Wanting to get a Golden Retriever...

Question
I have been reading up on the different breeds and have come to realize a golden retriever is exactly what I'm looking for. I have a house, a decent size yard, and am willing to commit the time to raise her right. My biggest problem is that my wife and I both work during the day and are not close enough to come home during the day to let her out. I have all evening and plenty of time on the weekend. Is this restriction going to ruin my chance of getting her? How harmful is it really to have the puppy crated during the day? Thanks very much.

Carl

Answer
Goldens are great dogs, but I hate to see any little puppy left all day.  At first a puppy is barely able to go a half day without a chance to relieve itself.  Can you find a neighbor or a professional dog walker to give the puppy a break and a meal at mid day?  Doggy day care is another great idea, but they may not accept very young dogs.  Leaving a young puppy in a crate too long forces it to endure its own filth.  That can create a severe problem with housebreaking.

Perhaps you should look into adopting an older dog.  Consider the animal shelter.  There are many nice dogs.  You can also see how they behave.  Look
for dogs that want your attention, but are not going wild. Leave the ones that
retreat to the back of their cage.  Look at their teeth.  Look for ones that
still show a 3 lobed, clove like pattern on the front ones.  Leave the ones
that fight letting you look at their teeth too much.  If the points are worn
off the teeth, it is an older dog that may break your heart by dying too soon.
Pinch the web between its toes.  It hurts.  It is OK for the dog to pull away
or whine, but it shouldn't growl, snap or show its teeth.  Since the shelter likely will kill most of the dogs, you may as well pick out a nice one.

Finding a good breeder and purchasing a puppy that will make a good pet is very difficult.  Almost nobody is intentionally breeding dogs to be nice pets.  Most of your so called reputable breeders are breeding for show or something.  They may say the puppies they don't keep for their purpose make great pets, but the truth is that the parents were selected for other than health and temperament.  Often they keep the puppies in the kennel too long and they miss the important early socialization puppies need to live in the house with people.

Next are the disreputable breeders.  They breed any 2 registered dogs they can lay a hold of looking only at the money they can make selling them to pet stores.  Pet store puppies are easy to find, but difficult to socialize into nice pets, perhaps difficult to even keep alive.  You will not get what you pay for at a pet store.

One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue
dogs.  These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home
to be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them.   You may
find a rescue near you starting at http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm  The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.