North Star Golden Retrievers

How long do Golden Retrievers live?
A well-bred, well-cared for Golden will live on average 10-12 years.  We wished they lived forever!  This is why when considering purchasing your Golden Retriever puppy you must think of it as a long term commitment.

Do Golden Retrievers make good Companion or Therapy dogs?
For decades Golden Retrievers have assisted thousands of people with disabilities.  There are wonderful stories about Golden Retrievers that have rescued small children and babies, or warned their owners of impending danger.  In fact I was just reading about a Golden that was certified in Search and Rescue who would help troubled kids with their reading when he was off duty.  I thought this was so touching.  The children’s reading scores started to climb because they got to read to a friend (a happy dog who just loved being around people) who wasn’t going to criticize them for reading to slow or for missing words.  What therapy! 
Golden Retrievers are also used as Seeing Eye dogs,  Search and Rescue, for people with epilepsy, MS and many other situations where they can be of life-saving assistance.

What is the North Star Golden Retriever “Puppy Care Packet”?
We send a Puppy Care Packet home with each one of our Golden Retriever puppies.  In your North Star Puppy Care Packet we have included a few items to make you and your new puppy more comfortable during the “acclimation period”.  You will find a little puppy blanket with “mommy’s scent” on it, a small sample of the dog food he was enjoying while with us, all of his vaccination and worming records, his AKC (American Kennel Club) papers,  Veterinarian Certification and educational brochures and a booklet which may be helpful for you.

What is AKC?
“The American Kennel Club (or AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. Beyond maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs.”

Will my Golden Retriever puppy be registered with the AKC?
Yes.  You are purchasing a purebred, papered dog! This is one of the things which makes your dog so valuable.  In the Puppy Packet you will find the paperwork to register your dog with the American Kennel Club.  This is a very simple process.  The paperwork will tell you exactly how to do this.  You may register by sending your paperwork through snail mail or you may go online to: www.akc.org.

Q: Where do your breeding lines come from?
A: Our breeding stock comes from Multi-International Champions of the World with bloodlines from Denmark, Germany, England, France, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Russia, Poland, and the United States.
With top-notch pedigrees for looks and confirmation, our Golden Retrievers are health certified with perfect temperaments.

Other Resources – Puppy Training DVD
There is a fantastic puppy training DVD that I highly recommend.  It is one of the best training videos on the market.  You can order it from this website:  www.leerburg.com. The title is something like, “How to Train Your Puppy From 8 Weeks to 8 Months”.       It is approximately 2 hours in length and very comprehensive and entertaining!  If you have kids, they may even enjoy watching it along with you.  This way the whole family will be on the same page when it comes to reinforcing good behavior with the new puppy.
Note:  Leerburg’s website is very extensive; he boasts over 10,000 pages, so just look under training DVD’s- you should be able to find it.

Hi Susan,
I am so glad I found you…  It was so nice to talk to you, too.  It is nice to know someone I trust “has me covered.”  Watch these little ones closely, as I know you are, and see what sweet little baby will fit into my household as well as with Jake.  I look forward to holding that sweet, fat, little baby boy and hearing the puppy grunts… as well as that sweet smell only a puppy has.
 
Thank you for being you.
 
Lorissa and Jake

Hi Susan,
 
 Just a quick update on the puppy.  We named him Solomon.  Our Springer is named Samson, so it seemed to fit.  He is also beautiful enough for name of a King.  He is a love, and such a good boy.  Both dogs are enjoying each other immensely.  We already have him enrolled in puppy training class.  Some pictures are attached. 
Merry Christmas,
 Shannon

Hello Susan,

I am Andrew’s mother and he is here visiting with his pup for the week.  I just want to say that this is the sweetest and most precious pup.  He is just the best boy and has already brought so much joy to this house in the two days he’s been here.  It’s going to be hard letting him go back home with Andrew.

Andrew has said nothing but good things about you and I just want to let you know my son is very lucky to have found this pup (Rocky is the name now) and he is getting nothing but HUGE amounts of love and attention.

Hope you had a good holiday and thank you so much!

Christine
P.S. Oh Yes, by all means, please post my testimonial.  I was looking at your site with Andy and it said that Rocky had one little girl left.  I was very close to purchasing my own pup.   Andy will be here in the U.S. for maybe 6 mos or so, when he is on deployment we get to babysit the pup, how exciting for us!!  I never thought this little guy would touch me as he did. 
 
I’ve enclosed a picture that I took of him on Saturday.  I am a photographer and we had our first of many puppy portrait sessions, what a blast!
 
Have a Wonderful New Year and it was great hearing from you!
 
Christine