FAQ & General Info

Please read this FAQ & Guidelines page before submitting a puppy application.

We encourage all of our potential puppy buyers to read over our entire website www.arkansasrivergoldens.com thoroughly, including this page, before contacting us with questions. Most information that you want to know will be posted somewhere on this site. 

​This page covers most of our process, expectations, and general information. We consider this information to be like your contract guidelines, and should give you a general idea of what to expect from us and what we will expect of you in becoming the owner of one of our puppies.

Part of our goal as a breeder is to produce wonderful dogs that exemplify the breed with the assurance that the pups are healthy, well taken care of, and are treated properly before going home with their new families. We LOVE each and every one of our dogs and pups, and we work to ensure that they will be well-socialized and ready to fit right into your family.

​We are continually working toward improving the lines and genetic health of the dogs we breed by bringing in various types of pedigrees to our program. Goldens are not only beautiful but are also very versatile in their abilities – they commonly do well in hunting and field trials, obedience, rally, service or therapy work, even search and rescue, just to name a few. While we look to maintain decent conformation of the AKC breed standard, we mostly hope to produce dogs with working ability, good health, and genetic diversity. Many good breeders focus heavily on a specific purpose for their breeding program, such as conformation (show), hunting, or service work, but many breeders don't purposely cross the types of pedigrees when they're hard-focused on show- or hunting-quality dogs. To achieve our goal of producing what we like to call “well-rounded” or “dual dogs”, and to achieve greater genetic diversity, we will often cross these different types of lines. In doing so, we've been very happy with the overall health, appearance, and temperaments of the pups we produce.
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​ Puppy Registration

• All of our dogs are registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), which is the most recognized and reputable dog registry in the United States. After we have a litter of puppies, we will register the entire litter with AKC. This is required in order for you, the new owner, to be able to obtain your new puppy's registration in your own name. We will assist you with the registration process as necessary and we will provide you with puppy packets and information. We pay to have your pup registered with the litter. Then the puppy will be registered in your name in one of two ways:
  • We may give you an AKC registration form that you can fill out yourself and send in to AKC or use the info on the form to register your puppy online. This will generally cost you about $35 paid to AKC to get the pup registered in your name. To ensure that our pups are registered, we will be happy to help you register your pup either online or via snail mail when you come pick up your pup. If we give you the registration paperwork, we expect you to register your puppy with AKC.
  • We may preregister your pup online for you. In this case, we may collect other information from you in order to properly register your pup, but the cost of registering the pup will be lumped into the price of the pup that you pay to us instead of being an additional expense for you to pay to AKC after you take the pup home.
• By default, all puppies will be given limited registration, meaning that they are only being sold as pets, and the dog will not be used for show or breeding purposes. Regardless of whether a dog has limited or full registration, AKC encourages all new puppy owners to register their puppies. If we don't register your pup for you, we expect you to register the pup soon after you take it home.
  • We may consider granting full registration to certain pups, but we will be very selective on the ones we do allow to have full registration. We suggest that you discuss this with us before making any breeding plans with our puppies.
  • Our puppies will first and foremost be placed in homes where they will be treated like family members and well-loved. We are not looking to place most of our puppies in breeding homes, including homes where the intent is to breed the dog with a dog from another less-reputable registry or to mixed breeds, such as goldendoodles.
  • We expect all puppies placed in pet homes to be spayed or neutered. There is research that suggests that it is best not to spay or neuter a golden retriever until they are fully and hormonally developed, which we consider to be at or after age two. However, if the dog is at risk for reproducing and is not granted full registration, we expect the owner to take responsibility for the appropriate time that the dog is spayed or neutered. Irresponsible and unallowed breeding of our pups/dogs may be grounds for us to repossess the dog.

​The Adoption Process

• First, to be added to our waiting list, please visit our Application page and complete an application. You will have to fill out our Application before you will be considered or approved for one of our puppies. Email updates regarding breedings and puppies will occasionally be sent to the people on the waiting list, and we will also post updates on our Facebook page often. ​
  • The purpose of the Application is to help us find the best possible homes for each pup. We prefer that you communicate with us via email so that we have all communications all in one place. Submitting an application does not guarantee you a puppy.
  • We consider the FAQ page and The Breed page like contract guidelines. We try to make sure that you are well-informed on what to expect in owning and raising a golden retriever, what we expect of you as the owner of one of our puppies, and what to expect of us as you go through the process of acquiring a puppy from us. We require that you confirm with us via the Application that you have read this FAQ and Guideline page. We also encourage you to read The Breed page and do additional research on the breed on your own.
• Until we have a breeding occur, we will only keep one waiting list rather than separate lists for different litters and genders. At the time of breeding or after birth of a litter, we will contact everyone on the waiting list via email to find out who is interested in the upcoming litter. Once we narrow down the litter list, we will begin requesting  deposits ($250) from approved individuals.
  • You may stay on our waiting list as long as you wish, as long as we believe you are a good fit for a pup, but you must occasionally let us know if you are still interested in one of our pups. Otherwise, we may drop you from the waiting list if we don’t hear from you for a long period of time. We also ask that you resubmit an application to update us if any of your information changes during the waiting period. 
  • Email is our preferred form of communication. We are unlikely to call or communicate in any other way unless for good reason as we like to be able keep all communications in one place.
• We keep the list in chronological order based on the date that each person submitted their application. While people on the list may be listed chronologically, we ultimately will decide who will get a pup and in what order the pups will be chosen. Generally, we will keep everyone on the list in order, but we may occasionally move people around on the list to give preference to homes that are clearly better homes than some other options or where the intended use of the dog is something beyond just a pet, such as hunting, agility, therapy, service, etc. 
• When we have a breeding or after the birth of a litter, we will begin contacting people on our waiting list to let them know that we are accepting deposits. The people that we've approved for puppy homes will have two business days to send their deposits after we have contacted them to let them know that we're ready for them to submit their deposits. If deposits are not received within this time frame, we may move on to the next person in line. ​
  • In general, deposits are nonrefundable, unless we agree to refund the deposit under certain circumstances as we deem necessary, such as the death of a puppy. Deposits are $250, and we will only accept deposits from those that we have approved through our application process and that we have requested payment from.
  • If you pay a deposit for the puppy and then we decide that we do not want to sell you the puppy, we will refund your full deposit. 
  • If you pay the deposit and then you change your mind about buying the puppy, the deposit will NOT be refunded. After the deposit is made, it will not be refunded unless the pup that is available for you dies or has a major health issue. 
• Once puppies are born, we will finalize our litter list and make necessary adjustments based on the number and genders in the litter. As the puppies grow, we will share photos and videos of them on our Facebook page. This is the preferred way for the new owners to be able to see the puppies until they go to their new homes.
• While waiting for the puppies to grow old enough to go to their new families, we may research the potential new owners and/or reviewing applications and may have a few questions for you. Most of the things we want to know are listed on the Application page. We consider any communications with you to be an addition to your application. It is our responsibility to make sure the puppies go to good homes. We will evaluate each puppy applicant and we will ultimately decide which applicants will get a puppy. We will only place puppies in homes with families that we believe are capable of providing a loving home for the puppy throughout its lifetime. 
• We begin requesting final payment around 6 weeks of age. The final payment is the total puppy price minus the deposit. If paid up to seven days early, we will accept Venmo, PayPal, or check. If payment is not made in full several days before going to its new home, cash must be paid at pick-up.
• We do not allow puppy visits by the puppy families until after the puppies have had their first round of vaccinations at around 6 weeks old. Typically, we prefer to not have puppy visitors until the date that we arrange for the puppies to go to their new homes.
  • Normally we will start allowing the pups to leave us around 8 weeks of age. A date and time for each new owner to come pick up their pup will be assigned. The new owner is expected to arrive at the assigned date and time (usually on a weekend) to choose and take home their puppy. If there are conflicts, we will choose your puppy for you or allow the next person in line to choose before you.
• We do have a puppy contract that you may or may not be required to sign, which outlines many of the things listed on this FAQ page and will provide a basic health guarantee. Like the application and this FAQ page, the purpose of the contract is to help us to ensure that our puppies are going to great, loving homes. It benefits us in knowing that there is a formal agreement on the life and care of our puppies, because we do love them and want them to have good homes. It also benefits the new owner to know that they are getting a formal health guarantee. Please see the Puppy Contract page to view a draft of the contract with explanations.
• Once the pups are in their new homes, we expect you to give them a life full of love and happiness, and always remember to send us pictures and keep us updated! We thrive on getting to see our pups grow and see them in happy homes, and we like to be able to keep up with their accomplishments and health as well. Please be aware that any information or photos that you share with us, on social media, or in other ways regarding your puppy may also be shared by us on social media, on our website, or in other ways.

​Grooming and More

• Goldens can have various types of coats. Some have long, soft coats, curly, coats, wavy coats, short and course field coats, and everything in between. Whatever the coat length, they do have a tendency to shed quite a lot. If you’re a true dog person, you should be able to handle this. But if shedding bothers you, be prepared to keep the vacuum and lint rollers handy. Various coats require different levels of grooming, but generally the grooming is not too difficult. The primary thing to do to maintain the coat is simply brushing it regularly. If a golden isn’t the breed for you due to shedding, there are several other AKC recognized breeds that do not shed so excessively.
• Some goldens can have skin sensitivities, so bathing should be limited. We often use Dawn dish soap and baking soda to bathe our dogs unless we need to use a special shampoo and/or conditioner.
• Other normal grooming and maintenance include ears, feet and claws, teeth, etc. We try to use an ear flush in our dogs’ ears every week or two, check their teeth and occasionally brush or apply dental gel, and check their feet and claws and perform any clipping and maintenance necessary. We also check the genital area and feel under the skin to search for any parasites or superficial skin issues, such as ticks or hot spots.
• Here in Arkansas, it is pertinent that your dog is given a heart worm preventative regularly. We use Heartgard monthly oral preventative, which also prevents against some other types of internal parasites. We also typically use monthly tick and flea preventatives, such as Frontline. We encourage you to do your research on what the best and safest preventative are to use for your dog.

​Puppy Prices

• We price puppies based on their pedigrees, and the parent dogs’ health clearances, temperament, and other factors such as anticipated cost of raising the litter: nutrition, c-section, veterinary costs, puppy training program, etc. We may sometimes have the prices listed on the Puppy Information page. Generally, puppies are priced between $1,500 - $2,500.

Method of Payment

• We allow various types of payment methods, which may include PayPal, Venmo, check, cashiers check, or cash. We prefer that you pre-pay the full balance for your puppy several days before you take your pup home, or cash on the day of pick-up.
• We do not accept deposits or payments toward any given litter until we have confirmed you are interested in a given litter, approved your application, and requested a deposit or payment from you.

​Puppy and Parent Health

• We will carefully observe the puppies while they are in our care to make sure they act and function normally. We will also take them to the vet before going to their new homes for a routine check-up, fecal exam, and first vaccinations. Normally we will give them wormer at two, four and six weeks old to ensure that they're free of common internal parasites. We will provide a vet record from their first vet exam as well as instructions for any special care that the puppy may need after you take it home. We will assume that most of our puppy buyers already know how to properly prepare for and take care of a puppy, but we will be happy to provide basic guidance if necessary. To our knowledge, all of our dogs are healthy and free of any congenital defects or diseases.
  • We will try to be honest regarding the health history that we are aware of with our dogs, but please know that every dog is different and the amount of information available regarding genetics and familial medical history varies for each dog. Just like with people, there is no way to guarantee that a dog will or won’t have certain health issues, even with genetic health testing. We do at least some of the required OFA health testing on our dogs, which includes specialist evaluations of hips, elbows, eyes, and hearts, as well as some DNA panels for additional recessive traits. We have kept in touch with as many of our puppy owners as possible to help us be aware of any health issues that arise with our pups so that we can communicate with others about any health issues to be aware of. We also encourage open communication and discussion among our puppy owners in a private Facebook group, which owners are invited to join after they acquire a pup from us.
  • While we don’t currently have a written health guarantee, we will do our best to work with any puppy owner that finds their pup to have any genetic defect at under two years old. This normally may involve replacement with another puppy but will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Veterinary records to support the genetic issue and proof that the dog is the same puppy sold should be provided. Generally, the genetic issues covered are those that we have tested for in the parents of the puppy as of the date of sale.

​Returning a Puppy or Dog

• If you find yourself in a circumstance where you cannot keep your puppy, at any age, we ask that you contact us and allow us to take the puppy/dog back so that we can be sure that he/she gets another good home and we are able to keep in touch with the new owner. We prefer to have the first right of refusal on all of our puppies. If you already have another good home lined up for the puppy, you must first communicate with us and allow us to decide whether the new home will be adequate or allow us to take the puppy back so that we can be sure it’s placed in a good home. Typically, this is on a surrender basis, but a refund or rehoming fees will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Some things to consider are the age of the dog, the mental and physical condition of the dog, medical history, how well trained the dog is, whether it is spayed or neutered, etc.
• We want our pups to have permanent, loving, life-long homes. Please consider that the decision to adopt a puppy is not one that should be taken lightly. We expect our pups to become a family member and not "just a dog". We constantly see people advertising their pups and dogs on social media and trying to find them new homes for various reasons, usually because they can't "give him/her the time and attention he/she needs" or "had to move and can't bring him/her with me" or "found out a family member is allergic", etc. All of these things should be taken into consideration before you bring a puppy home.

​Shipping and Delivery

• We have never shipped our pups, but if you're willing to pay for the shipping and other related expenses, and it can be arranged without too much of a hassle, we may be open to it. We have had a couple of our dogs shipped to us, so we have a general idea of how it works. We will only ship from Little Rock National Airport, and you will be required to pay all shipping fees and related costs. To our knowledge, we may be able to ship via Delta or United Airlines. Airlines typically require that the pup is 8 weeks old, a specific kind of crate for the pup to travel in, a veterinary clearance, ideal weather conditions (cargo areas are not climate controlled), and a few other minor requirements.
• Small pups may also be flown as a carry-on for anyone who may want to fly to pick up their pup and then fly back home with it. Most airlines require that the pup is contained in a small travel carrier, that the pup is at least 8 weeks old, and some airlines require a veterinary clearance. You will have to provide the carrier and will be required to cover the cost of vet clearances and airline travel. We may be able to meet at the airport with your pup so you don't have to rent a car.
• If you would like us to travel to meet you or bring the pup to you, we can possibly drive the puppy to you as long as you are willing to pay for our travel expenses. Things we consider in traveling are gas, meals, and hotel stays if necessary, etc. Depending on the driving distance and time on the road, we may request that you pay for us to stay in a hotel. We will do our best to be fair and reasonable in calculating travel costs. We most often deliver to, but aren't limited to, Northwest Arkansas. Our ability to travel may be limited at certain times, but we will try to work with you as best we can.

​Feeding

• We primarily feed Purina Pro Plan Large Breed Puppy to young puppies, and we suggest a good large-breed food until the puppy is about one year old. Young puppies need to be fed at least two to three times a day and feeding quantity should be determined based on the feeding instructions provided on the dog food bag.
• The only brands that are veterinary-researched are Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, and Iams. The FDA and veterinarians are currently investigating the link between grain-free and boutique foods and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which has caused death in many dogs. Currently, it is believed that replacing grains with peas, lentils, potatoes, etc., has caused decreased taurine levels in dogs. The result is typically an enlarged heart and a diagnosis of DCM in several dogs, many resulting in death. We expect that our pups will only be fed the vet-researched brands previously mentioned until other brands have been confirmed as safe. Note that this does not include Purina Puppy/Dog Chow.

​Training

• Training your dog is an important step in being a responsible dog owner. If you're inexperienced in basic dog training, we suggest finding a puppy class and/or obedience class near you, as well as spending time around other dogs and people in order to socialize your dog. The better trained and socialized your dog is, the happier both you and the dog will be. People that don't do good training find themselves unable to control their dog, and then the dog finds itself stuck in a cage all day or being rehomed or in a shelter. And dogs that do end up in a shelter or rescue are more adoptable if they are trained, controllable, and friendly.
• Kennel training can be a very positive thing, especially for a pup, but no be sure the kennel is adequately large enough that the dog has room to fully stand, turn around, and stretch.
• Our golden retriever pups can be high energy, so good training and plenty of exercise are pertinent from the very beginning. Be careful about too much hard exercise, jumping, stairs, slick floors, etc. - these things can affect joint development and possibly even lead to dysplasia.

​Costs Involved in Owning a Golden Retriever

• The cost of owning a dog are extremely variable based on the size, breed, time and money that the owner is committed to putting into it. The initial price of a purebred puppy may seem high, but if you're a loving and devoted pet parent, it's a guarantee that you'll be spending much more than that over time. When you pay for a purebred pup, assuming you're buying from a responsible breeder, you're paying for the excellent care the pup has received before you owned it, a hopefully healthy pup that has been properly loved and cared for by the breeder, and a pup with the qualities that go along with the breed. With the initial cost of the puppy aside, here are some estimated other costs that may be considered in the first year for a single dog:
  • Quality dog food (30lb. bag) $60 - $90 about once a month = $900 per year
  • Initial vet visits and basic shots (varies by vet) = $150 +/-
  • AKC Registration $35+
  • Other vet visits and/or additional shots = $250 +/-
  • Microchipping $50+
  • Spaying or neutering = $150 - $450
  • Kennel $75 - $500
  • Bedding, toys, bones, etc. throughout a year $200 +
  • Collars, leashes, identification tags $50
  • Grooming and/or grooming supplies $100 + (groomers are often roughly $80 per visit)
  • Parasite control (Frontline, Heartgard, etc.) $200+
  • Training classes $50 + (can go up into the thousands)
  • Doggy day care or boarding - can vary greatly by owner and facility
  • Cost of everything the pup will likely chew up the first year... To Be Determined.
  • Blood, sweat, tears, time, patience, and the unconditional love of a dog... Priceless.
• The first year may be one of the most expensive. If your dog is just a pet and stays reasonably healthy in its youth and middle-age years, the costs will likely decrease and even out until their senior years. The dog will always need quality food, at least an annual vet visit for shots and check-up, constant parasite controls and preventatives, reasonable grooming, and most other costs will vary by the dog and by the owner. And, of course, like any human, a dog will eventually be a senior and will need some extra TLC into its old age. Be prepared to care for the dog throughout its entire life.
• Just like people, dogs aren't born perfect. While we have health clearances done on the parent dogs, and, to our knowledge, all of our dogs are very healthy, the breed comes with some common health issues. There are many goldens that live to a ripe old age into their teens, but there are also many that are taken by cancer or other illnesses by or before they even make it to 10 years old. While we hope to produce healthy pups, you should consider what you will do when and if your dog has a serious illness. Are you financially stable enough to make sure the dog gets good medical care if you decide to keep it alive through the illness? Or are you prepared to take care of your aging dog when he/she is a senior and can no longer function without your assistance? You may want to consider investing in pet insurance to cover unexpected veterinary costs.

Proceed to the Puppy Application