Good Dog Organization

Good Dog is an organization that is dedicated to supporting and educating good breeders around the country.  They have brought the best veterinarians and educators together to support qualified breeders.  Joyful Golden Retrievers is proud to be a part of the Good Dog/Good Breeder Community.

Good Dog  and Joyful Golden Retrievers know that a dog is much more than a dog — they’re a member of the family and a best friend for life. When the source of your new best friend has such a big impact on their health, behavior, and well-being, finding the right one should not be left to chance.

How does Good Dog evaluate breeding programs?

The screening department comprehensively considers many aspects of a breeding program, focusing on five key areas:

1. Breeding practices
2. Physical health of the breeding dogs and puppies
3. Mental health of the breeding dogs and puppies
4. Environment
5. Buyer education and policies

Good Dog evaluates each key area is assessed individually and an assessment is also made on the program as a whole.

Good Dog and Joyful Golden Retrievers are committed to: 

Responsible breeders make conscientious decisions when deciding to produce a litter.

Responsible breeding requires a lot of planning, skill and experience. It’s critical that these decisions take into consideration the heritable health conditions that affect their breed, each individual dog’s health testing, and considering the parents’ temperaments, overall health, pedigrees, and conformation in order to make the best matches.

Responsible breeders collect experiences over decades and develop an intuition for bringing puppies into the world that are both physically and behaviorally healthy. New breeders are often mentored by a veteran breeder so they can benefit from their experience. Good Dog strives to work with breeders who are both well-intentioned and have this crucial depth of knowledge and expertise, as well as up and coming breeders with a desire to learn more.

When making decisions about their breeding programs, responsible breeders always prioritize the physical and emotional health, and well-being of their breeding dogs above all else, including financial gain.

Responsible breeders always put the physical health of their dogs first.

There are breed-specific health tests that responsible breeders perform on their breeding dogs to screen for diseases and conditions in order to decrease the likelihood of producing puppies with heritable conditions. To help distinguish between breeding programs, Good Dog identifies breeding programs that perform a different number of the recommended tests for their breed. Specifically, with respect to health testing, we identify breeding programs that make sure their breeding dogs and puppies receive the regular and specialized veterinary care and nutrition they need. Responsible breeders ensure that their dogs are bred at an appropriate age (not too young or too old) and at a frequency that’s safe for their long-term well-being. They also make sure their puppies are well raised and well fed, and the breeders take all basic steps necessary to care for their puppies, such as vaccinations and deworming.

Good Dog works closely with advisors, which include the nation’s leading experts in canine reproduction, breeding management, and pediatric care, to develop community standards regarding canine reproduction and physical health. They are always reviewing the latest research developments and updates in canine health and veterinary care and gathering information from consultations with veterinary and scientific experts, breed clubs, and the relevant scientific literature. 

Responsible breeders ensure that their breeding dogs’ emotional, and cognitive needs are met by ensuring they receive appropriate stimulation, activity and social interaction. They are also devoted to producing behaviorally sound puppies.

Responsible breeders often have experience with training and behavior, and put a lot of effort into ensuring their puppies have safe and stimulating early life experiences. By exposing their puppies to different sounds and sensations, people of many different appearances and ages, as well as other animals, and beginning basic training using methods such as positive training they prepare their puppies for successful transitions into their new homes. They also make sure their puppies never leave their mother or littermates until they are old enough to easily transition to their new home, which is usually no sooner than eight weeks of age.

Responsible breeders ensure their dogs have a clean, comfortable, safe, stimulating, and enriching environment so their breeding dogs and puppies will thrive.

Environment is a critical factor in the physical, mental, and emotional health of breeding dogs and puppies. Responsible breeders provide opportunities for their dogs to engage in activities such as retrieving or swimming, toys to play with and things to chew, and comfortable resting areas protected from the weather. Housing areas are regularly cleaned and maintained in a way that ensures the health and well-being of dogs and puppies.

Responsible breeders spend a great deal of time with potential puppy buyers to help guide them into making an informed, responsible decision that is right for them. They also spend a great deal of time vetting potential buyers to make sure each dog will be a good fit for their new forever home as well as being transparent about their breeding program and practices. Responsible breeders do their best to ensure a smooth transition to their new home by providing all the information and resources necessary for new owners to be successful, responsible guardians for their new puppy.

Perhaps most important of all, responsible breeders make a lifelong commitment to their dogs. They provide ongoing support to their owners and, should anything ever come up, Good Breeders will take back their dogs and/or help rehome them, for any reason. Responsible breeders are committed to keeping their dogs in their homes and out of the shelter system through education, screening of potential buyers and their policies.