The bitch that will carry our puppy is in season! So excited!

[NuggetsForTeaAgain]

yipee!!! Am keeping my fingers crossed that she feels frisky . Just wanted to share that

I'm a doghouse-scaredycat!! I'm a first time dog owner with a rising 3 year old farm-bred collie......

We did get him from a rescue but he was a pup (12 weeks old). The rescue lady was fab with us - I was totally honest about how novice we were (are) and she talked to me for ages and to be honest took us on trust really.....

I know we haven't done it all right but he's a lovely dog. He does have issues with reflections and shadows but he loves people, other dogs and life generally! I would love a whippet as well, but we can't really afford another dog...... I do believe in rescues but I also understand why people buy pups from breeders.

Anyway, I've waffled! Just wanted to say hello :)

I'm so that I have some encouraging posts on this thread now . i was beginning to feel like I had done something dreadful in the canine world. I had actually investigated the rescue route, with a view to rehoming a rescue dog but my children are very excited at the prospect of meeting Mum dog with the pups and then meeting the pup at 4 weeks to choose him or her. We are then invited and encouraged to meet visit pup once a week or so untl we can bring her or him home, The entire process makes it worth the money and wait for us. I know there are hundreds of dogs in hundreds of rescues and once I have more experience I may well venture along that route in the future. But for now, I am totally at peace with my decision (apart from a few jitters now it is really happening!). The dog should be a fairly pale cream golden retriever. Absolutely breathtakingly beautiful I would imagine

I have 1 pic of Gresley on my profile. He was roughly 10 weeks old and was exploring the snow for the first time!!

Hello, newish golden retriever owner loving the dog house, no abuse so far lol just loads of great advise. We bought from a breeder, family pet puppies in house loads of kids etc. dh wanted a rescue but and it's a big but I childmind and I HAVE to work do needed a breed that can be trusted ( I know all animals cam turn but labs and goldies people tend to trust) and it had to be a puppie so my existing clients children could grow up with him. Never had a dog before (huge cat fan ) but he has (bit pathetic) changed my life I am totally in love with him and at 19 weeks old he has settled really well. All the very best with your new addition x

oh what a beautiful boy. Your children aren't bad either . How old is he now McKayz? Was it hard at first?

He is 18 months old now. It was hard but I think that is the same for all puppies really.

The worst thing about him being a little puppy was that he came to us on the 10th December. So we were toilet training in the freezing cold. If we ever get another puppy we are hoping it will be when it is warmer

He loves to walk. He can walk and walk and walk and then walk more. We live in North Yorkshire so he gets lots of walks on the moors. We do have to keep an eye on him as he is a typical goldie and will go after pheasants if he spots one.

The worst thing about him is that he completely destroys toys. We really struggle to find things that he doesn't shred to pieces, even tennis balls get completely destroyed.

He is amazing with the boys. We obviously never leave them alone together but he is super with them.

is he 'mouthy'? Or jumpy uppy?

No he isn't mouthy. He was but we did lots of work at puppy classes with him. He will jump up if encouraged. We have a few annoying friends who will pat their legs or tummies and get him to jump up. But a few words with them and they usually stop. So he doesn't do it on his own accord IYSWIM.

How exciting! Keep us updated about any progress, won't you?

I think Midori breeds Golden Retrievers- sorry if I've totally imagined that. She'd be a good source of advice if you ever need it.

Midori is a breeder? Surprising given her comment above! But thanks. If she conceives (the retriever not Midori) I'll be on here again....panicking!

Our lab puppy almost housetrained herself - we did the standing with her and waiting for her to 'go', but she learned really fast that she had to go out to the back garden, and took herself out of the catflap. And when she got too big for the catflap, she took to rattling at the catflap as a signal that she needed to go out - and still does.

We used a puppy crate, and that helped, both with the overnight house training (she didn't want to soil her bed), and with settling her - it was her safe space and she took herself off there if she wanted a sleep. Plus we used to put her in there if we went out for short periods, so there was less chewing and destruction - though there was still plenty of that (but I'd rather have a somewhat battered and gnawed house with a dog or two than a showhome without).

Tere are pics of the dogs on my profile, including a puppy pic of the brown lab (for the aahhhhh factor)!

Tere?? There!

You do know that pictures will be required once you get it, don't you, Nuggets :)

Oh SDTG how adorable!! I love chocolate labs.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=golden+retriever+puppy&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=605&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=2KPLbRA_VjFUwM:&imgrefurl=www.k9trader.co.uk/dogs/DOG01874&docid=gT2bUj4TcZBU7M&imgurl=www.k9trader.co.uk/uploads/DOG01874_1.jpg&w=450&h=300&ei=ahHVT86JAszB8gP0vbW_Aw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=455&sig=116240476749402291649&page=2&tbnh=124&tbnw=142&start=21&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:22,s:21,i:275&tx=85&ty=44" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Here's a picture to whet your appetite.

And well, is just adorable. The little squeaky noises!

pictures? No idea how to do that. I'll get the teen dd to help out. SDT - a lab was my very close second choice dog. They are beautiful dogs too but I think I would always have wanted a Goldie in my heart of hearts so I decided to snk the extra money and get what I really really want. I have heard that you can affix a bell to the door for them to ring to go out! I love that idea

SDG - your choc lab is gorgous

Do you have a cat or are there neighbourhood cats? Gresley is scared of our neighbours cat and I know about 6 Goldies that seem to be scared of them. It's quite amusing really.

your initial posts came across as 'i am a future owner of a very likely puppy farmed/ back yard breeder dog who really doesn't know what breeding entails'

of course you might be on the waiting list of a highly selective and thoroughly ethical breeder too. but that's less likely by sheer dint of numbers.

lack of knowledge is not, however, a crime - but bear in mind -

just being in season doesn't mean the mating will happen (dogs don't always perform)
or that a pregnancy will result
or that when the puppies are born any will be sold (singleton pregnancies happen, some may be stillborn)

it is counting puppies before they are whelped.

I am waiting on the call to say my puppy has been born. I was on another list but the bitch had 1 puppy that was stillborn. The other list im on, the puppies could be born any time now.

I thought the very fact that the OP had chosen her breeder and the bitch wasn't even pregnant yet was a clear sign that she had, in fact, thought carefully about her decision and it was a planned pregnancy with lined-up owners. Surely a careless owner/would-be owner would just go out and buy a puppy from a good-to-go litter rather than the waiting involved this way?

Why did it edgar? Because frequenters of the doghouse like to leap at any chance they get???? Thankyou Florence. You clearly are not a judgemental twat

How exciting for you. I hope everything works out and you get to meet your pup in the not too distant future.

I got both my dogs from breeder so I can't comment on that.

However, acusing the Doghouse of being judgemental then calling people twats is not really taking the high road.

Agree with misery. The Doghouse is only judgemental when time after time clueless owners take on ill-bred pups only to run into trouble and abandon them. And none of them will listen to any advice, they just want patting on the back for their bad decision. So forgive the doghouse frequenters for getting a bit irate at times. To call all doghouse frequenters judgemental twats will just get people's heckles up and is unnecesserily inflammatory.

And afaik, yes, the fact that OP's breeder has a waiting list of potential owners rather than a plethora of puppies available means she has done her homwork and found a responsible breeder. So that is a good thing.