This is an important lesson that MONEY and FAME do not equal BRAINS!!!
If you were watching the Oprah Show, you saw that the breeder she obtained her puppies from was located in "Tehachapi California" in the Southern California High Desert. Well folks, there is only ONE Golden breeder in Tehachapi CA so that makes this a real no-brainer.
That breeder would be SUSAN "JENNIFER" ARN, aka SANDAR aka SANDARAC Golden Retrievers
It just so happens that this breeder is a proven criminal, fraud, cheat, and liar. In the late 80's and early 90's she was ARRESTED multiple times and ultimately CONVICTED in Los Angeles County Criminal Court of MULTIPLE Animal Control Violations (over 70 dogs were in her possession in makeshift non-permitted kennel facilities at the time they were confiscated).
CORRECTION! In reviewing the documentation I have, I see that Sue "pled out" to misdemeanor Fish and Game Code violations to avoid trial and possible conviction on Animal Control violations. My apologies for the above misstatement.
Here is just one of the MANY articles published about her in the local paper:
Note that she was given THREE YEARS to bring her property up to code before the arrests began. I don't know of any loan that takes that amount of time to secure, and she continued to use the "waiting for a loan" scam to avoid other financial obligations when she later parked dogs with multiple commerical boarding kennels, so that whole claim just doesn't wash.
Following her criminal conviction, she was then SUSPENDED by the AKC for SEVEN YEARS for refusing to permit AKC's inspection of her breeding records. Here is the suspension notice as it was published in the AKC Gazette:
Part of her sentence included that she never be allowed to own more than three dogs in Los Angeles County again without a kennel license, so she simply moved to an adjoining county, changed her name (started using her middle name), and deliberately and FRAUDULENTLY registered her dogs in other peoples' names in order to KEEP BREEDING during her ENTIRE seven year AKC suspension. As of this writing she has recent entries at the BAD BUSINESS BUREAU website for failing to produce promised registration papers. It seems the leopard has not changed her spots. Is this the kind of breeder YOU would want to purchase a puppy from?
In addition to the scanned article above, numerous other articles exist in the Antelope Valley Press archives to support the above referenced arrests, prosecution, and conviciton. Search on Sue Arn as that was the name she was using then.
Oprah has layers upon layers of assistants and other lackeys who most likely kept her insulated from who she was really doing business with. They were probably totally unaware of this breeder's TERRIBLE reputation and dishonest history. And of course, once Oprah was looking at fuzzy puppies, she was lost. The "dozens of puppies waiting adoption" (see Oprah's own website for this comment) should have tipped her off she was at a PUPPY MILL, not a reputable breeder.
Did Oprah even bother to ask about health clearances on the parents and other ancestors? If they dicussed the health and personalities of the parents and pups they chose not to show that on National TV. If they discussed guarantees and puppy raising guidelines or other ESSENTIAL information when buying a puppy, they chose not to show that on National TV either.
Oprah now has caused an avalanche of visits to breeder sites... people looking for a puppy "just like Oprah's", with the implied expectation that you should just waltz onto the breeder's property, pick a puppy based on it's "cute face" or "husky build," and go.
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!
If you are looking for a Golden puppy "just like Oprah's", be prepared... the reputable breeders in this country are all horrified and dismayed at the damage Oprah has just done to the expectations of the Golden buying public as well as to the very breed itself. Our defenses are WAY UP and we will be making VERY sure that our puppies are placed RESPONSIBLY into homes that are 100% ready for them, not just sold willy-nilly to someone with star-envy in their eyes.
YOU CAN AND SHOULD BE SMARTER THAN OPRAH!!! DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND BUY YOUR PUPPY FROM A REPUTABLE BREEDER ONLY!!!