Please read our Health Guarantee and Purchase Agreement
Please feed your golden retriever grains!   GRAIN FREE may lead to DCM in golden retrievers. 
​THE TLC DOG food we recommend contains grains. 
​How to Prevent Bad Hips in Dogs 
With all this said, if you are reading, you are probably asking yourself what you can do to make sure your dog has healthy hips. The SV in Germany (the German Shepherd Dog Club of Germany) has proven that genetics is only responsible for about 25% of the bad hips in dogs. This means that 75% of bad hips are caused by environmental issues.
There are things that help:
  1. Keep your dog thin. When I say thin, I mean you need to see a definition between the ribs and loins of your dog. I cannot stress this enough. The more weight a dog carries, the more pressure on the hips. This is extremely important when the dog is growing (between 8 weeks and 18 months).
  2. Do not over-exercise your young dog. DO NOT TAKE A PUPPY JOGGING! You must wait until it's older than one year of age. Overly exercising your puppy is the fastest way to destroy hips.
  3. Feed a quality all-natural diet. If you don't want to feed a raw diet, at least feed an all-natural kibble diet. We also sell all-natural food options which you can find here. The brands we carry and sell are what we feed to our dogs. We stress the importance of a proper diet with our puppy customers and it has made a huge difference
  4. If you have a question about subluxation in a young dog, SWIM the dog! Take the dog swimming every day for 3 or 4 months before you have x-rays taken. Swimming is the best exercise you can do for a dog. It is way better than jogging the dog. A subluxation in a dog means the head of the femur is loose in the socket. It makes sense to exercise the dog so that the muscles and ligaments tighten up the bones as much as possible.
  5. We give our dogs hip and joint supplements. View some of the products we use.
Unfortunately, you can do all of the things mentioned above and still get bad hips. That's the sad thing. I have bred over 350 litters in 30 years. The dogs I breed have good hips 6 to 10 generations and we will occasionally get a bad hip. However, I will say that the percentage of hip problems in our kennel is much, much less than breeders who do not follow this protocol.
Sourced:  https://leerburg.com/hipart.htm
It is best to consider a reputable holistic veterinarian offering acupuncture, homeopathy and other alternative care service.
You will likely find your dog will experiences a healthier and possibly longer lifespan.
Do you health test your dogs?  Yes,  all of our dogs receive extensive DNA testing including, Degenerative Myelopathy, Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa, Osteogenesis Imperfecta(brittle bone disease), Sensory Ataxic Neuropathy, Ichthyosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Progressive Retinal Atrophy  (GR-PRA1, GR1-PRA, GR-PRA2, GR2-PRA, PRA-PRCD, PRCD).  

We also test with the OFA for their hips, elbows, eyes and cardiac.  On occasion we test with PENNHIP.  All of our puppies will be clear from the ICT(Ichthyosis) skin disorder.   
HIP AND ELBOW DYSPLASIA 
This is a great article on HIP DYSPLASIA by the "Institute of Canine Biology", titled THE 10 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CANINE HIP DYSPLASIA  .  The article discusses the importance of environmental factors on the health of our dogs and their hips.  Most importantly their diet and weight management.  Most Americans overfeed their dogs!!!

All of our adult dogs are tested for Hip and Elbow dysplasia at 12 months(preliminaries) and 24 months(finals).  You can find testing for each of our adults on their page.  All of our adults passed and have OFA numbers.  Or we are in the process of testing.  Please visit their individual pages.

CARDIAC:  All of our adult dogs have passed their OFA cardiac and have OFA numbers  Please visit their individual pages.
      Have any of your puppies had heart murmurs?  Yes, in the past we have had a few puppies with low grade heart murmurs.  Heart murmurs are graded 1-6.  We have
      had puppies with murmurs graded  1-4 and they have all resolved without issue, on their own, by 16 weeks of age, and gone on to live health happy lives with their new
      families.  We have never had a puppy with a grade 5/6 or 6/6.   Please refer to our Health Guarantee and Purchase Agreement with regard to how we handle heart
​      murmurs. 

EYE'S:  All of our adult dogs have passed their OFA eye test and have OFA numbers.  Please visit their individual pages. 

DNA TESTING:  All of our adult dogs are DNA tested.  Please visit their individual pages. 

PLEASE NOTE:   As biological living creatures sometimes health concerns can show up that are out of our control.  Despite our best efforts health issues can emerge.  Please read through our Health Guarantee and Purchase Agreement and contact us with any questions.  Health testing of our dogs does not guarantee your dog will never heave health issues.  Diet, WEIGHT MANAGEMENT and age appropriate exercise have more of an impact on your dogs overall health than testing. 


Another great resource is the Golden Retriever Club of America.  See their page HERE, with regard to health and research.