Heritage Rock Goldens review: Defective dogs 9

I bought a golden from this breeder because it was within driving distance. The breeders were very nice but I just wasn’t experienced at purchasing a puppy. I wasn't smart enough to get the paper work upfront. The dog was never registered and was very expensive for not being registered ($1200). The dog has had 2 surgeries now for some type of congenital tissue formation in hind legs. Thousands of dollars spent on surgery, pain medication, and physical therapy. The worst...too many hours watching her uncomfortable:(

Yes, I agree with everyone above. This breeder is illegitimate and should be put out of business. I inquired about visiting the puppies she had available and she immediately wanted a $600 deposit before seeing the puppies (red flag #1). She is a scam and should be allowed to breed anything (human or animal). I did drive by her house and it is a slum as For_My_Liberty mentioned (red flag #2).

For prospective golden buyers, please do your research prior to buying a golden retriever. This breeder isn't recommended by any golden retriever clubs (red flag #3). There are plenty of reputable breeders out there and DO NOT BUY FROM THIS BREEDER!

We purchased a golden from this breeder in June of 2014. Several months ago we noticed her having some problems walking or running. She was limping. Vet initially diagnosed panosteitis which is growing pains and said she would outgrow it. Then we took her back because she had another spell New Years eve. Diagnosis at that time was severe hip dysplasia and we have an appointment February 4 at NC State Veterinary School for evaluation and possible surgery. She is now 9 months old. Breeder has been quiet since I told her about this and told her there was no way we were bringing this dog back. I'm just wondering if a lawsuit was ever filed or what we can do collectively to put her out of business. We were ones that followed everything in the contract and followed all her recommendations as well. Thanks for any input!

I don't know much about your complaints and I'm sorry about the terrible stories, they all sound heartbreaking but I do have to stick up for this breeder because she brought into our lives an angel. The female dog we purchased from there was EXACTLY what we asked. She's sweet, affectionate, cuddly, beautiful, and SO VERY PLAYFUL. Every day is the best day of her life! She brings into our lives every minute that she is a part of it. I was not an experienced purchaser but because of our angel I would and had been planning on buying again. I couldn't possibly think of a more ideal temperament than our beloved dog.

I too have one of her dogs and have had continuous problems. He is now 10 months old. I am experienced with goldens, having had four others in my adult life. Three of these were from puppies and one was adopted as an adult. My dog was four months old when purchased. When I asked why she still had him, she told me it was because he had been "mouthy" and she had kept him to work with him. Having lost my Golden to cancer about six weeks prior, I wanted to fill in some of the void and had wonderful relationships with all of the goldens in my life--so wanted another. I did not want a winter puppy and just felt waiting for spring was going to be so difficult. So I traveled across the state and after about a forty-five minute visit, paid my money and brought him home. The yard was clean but I did feel concerned over the living quarters of the dogs. First of all, at his initial vet visit with me, it was discovered that he had only one descended testicle. This is one thing I failed to check on when I went to meet him. He still only has one descended and it is extremely unlikely that it will appear. It is true that sometimes a young puppy will not have both descend until he is several months old. This is a heritary condition and both his sire and dam carry the genetic composition for this to occur. So not only do the sire and dam have the possibility of producing this but also all of the offspring of these two dogs have the possibility of producing puppies with this condition if they are bred. My puppy's sire has been used by at least one other breeder because I have seen him listed as the sire of their puppies and as belonging to Heritage Rock. Since the missing testicle can not be seen under the skin or felt under the skin, invasive surgery will have to be done to try and locate it. Left inside, it has an extremely high rate of becoming cancerous. An additional problem has been ongoing loosely formed stools. He has had two dewormings since I have had him even though no worms have shown up in his samples and had two courses of antibiotics. He is taking a high quality, expensive probiotic, now, twice per day. He has always been given filtered water. We started him out on the food that the breeder said to give him. When the stool issue continued, we switched to the "basic" variety of that brand with no change in his condition. Eventually he was switched to another brand and his foul, frequent gas was eliminated but not the loose stool. He recently started with a prescription diet (very expensive) and for the first time, he had firm stools and acted as if he felt better--- for about two weeks. Now he is beginning to be loose again. Additionally, after a recent swim in salt water, he developed a "hot spot" in the groin area that I could not stop from becoming very irritated and infected. Today another $250 plus was spent at the vet to receive help for it. I am so frustrated, disappointed, and especially, concerned for his long term health. Expense is an issue for me too. While willing to sacrifice in some areas to provide for large bills; I can only go so far. I have never had problems go on and on like this with any of my pets, dogs or cats. I do wish I had seen this site before I committed to my dog. So many people have told me how beautiful he is, but "beauty" was the least of my concerns. I primarily was looking for a carefully bred HEALTHY dog with a good temperament. He is sweet natured but of all of my goldens, he has been the most difficult to train to greet other people without jumping on and mouthing. I will say to the breeder's credit, that I do think the dog had positive exposure to a number of environmental conditions and was not and is not, frightened by sounds, sights, smells or textures in the environment.

This breeder should be shut down. I bought a male golden from them, we loved him so much. When he was just 4 years old he got cancer and died a year or so later. Before he got cancer, we got another dog from them because we assumed all was well with our dog that we already bought from them.
The new dog we got from them, a female, at age one had a bad limp. I do not remember what the diagnosis was, but it is when the groove that the knee cap fits into is not deep enough, it causes the knee to swivel out of the joint. We had surgery done $3, 000. Six months later, you guessed it, the other leg had the same problem and we spent another $3, 000. The vet said it was a congenital defect. DO NOT BUY A DOG FROM THEM!
The thing that infuriates me the most is that they are bringing dogs into the world that will suffer because of their over breeding and greed.

Since my previous post, our dog purchased from this breeder had knee surgery before she turned a year old. Then when she was 15 months old, she had a total hip replacement. I do not begrudge a thing we have done to make her life comfortable but I do hope we can collectively prevent anyone from buying one of her dogs. She gets rude and defensive when you confront her about it. She even blocked me on Facebook because I made a comment that I too had a beautiful dog purchased from her and mentioned the surgeries. Soon, my comment was gone and so was my ability to comment. Beware, she ONLY allows good reviews. Look at her website to see how old the reviews are. I truly wish I had done my research better.

Has changed name to Pure Carolina Goldens

Thank you all for your feedback! I was really looking at getting a dog from her. I will be looking elsewhere now.