Hi everyone I am new to the board. I don't have a golden yet, but I will soon. I had one when i was young and it was the most fun puppy i have ever had. Unfortunately it was to hyper for my parents and they gave it to a friend of theres that wanted a hunting dog. Anyways I don't plan on getting a puppy for another month and have been reading anything i can on them. I don't know if i should go with a breeder because of the fact that they come with a no breed contract. To me that is just not right. I mean i don't plan on breeding but mabey someday if i was more informed on that area I will, I just don't like the fact that signing that contract makes it so final,that you can't. There are no breeders in my area except for 1 so there is not a very good variety of breeders to choose from anyways. I may just go with a rescue one or a household breeder that has all the papers and tests /hip/eye/ done on the pup. Im not sure yet though it may be that i just need to finde the right breeder. I am busy during the day(in College) but during the day my bf is home and close to the time i get home he leaves for work. So the pup would only be left for 2 hours a day. The reason i want a golden and not any other type of breed is because... they are cute(even when they are older), smart, fun, make good family dog, easy to train, friendly,and big. I don't know if those are the right reasons to get one but they are my reasons. My pup is gonna be my buddy, my friend and my families friend. The names I have picked out are: Hope, Faith, Destiny, Hidey, Jezebelle, Jinx, Lacy, Lady, Lassy. My kids want to call it princess but I dont agree on that one. I want us all to agree on the name, but it has to be one that I can see myselfe calling out, that is why I wrote a list down, but they seem to have a hard time picking one from my list. Should i shorten the list? Oh if you haven't noticed I want to get a female golden. I have a question on that. Does the gender of your dog have any benefits or downfalls? For instance is a male more likely to be aggresive than a female? ANyways I'll make sure to post when I do get my pup. Take care!