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FAQ
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Do you ship puppies?We do not ship puppies. We would love to meet you in person and have you fly here to pick-up your new family member. Then your puppy can return with you in the cabin and not be put in cargo.
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How many litters a year do you have?It depends on the year. An average year is 1-3 litters. Some years we have no litters, and other years we have as many as 5 litters.
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Should I get a male or a female?This really comes down to preference. We price males and females the same because one is truly not better than the other. All Goldens are affectionate, but females tend to be a bit more independent while males tend to follow you around the house a bit more and might be more cuddly. Females often mature out of puppyhood faster than males, but males are often more eager to please when it comes to training. When considering delaying spaying/neutering until a later age, know that females will go through a heat cycle and will need to be completely supervised and on leash while outside for around 3-4 weeks. Males could potentially start to develop bad habits (marking, humping, or wandering), but these can easily be curbed with proper training. Of course, all the things listed above are generalizations. Individual puppy personalities do vary, which is why we temperament test each puppy in the litter.
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What items do I need before bringing home my puppy?Please view our puppy supply list page.
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What comes with the puppy?All puppies come with AKC papers (limited registration), first shots, four sets of dewormer, a full vet exam, a two year health guarantee, a blanket with the mother's scent on it, training information, a potty schedule, a small bag of puppy food, NuVet vitamins, and lifetime breeder support. We also offer basic training advice or lessons/classes for a fee if desired. You are not just investing in a puppy. You are investing in a breeder and a family that will be here to support you for the next 12-15 years of your dog's life!
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Where are you located?We are located on a six acre hobby farm in Owatonna, Minnesota. We are about an hour south of Minneapolis.
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When can I bring home my puppy?Puppies can go home at 8 weeks of age.
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Do you offer breeding rights?We only offer full registration (breeding rights) to families who are willing to show in conformation, title their dog in performance sports, or actively hunt. Full registration contracts also require health testing and additional references. If this is something you are interested in, please contact us directly for more information.
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Can we visit the puppies?We try very hard to limit traffic in and out of our home for the following two reasons. 1. Puppies are highly susceptible to diseases, and having people constantly in and out of our home before the puppies are vaccinated is a risk we are not willing to take. 2. We ourselves have small children. Scheduling multiple families and trying to accomodate all different times and dates can get difficult. We also only allow people who have placed a deposit (which is refundable) to visit. These are people we have interviewed, met, or at least reviewed an application for and feel comfortable inviting into our home with our family. We completely understand that good buyers want to make sure their puppy is being raised in a loving, clean, and safe environment. Therefore, all puppy buyers will get access to a live puppy cam and be able to watch the puppies 24/7 once they are born. All families will also get to see where the puppies are raised in our home, meet the parents, see our set-up, etc. on pick-out day. We also have photos of our home in the photo gallery and are even happy to Facetime you if requested. Once in a while, there may be certain situations where we do allow people to visit earlier on in the process.
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Do you start the puppies on any training?At Havana, we do everything we can to get your puppy started off on the right foot. As a dog trainer myself, I realize how valuable the first weeks of a puppy's life really are, and that is why we prioritize raising puppies in a way that sets them up for success. But let's be honest. Bringing home a young puppy means that a lot of the training WILL fall on you. Be leery of any breeder who promises a fully potty trained or crate trained puppy at 8 weeks of age. Our puppies are STARTED on potty training and crate training. We start the potty training process at 3 weeks old by teaching the puppies to go to the bathroom on paper in the back of the whelping box away from their bedding. We then transition to a "litter" box filled with pine pellets. If weather allows, we start letting the puppies outside to go to the bathroom around 6-7 weeks of age. All puppies spend some time with their littermates in large crates. We start working on putting puppies individually in crates for short sessions as well. Our other training focuses primarily on socialization, as this is the most important thing we can help with in the first 8 weeks. We expose the puppies to multiple surfaces, loud noises, agility equipment, sound desensitizing CDs, other animals, other dogs (from our home only), kids of varying ages, wobbly objects, and so much more! Our children play with the puppies daily. The puppies spend time outside and in the pool if weather appropriate. We even are sometimes lucky enough to be able to recruit Girl Scout groups (or similar) to come help train the puppies on more formal skills once vaccinations are completed.
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Are your puppies registered?Yes. All our puppies are AKC registered.
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How do I get on the waitlist?You can fill out an applicationhere and email it to havanagoldens@gmail.com . Once you've sent in an application, you can expect to hear back from us within 1-2 weeks with further details. Please visit our page for more info.
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Can my puppy stay at Havana past 8 weeks?We are happy to keep your puppy for you if needed. The first 2 extra days are free, and then a boarding fee will be charged after that. We also have a board and train option available for an upcharge.
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How does the puppy selection process work?When the puppies are 8 weeks old, families will come pick-out their puppy in order of deposits (with the exception of breeding/showing homes). Our puppies are temperament tested at 7 weeks of age, and we take notes on which individual puppies are best for each family. Our Golden Retriever puppies often test quite similar, as they tend to be very level-headed, affectionate dogs. There will be some small differences though between puppies. Ideally, many families will get to choose from 2-3 that are a good fit for their family, but this is not always the case. Just because you were the first deposit for a male/female does not necessarily mean you get to pick from every puppy of that gender. We will will be helping you pick from puppies that have a personality that best matches what YOU are looking for. If you want a laid back puppy, we won't even show you the active puppy. We want everyone to be happy with the personality of their puppy and have a lifelong dog that fits well into their lifestyle. Therefore, we do not place puppies based on color or photos alone. To learn more about this process, please visit our adoption process page.
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At what age should I spay or neuter my puppy?All puppies sold on limited registration are required to be spayed/neutered by 24 months of age (OSS or Vasectomy options are fine as well). We do recommend waiting until at least 12 months of age to allow your puppy's growth plates to start closing before removing the hormones. Ideally, we hope that most buyers can wait until 18-24 months. This is not a contractual requirement and is more so a recommendation. We realize that going through a heat cycle can be an inconvenience to some families and allowing hormone-related male tendencies to form bad habits is not ideal either (although these can almost always be solved through behavioral training). In these cases, we would ask you to wait until as late as possible and then spay/neuter.
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When will my puppy need its next set of vaccinations?All our puppies will go home with their first set of vaccinations, which are given around 6 weeks of age. You will want to set a follow-up appointment with your vet for booster shots around 9-10 weeks of age. Plan to bring your puppy to the vet around 1-2 weeks after bringing him home.
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