Although originally bred for hunting

 (www.goldenretriever-france.com/english/acceuil2e.htm),

over the years Goldens have been bred to make an excellent companion for people. As a result, they are equally suited to sit quietly in a duck blind until it is time to retrieve, as a service dog or lie in their owner’s lap. More so than many other breeds, Goldens need to interact with people. A Golden relegated to the backyard while his family is in the house is an unhappy Golden. It is imperative that your Golden be regularly included in family activities.

Goldens are particularly forgiving dogs and will allow you to make many mistakes while still wanting nothing more than to please and be acknowledged for it with a scratch behind the ear. As a testament to their desire to please, the first three dogs to obtain Obedience Trial Championships were Golden Retrievers.

Because Goldens are such people-oriented dogs, it's important that they live WITH their owners. Goldens are NOT outside dogs.

Lastly, Goldens are addictive. Few people can own only one!

Acquiring Your Golden

Your best sources for Goldens are from a breed rescue organization that carefully screens its dogs, or from a reputable breeder who is dedicated to the overall improvement of the breed. The choice you make now will be one you live with for the next decade, so choose carefully.

Should You Chose a Male or Female Golden

Personal preference is probably the only big one here. Many people think that the males are slightly more "teddy-bear like" than the females. Neither should show any type of aggression including dog aggression when around other dogs.

Un-neutered females will sometimes show a change in personality when they are coming into heat and when they are in heat. Most often, they seem to become a bit more clingy. During this time, they may not tolerate males sniffing around them or they may be extremely interested in males.

An un-neutered male around another intact male and a bitch in heat, the males might show some competitive aggression. However, neutered males and females will mostly differ in size (the females will be smaller) and their individual personalities. Both males and females are good with children.

For your best predictor of personality, be sure to ask about and try to meet and interact with the puppy's sire and dam. There are tests that can be done to help determine the puppy's dominance, independence, and abilities. Be sure to ask your breeder about these. Also, socializing the puppy and general obedience training are always important.

A Golden’s Development

At a year of age, they will have their full height, but their full weight will be another year or two in coming. A small female can be 20 1/2 inches, about 45 pounds, and a large male can be 25 inches, about 95 pounds…a BIG difference. Even though Goldens are physically mature by age two, mentally, they remain puppies for a long time (two-to-four years of age) and many retain a very playful and clownish personality for most of their lives. Remember, by nature Goldens are fun-loving and happy-go-lucky, so their perceived maturity may be less because of it. Once fully grown, they are a robust dog and will enjoy many activities with you such as walking, swimming, hiking, jogging, hunting, fetching, etc.

Goldens and Your Family

A Golden’s temperament makes them great family members and wonderful with kids, especially when they have been regularly exposed to well-behaved children as puppies. However, they are large and excitable and may easily knock children over if they jump up to lick their faces or propel a toddler along with a solid whack of their tails. Never leave very young children and dogs together unattended. Just as the dog could easily accidentally hurt the children, so could they hurt him by poking him in the eyes or ears or pulling his tail.

Also be careful of the tail around low sitting furniture. Anything that might be breakable should be moved to a safer spot.

Goldens and Their Coat

The color of their coats ranges from blonde to dark mahogany. Goldens have thick, water repellant coats and shed, more-or-less, year around. Regular brushing and swimming can alleviate some, but not all, of their shedding. If you have an aversion to dog hair in your house, a Golden is NOT a good choice.

Goldens and Exercise

Owners need to be careful with puppies under the age of 18 months. Although they need regular exercise, you should not take them jogging, biking, jumping, etc. as you may damage their joints.

As a sporting bread, they need plenty of regular exercise. Once grown, they will benefit from regular periods of high intensity exercise. Swimming is an excellent source of exercise even when they are young. If you have a swimming pool, just remember that the dog hair in the pool will mean you need to clean the pool more frequently if you dog goes in it a lot. Lastly, be sure that your dog knows how to get out of the swimming pool; it's not a good idea to leave him unattended with access to the pool.

Goldens and Hot Weather

Goldens do fine in hot weather so long as they have access to shade, free moving air, and plenty of water. They should not be exercised in the heat of the day and be sure you have water with you when you do exercise them.

Goldens and Training

Goldens are typically very eager to please their owners and this translates into their being relatively easy to train. While not all Goldens make good competitive obedience dogs, you will see many of them in the obedience ring.

Goldens and Barking

Goldens typically do not bark a lot; however, they can if they are bored.

Goldens as Hunting Dogs

Goldens do not do as well as Labradors in the field trials which are, in all fairness, biased toward the sort of work the Labrador was bred to do. But many Goldens make excellent hunters in real hunting situations.

Why do your two Goldens look so different?

Through the years, breeders have bred for different qualities. Some breeders are interested purely in physical appearance for show purposes. Since "big and hairy" looks stunning in the show ring and wins, these breeders have bred for those characteristics. Other breeders have bred only for field ability. Since the smaller (and often darker colored) dogs have been the ones that are faster and flashier in the field, these breeders have tended to breed for those characteristics. There are other types, as well, but these are the most common. Just because a dog is of the "conformation" type does not mean that it cannot work in the field, just as being of the "field" type does not mean that that dog cannot win in the show ring.

The Golden is supposed to be a mid-to-large size dog, suitable for sitting in a duck blind all day with, as well as small enough to be able to haul over the side of a boat all wet (after a retrieve). The standard has a range of acceptable sizes, for females it is 21 1/2-22 1/2 inches at the shoulder, for males it is 23-24 inches at the shoulder, with an inch allowance either way. So, just in size, if you have a small female (which could be 20 1/2 inches, about 45 pounds) and a large male (which could be 25 inches, about 95 pounds) there is a BIG difference. Now, if you add variations in coat, which may come from the "type" of breeding, you can get quite a physical difference.

Official Standard of the Golden Retriever

The Board of Directors of the American Kennel Club has approved the following revised Standard for Golden Retrievers submitted by the Golden Retriever Club of America, Inc., to be effective September 1990:

General Appearance -- a symmetrical, powerful, active dog, sound and well put together, not clumsy nor long in the leg, displaying a kindly expression and possessing a personality that is eager, alert and self-confident. Primarily a hunting dog, he should be shown in hard working condition. Over-all appearance, balance, gait and purpose to be given more emphasis than any of his component parts.

Faults: Any departure from the described ideal shall be considered faulty to the degree to which it interferes with the breed’s purpose or is contrary to breed character.

Size, Proportion, Substance -- Males 23-24 inches in height at withers; females 21 1/2–22 1/2 inches. Dogs up to one inch above or below standard size should be proportionately penalized. Deviation in height of more than one inch from the standard shall disqualify. Length from breastbone to point of buttocks slightly greater than height at withers in ratio of 12:11. Weight for dogs 65-75 pounds; bitches 55-65 pounds.

Head -- broad in skull, slightly arched laterally and longitudinally without prominence of frontal bones (forehead) or occipital bones. Stop well defined but not abrupt. Foreface deep and wide, nearly as long as skull. Muzzle straight in profile, blending smoothly and strongly into skull; when viewed in profile or from above, slightly deeper and wider at stop than at tip. No heaviness in flews. Removal of whiskers is permitted but not preferred.

Eyes -- friendly and intelligent in expression, medium large with dark, close-fitting rims, set well apart and reasonably deep in sockets. Color preferably dark brown; medium brown acceptable. Slant eyes and narrow, triangular eyes detract from correct expression and are to be faulted. No white or haw visible when looking straight ahead. Dogs showing evidence of functional abnormality of eyelids or eyelashes (such as, but not limited to, trichiasis, entropion, ectropion, or distichiasis) are to be excused from the ring.

Ears -- rather short with front edge attached well behind and just above the eye and falling close to cheek. When pulled forward, tip of ear should just cover the eye. Low, hound-like ear set to be faulted.

Nose -- black or brownish black, though fading to a lighter shade in cold weather not serious. Pink nose or one seriously lacking in pigmentation to be faulted.

Teeth -- scissors bite, in which the outer side of the lower incisors touches the inner side of the upper incisors. Undershot or overshot bite is a disqualification. Misalignment of teeth (irregular placement of incisors) or a level bite (incisors, meet each other edge to edge) is undesirable, but not to be confused with undershot or overshot. Full dentition, obvious gaps are serious faults.

Neck, Topline, Body

Neck -- medium long, merging gradually into well laid back shoulders, giving sturdy, muscular appearance. Untrimmed natural ruff. No throatiness.

Back line -- strong and level from withers to slightly sloping croup, whether standing or moving. Sloping back line, roach or sway back, flat or steep croup to be faulted.

Body -- well-balanced, short coupled, deep through the chest.

Chest between forelegs at least as wide as a man’s closed hand including thumb, with well developed forechest. Brisket extends to elbow. Ribs long and well sprung but not barrel shaped, extending well towards hindquarters. Loin short, muscular, wide and deep, with very little tuck-up. Slabsidedness, narrow chest, lack of depth in brisket, excessive tuck-up, flat or steep croup to be faulted.

Tail -- well set on, thick and muscular at the base, following the natural line of the croup. Tail bones extend to, but not below, the point of hock. Carried with merry action, level or with some moderate upward curve; never curled over back nor between legs.

Forequarters -- muscular, well co-ordinated with hindquarters and capable of free movement. Shoulder blades long and well laid back with upper tips fairly close together at withers. Upper arms appear about the same length as the blades, setting the elbows back beneath the upper tip of the blades, close to the ribs without looseness. Legs, viewed from the front, straight with good bone, but not to the point of coarseness. Pasterns short and strong, sloping slightly with no suggestion of weakness. Dewclaws on forelegs may be removed, but are normally left on.

Feet -- medium size, round, compact and well knuckled, with thick pads. Excess hair may be trimmed to show natural size and contour. Splayed or hare feet to be faulted.

Hindquarters -- broad and strongly muscled. Profile of croup slopes slightly; the pelvic bone slopes at a slightly greater angle (approximately 30 degrees from horizontal). In a natural stance, the femur joins the pelvis at approximately a 90 degree angle; stifles well bent; hocks well let down with short, strong rear pasterns. Legs straight when viewed from rear. Cow hocks, spread hocks, and sickle hocks to be faulted.

Coat -- Dense and water repellent with good undercoat. Outer coat firm and resilient, neither coarse nor silky, lying close to body; may be straight or wavy. Untrimmed natural ruff; moderate feathering on back of forelegs and on under-body; heavier feathering on front of neck, back of thighs and underside of tail. Coat on head, paws and front of legs is short and even. Excessive length, open coats and limp, soft coats are very undesirable. Feet may be trimmed and stray hairs neatened, but the natural appearance of coat or outline should not be altered by cutting or clipping.

Color -- rich, lustrous golden of various shades. Feathering may be lighter than rest of coat. With the exception of graying or whitening of face or body due to age, any white marking, other than a few white hairs on the chest, should be penalized according to its extent. Allowable light shadings are not to be confused with white markings. Predominant body color which is either extremely pale or extremely dark is undesirable. Some latitude should be given to the light puppy whose coloring shows promise of deepening with maturity. Any noticeable area of black or other off-color hair is a serious fault.

Gait -- when trotting, gait is free, smooth, powerful and well co-ordinated, showing good reach. Viewed from any position, legs turn neither in nor out, nor do feet cross or interfere with each other. As speed increases, feet tend to converge toward center line of balance. It is recommended that dogs be shown on a loose lead to reflect true gait.

Temperament -- friendly, reliable and trustworthy. Quarrelsomeness or hostility towards other dogs or people in normal situations, or an unwarranted show of timidity or nervousness, is not in keeping with Golden Retriever character. Such actions should be penalized according to their significance.

Disqualifications -- 1. Deviation in height of more than one inch from standard either way. 2. Undershot or overshot bite.