I want to breed Higby, my three year old Golden Retriever male. I am not in the dog business but feel that Higby would make a beautiful litter… and I would like to keep a puppy, possibly. Can you advise me on who to call to look for an appropriate female? Higby is the son of the golden from Seattle who won the Westminster Dog Show in the sporting category about five years ago…
Thanks so much for your help!
-Susan
Hi, Susan
I didn’t realize you had kept Higby intact and hoped to breed him — but I”m super happy you turned to me for advice.
1) I understand your desire to have another dog like yours, but breeding does not give you any guarantee that the puppy will resemble your dog — however, I am CC-ing one of the best and most responsible Golden breeders around — Gayle Watkins, and feel safe putting you in her hands to arrange this marriage.
Gayle created Canine Health Events to raise money at the agility contests she competes in so that at year’s end she could make a great donation to a good charity looking for cures & treatments — through my introduction it was Morris Animal Foundation one year, which was terrific
2) I deeply believe that only highly educated and committed breeders create new litters of puppies, especially with breeds like Goldens which have the highest death rate from cancer of any breed out there — 75% are said to GET cancer at this point in time, with the highest death rate being in the large males. I haven’t seen your dog since he was a little guy, but please take this very seriously and feed him the highest quality high protein diet you can. In fact, I never thought to invite you to try a new feeding program designed on my nutritional theories: it’s called Proportions and if you go to www.Proportions.com sign up for a free trial and put TRACIE in the code box, there is no charge for it. It’s going to blow your mind — and his!
3) After this breeding you must please neuter him immediately. I have learned of two dogs who died of prostate cancer recently who were not neutered and the incidence of this particular cancer is quite high in unneutered males. It’s just prudent.
Hope this helps. You & gayle will like each other and I hope make this work for everyone concerned (Gayle will also tell you if there is any bloodline genetic reason NOT to breed him.)
–Tracie Hotchner
