Golden Retriever Club of the Ozarks does not currently supply a list of breeders for referral. We hope that the information provided here will help you to locate a breeder who is ethically breeding and raising puppies according to the Golden Retriever Club of America's standards.

We recommend looking for Breeders on:

- gooddog.com

-AKC Marketplace

- Prolitter.com

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The starting point in looking for a breeder should be to familiarize yourself with the Golden Retriever Club of America Code of Ethics and the OFA Recommended Tests/CHIC Requirements for Golden Retrievers. https://ofa.org/chic-programs/browse-by-breed/?breed=GR

Every dog considered for breeding should have the following health testing completed: 

• heart exam by veterinary cardiologist after 12 months of age, 
• annual eye exams by veterinary ophthalmologist, and 
• hip and elbow evaluations at or after 24 months via PennHip or OFA.
• GRCA does not "require" DNA testing, however it is generally considered an ethical practice by the Golden Retriever community in order to prevent producing dogs genetically affected with the diseases for which we have tests available.

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You will need to ask the Breeder for the OFA link or the dam and sire's AKC registered names or numbers. Most breeders who are doing the testing will include the links to both dogs OFA pages in thier advertisement.

Many Golden Retriever breeders also utilize k9data.com for their pedigrees and dogs' records. K9data is a great resource for both buyers and breeders. OFA health testing can also be linked to a dog's pedigree page, so don't be alarmed if a breeder shares k9data links as opposed to direct OFA links. Always verify that the health testing is there by searching the dog on OFA.org. 

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If you search for a dog on OFA with their registered name or registration number and there are no results, there are two possible reasons:

1) the name/number was incorrectly entered or

2) the dog doesn't have health testing recorded with OFA.

• If hip and elbow radiographs were submitted to OFA for evaluation, then passing results are automatically posted to the dog's profile. Failing results are NOT automatically posted - they require the owner's permission to be made public. To be compliant with the GRCA Code of Ethics, results must be posted, whether passing or failing. Transparency is an important part of the Code. 

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• PennHip evaluations are NOT done through OFA, therefore the results are not automatically posted to the dog's profile. The owner must manually submit PennHip results to OFA. OFA will accept PennHip results that were done prior to 24 months, however, this is NOT in compliance with the GRCA Code of Ethics. PennHip must be done at or after 24 months to be in compliance. You will need to check the dates by the dogs birthdate.

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• Eye and heart exams are NOT automatically posted to the dog's profile. Owners must submit the exam forms to OFA for these results to show up on a dog's profile. If eye and heart results are missing, it does not mean that the testing wasn't done. Yes, they should be posted per the Code, but you may want to ask the breeder for copies of the most recent exam forms before making a final judgment call. 

We highly recommend that you spend some time on the GRCA and OFA websites to learn about the conditions for which Golden Retrievers should be tested. Attempts to hide AKC registered names or registration numbers are usually an attempt by a breeder to cover up a lack of health testing. Additionally, there are breeders out there that will attempt to use DNA testing only as "health testing". 

We wish you the best of luck on your Puppy Search!

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