The Golden Retriever is a wonderful dog! I will tell you how to groom a Golden Retriever, how to feed a Golden Retriever, how to choose a Golden Retriever puppy, about Golden Retriever temperament, and other things about the Golden Retriever that you may not have known, like Golden Retriever history.

The Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is a lovable, well-mannered, intelligent dog with a great charm. These dogs are easily trained, and always patient and gentle with children. Loyal, confident, sweet and eager to please. It is an active, loving and outstanding family dog. Golden Retrievers enjoy pleasing their masters, so obedience training can be fun. They excel in obedience competitions. Friendly with everyone, including other dogs, the Golden Retriever has very little, if any, guarding instincts. While unlikely to attack, Goldens make good watchdogs, loudly signaling a stranger's approach. This breed needs to be around people who display leadership to be happy. The Golden Retriever may sometimes become mischievous and/or high-strung, over-exuberant and distractible if he is lacking in daily mental and physical exercise. You need to be sure to maintain this dogs firm, but calm and confident, consistent pack leader demeanor to avoid behavioral issues. Some of the Golden's talents are hunting, tracking, retrieving, narcotics detection, agility, competitive obedience, and performing tricks. These dogs also love to swim.

The Golden Retriever, with its intelligence and eager to please attitude, is one of the most popular breeds in the United States according to AKC® registration statistics. The working ability that has made the Golden Retriever such a useful hunting companion also make him an ideal guide, assistance and search and rescue dog. The golden-colored coat is the hallmark of this versatile breed, and can range from light to dark gold.

Golden Retriever History

The Golden Retriever originated in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1800s and was used mainly as a hunting dog. The breed was developed by Lord Tweedmouth, whose goal was to create a superb retriever suited to the Scottish climate, terrain and available game. He crossed his original "Yellow Retriever" with the Tweed Water Spaniel (now extinct) found on his estate. Later integrations of Irish Setter, Bloodhound, and more Tweed Water Spaniel produced the retriever we know today, yup, the Golden Retriever.

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Choosing Golden Retriever Puppies

When choosing a Golden Retriever puppy the old saying, "Let the puppy choose you" does NOT apply with these dogs. You have to remember that the Golden Retriever is a dog with a calm, obedient demeanor. Usually the puppies who push forward looking for your attention are bold and pushy dogs that tend to be somewhat difficult to raise. While the ones who sit and wait patiently for you are make more obedient and well mannered companions.

Make sure when choosing a pup you evaluate the litter as a whole, avoiding litters where the majority of puppies are overly shy, running away from you and bark at you with a suspicious gait. Golden Retriever puppies who shy away from you with their tails tucked are not a good choice because they tend to grow to mature dogs that are shy and timid and have a tendency to snap at anything that startles them.

You can check this by snapping your fingers, clapping your hands, or just jiggling your car keys. The dogs who get startled and back away are not a good choice here. Look for the ones that stand alert and look for the source of the noise.

The best Golden Retrievers to look for are puppies that are neither bold and aggressive, nor shy and timid. They are the ones in the middle of these two types. They enjoy you holding them, play with your shoe laces and then go play with the rest of the litter when they get tired of playing with you.

Care of Your Golden

One important thing to know about your Golden Retriever is that you have to try and keep his/her weight at an optimal level for your Golden's size, or at least try and keep the weight down as heavier dogs have more heart problems and arthritic problems than dogs at their suggested weight levels.
Bathe your dog infrequently as their coats are water proof with another undercoat below that one. Also make sure, as mentioned earlier, you brush him/her frequently as they shed year round. Also make sure to trim their nails on a monthly basis as this will prevent foot problems.
You may also want to try to keep your Golden inside all the time, or as much as possible because they are very sociable and leaving them by themselves my cause them to be in an "unhappy" mode.

Recommended Feeding

The recommended feeding for your Golden should be three times a day for puppies up to 12-20 weeks and then twicw a day, morning and evening for the life of your dog.

Do You Think This Is The Right Breed For You?

For those of you who do not own a Golden and are visiting this site to get more information about this wonderful breed, just know that this active and energetic Sporting breed can adapt to many different living situations but does require daily exercise. His water-repellent double-coat sheds seasonally and needs regular brushing. I can't specify that enough. So if you do not like dogs that shed regularly, this loyal, beautiful companion may change your mind and his loyalty may out weigh the negatives for you. With his friendly temperament and striking golden color, this breed is both beautiful to look at and a joy to own.