!).