Golden Retriever Secrets

The Golden Retriever, a truly intelligent dog among all other breeds, is popular for its all-embracing services in the domains of field trials, obedience, hunting and providing true guidance and services to blind people. In the beginning of the 1800's, people from old England and Scotland considered hunting as their game of interest at one hand, and a mode for collecting food on the other. The talent of the Golden Retriever was first noticed in the domain of hunting, since these dogs are of medium size and have the flexibility to scroll through fowling lands, including upland gaming zone and waterfowl.

Lord Tweedmouth at Guisachan Estate in Scotland first recorded the breeding of the Golden Retriever officially. In the year 1952, the great nephew of Lord Tweedmouth published all the records to the public for the first time. In the middle of 19th century, Lord Tweedmouth bought his golden puppy, called Nous. The breeding location was his estate, where Lord Tweedmouth tried to breed the Golden Retrievers with desired characteristics and temperament.

During the early days, Tweed Water Spaniels were predominantly used as hunting dogs, since they were marked for their true intelligence, courage and vitality, the factors most essential for hunting. Tweed Water Spaniel dogs were of great importance for the development of the ancestors of the modern Golden Retriever. Lord Tweedmouth encouraged breeding between his yellow puppy Nous and Belle, a female Tweed Water Spaniel and this couple gave birth to fours golden puppies. However in later days, Irish setter and Bloodhound in addition to Tweed Water Spaniel were used for the breeding of modern the Golden Retriever.

The last decades of 19th century, England witnessed the increasing popularity of the Golden Retriever. In the Crystal Palace, the Golden Retriever gave its first public appearance in a dog show in the year 1908. When the Golden Retriever Club in England was formed during 1913, a separate and unique recognition had been established. In 1920, the Golden Retriever came into North America and won the heart of many people.

In 1925, the Golden Retriever achieved the recognition from American Kennel Club (AKC). The popularity of the Golden Retriever increased sharply during the years of the 1930's and 1940's. With its true obedience, this breed obtained the award of Obedience Champ Title from American Kennel Club (AKC) in the year 1977. During the early days of development, the versatility of the Golden Retriever was still unrecognized and this breed was only treated as a hunting dog. However later on all knew the versatile characteristics of this breed.

In the earlier times, buyers mostly prefer dark colored coat of the Golden Retriever to the light shade coat, but gradually the light golden shade became preferred by most people. Starting from its initial days of breeding, even today the popularity of the Golden Retriever has never faded away. In today's world, the dog is recognized for its true intelligence, obedience and courage, which sets it apart from many other breeds.

The Golden Retriever has gained a worldwide popularity due to its excellence in obedience, outstanding working ability and rich golden hairs. Basic Golden Retriever information is available in this article.

Best selling author Lisa Scottoline has four Golden Retrievers and one Welsh Corgi. She writes about them like this, "When you have a house full of Goldens, you think to yourself, You know, we need a dog". And which dog causes all the trouble in her home? The Corgi. Which dog literally ate part of her finger? The Corgi. Which dog is on doggy Prozac? The Corgi.

This shows the big contrast between Golden Retriever temperaments and the temperaments of most other dog breeds. Although every dog is an individual, for the most part Golden Retrievers are calm, trainable and submissive. However, they need proper nutrition, grooming and exercise to get this good-natured and stay this good-natured. Golden Retrievers aren't the perfect dogs, but for many they are worth their weight in gold for their personalities. If you are ever saddled with a Golden Retriever, you could do a lot worse.

There are some negatives to living with Golden Retrievers that you should prepare yourself for. These will be mild for some people and calamities for others. Golden Retrievers need daily grooming, or they get matted. They shed more than other breeds. It has been said they have more of a doggy odor than other breeds. They also were bred to be Retrievers (hence the name), which means they have a compulsion to pick things up in their mouths and carry them to your home. This can mean they find a big dead rat and carry in into your living room, fully expecting to be showered with praise.

Golden Retrievers, because of their popularity, have been victims of their own success. Some unscrupulous breeders more concerned about how many puppies they can sell as opposed to how healthy the puppies are have over bred them. There is an effort of Golden Retriever breeders to try and reverse health problems that can be passed on through genes. Just to be on the safe side, expect your Golden Retriever to have skin problems, hip dysplasia, eye problems and heart problems.

On the whole, life with Golden Retrievers is a pleasant one, after the initial hyperactivity of puppy-hood (which, in a dog, lasts until they are at least two years old). Golden Retriever definitely need training, attention and vet care, but they adapt well to all three of these. The more you put into your Golden Retriever in terms of time, energy and training, the more you'll get. It is not accident that Golden Retrievers are often the dog of choice for therapy and rescue dogs.

If you look in the media or in advertising, a lot of times when a dog is needed to play a part, that part is played by a Golden Retriever. This shows you what these dogs are capable of. Since they are large dogs, if you are not sure of how to train them, please get a professional trainer to help you. Read dog training books and learn as much Golden Retriever information as you can.

The Golden Retriever is one of the most popular pets for families. You can find lots of Golden Retriever information on the AKC website.

A Golden Retriever makes a great family pet because of its terrific personality. Golden Retrievers tend to be very good with children, and very people-friendly in general. They get along with other dogs, too, and have few guarding instincts, though they will alert their owner to situations with barking.

Though the breed was first begun in the 1800’s, it was officially recognized as a breed in Great Britain in 1913, after an exciting history. Sir Dudley Majoribanks, who was from Scotland, created the mix from a variety of sporting breeds and adding in some bloodhound to increase its sense of smell. He first crossed a wavy-coated Retriever with a yellow Tweed Water Spaniel. The offspring from that breeding was crossed with an Irish Setter and a sandy-colored Bloodhound. Eventually, we got the Golden Retriever as it is today. The Golden Retriever has been gaining in popularity all over the world, which is not surprising, given the people-friendly qualities they possess.

Golden Retrievers are best if they have a mid-gold coloring and haven’t got any white patches on their fur. They love to be around people. In fact, in order to be happy and not get into mischief, Golden Retrievers need a lot of exercise and human attention.

All that energy can be guided, thankfully, through obedience training, particularly while they are young. Golden Retrievers can be trained to be good watchdogs, barking to signify that a stranger is near. They love to swim, and can be trained to hunt, track, and find narcotics, so they are often used by law enforcement for those purposes. They are also used as rescue dogs. Being highly trainable and sociable dogs, many are trained to be guide dogs. They are also fun to have as a family pet, because they love to please their owners and can do that by being obedient to their training and by performing tricks.

Golden Retrievers make great pets. If you are going to have a Golden Retriever for a pet, you need to remember a few things. First, have your puppy obedience trained, so that it learns good behaviors instead of having to try to get rid of the bad habits later. A few of the things you will want your puppy to learn is to come when called, to not bark incessantly, and yet to let you know if a stranger is approaching. Also, remember that your dog will need regular exercise, preferably by going for a walk and seeing new sights outside. Dogs that get exercised don’t get into as much mischief. Your dog will also need to be getting enough attention from you, as they are very social animals and need the positive attention when they do things that you want them to do. Be sure to give your dog plenty of love.

The Golden Retriever makes a wonderful family pet and is eager to please their owners. They are easily trained to fetch, hunt, track, and rescue and also they are in use as guide dogs. If you are looking for Golden Retriever information, read this article.

The American Kennel Club has identified the Golden Retriever as a certain breed that fits within the sporting group of dog breeds. A mid-size dog, they tend to be eager to please and very friendly with people and other dogs. The American Kennel Club has specific qualifications for the standard of the Golden Retriever. These items include many aspects of the physical appearance of the dog including the head, neck, topline, body; forequarters, hindquarters color, coat, gait, temperament, size, proportion, substance and, of course, general appearance. Each of these categories is measured against very specifically definitions of the Golden Retriever standard, which is the model of the perfect Golden Retriever. Defined within each category are also things that are considered faults. Beyond these faults, there are a couple of things that will automatically disqualify the dog from being a Golden Retriever standard. These things are a deviation in height of more than one inch from the standard, either too high or too small, and also if there is an undershot or overshot bite. These are the only two automatic disqualifiers.

For specifics of the Golden Retriever Standard, one should consult the American Kennel Club. Some of the things that the AKC considers are the size (males, 23-24 inches at withers, females 21 ½ - 22 ½), weight (males 65-75 pounds, females 65-75 pounds), and body shape (“neck medium long, merging gradually into well laid back shoulders, giving sturdy, muscular appearance. No throatiness.”). Golden Retrievers are also expected to have a tail that is thick and muscular at the base, and to be carried happy, wagging and level or curving upward. It should never be curved over the back or between the legs.

The coat should be water-repellent and dense with a good undercoat. It should lie close to the body, and can be either straight or wavy. It is good to have an untrimmed natural ruff, with some feathering on the back of the forelegs and underbody. Cutting or clipping the hair should not change the natural appearance of the coat or outline of the dog, though stray hairs can be neatened and feet can be trimmed. Golden Retrievers can be golden of various shades, though having white hairs is not good. Mid-range of golden color is best.

A Golden Retriever should meet the American Kennel Club standards if at all possible. These standards can be found at the AKC website, and include many items such as coat, gait, head, eyes, tail, forequarters, hindquarters, etc. The dogs that meet the American Kennel Club standards will have some certain things in common. They will be beautiful dogs, with lustrous coats, usually in the mid-gold range. Their coats will be dense, with feathering on the forelegs and underbelly, and tail and back legs. They will muscular, and have a lot of energy, as they are hunting dogs and like to stay active. They will be eager and self-confident. Their tail should be held out, and their eyes will be friendly, alert and intelligent-looking. They will be eager to interact with people, and love to please. Dogs that meet the American Kennel Club standards are dogs that any owner would be proud to show off and enjoy owning.

The standard for Golden Retriever is laid out in specifics by the American Kennel Club, and can be found at the AKC website. The criteria include things such as how muscular the body is and how well the trot is coordinated. You can find Golden Retriever information in this article.