Golden Retriever Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is a friendly, confident, loving, devoted, obedient, sensitive and intelligent dog. They are unbelievably affectionate and therefore are a great choice for families with children or other pets. The Golden Retriever is a very easy dog to train, but harshness in training should not be permitted. Daily walks are necessary, and remember that a Golden Retriever is never as happy as when he is retrieving or carrying something in his mouth.

This breed performs well whether he is on water or on land. He is a superior hunting dog in the water, and with his soft mouth he won't damage the prey - he can even fetch a newspaper without a tooth mark to be found! On land he has been trained to sniff out drugs and explosives, and he is fast becoming the most popular choice for use as a seeing eye dog.

The evolution of the Golden Retriever is well documented in the annals of Lord Tweedmouth of Scotland. In 1868 Tweedmouth mated a now extinct Tweed Water Spaniel named Belle to a Yellow Wavy-Coated Retriever named Nous. The resulting four puppies formed the foundation of the present day Golden Retriever. The dogs first arrived in North America in 1900 through Lord Tweedmouth's two sons.

The first Golden Retriever was exhibited in 1908, and the Golden Retriever Club was founded in 1918 in England. The breed found itself going in two different breeding directions. There was one camp that bred the dog for its original purpose of flushing game and retrieving, and they bred for qualities that were beneficial for that task. The other camp bred the Golden Retriever for the show ring and were more interested in the beauty of the dog. The Golden Retriever still ranks as one of the most popular dogs in many households around the world.