Testing and Certifications in Golden Retrievers

Testing and certifications in Golden Retrievers as in many other breed is very important.

From akc.com, “Like all breeds there may be some health issues, like hip and elbow dysplasia, eye disease and cardiac disease. Some dogs may be faced with these health challenges in their lives, but the majority of Golden Retrievers are healthy dogs. Working with a responsible breeder, those wishing to own a Golden Retriever can gain the education they need to know about specific health concerns within the breed. Good breeders utilize genetic testing of their breeding stock to reduce the likelihood of disease in their puppies.”

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals is one of the leading organizations for processing genetic screenings for dogs. Probably the most important genetic testing that you will want to be sure that your Golden retriever puppy’s parents have is for Hip Dysplasia. Though there is no way to give absolute reassurance that your new puppy will not eventually have hip problems this is to make sure that he or she starts life out with the best precautions you can have, namely by making sure both parents have been x-rayed and have received a Normal classification(Excellent, Good, Fair).

Though the Hip test is probably the most important for the Golden Retrievers, there are other tests that will should be done. Elbow dysplasia and eye problems are probably the next tests that should be preformed.

We are expecting to have puppies around the end of July and both parents have had all three tests performed. We are located in Lakewood, Colorado near Denver.