Golden retriever advice on everything!

[Pinkbear]

Hi there
Have a cocker lab cross who's 3 and lost our pure lab at 15 at the beggining of the year

Have seen a local breeder has golden retriever puppies

I'm wondering about how others have found temperament as appears to the lab are they simalar dogs how are they wih children

As a dog owner already I already do walks etc... And know the drill wih puppies

I basically need to know am I crazy to consider it? I've always planed o get another lab at some point but alway thought retrievers are really beautiful dogs and I've never sent them advertised locally before

[Housewifefromheaven]

I had one (well my parents) and she was beautiful. Patient, kind (except with the Sunday roast lamb bone) and a great friend.

She lived till she was 15 and I miss her! I have a pug now but I still think of Rosie.

[GROOVEYCHICK]

we have a 15 month old and he is a darling .he is the most placid thing ever and loves us all so much
he is fab with children and so gentle my god daughter used him to help her stand when she started to walk ;loves other dogs and when we go out sits looking as though hes a dog trust advert and the retreiver welcome is so funnyit can only be a minute and they think you have been gone all day lol

[twojues]

I sadly lost my golden retriever last May. He was just over 14. I had 3 smallish children (3, 5 and 8) when we got him and I also childmind so in the 14 years I had him, lots of children came and went.

He was the most beautiful, calm, laid back dog. A lot of the babies I looked after learnt to stand up by holding on to his fur round his neck. I have lovely photos of him being cuddled by the kids.

Obviously, they need training, but as you are an experienced dog owner, you shouldn't have problems.

We got a labxcocker spaniel when the retriever was 7 and also had cats. He never told the puppy off and was such a gentle creature.

I now have the lab cross who is nearly 9 and a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who is 18 months. They again are very laid back, but not quite as much as the Retriever.

Good luck with what you decide x

[Inthepotty]

You need to shout of for midori, she's usually hanging around here and is a goldie breeder.

[Pinkbear]

Thanks all of you

I am starting to be convinced

I think I would prefer a more laid back lab style to the in your face spaniel (or maybe that's just my experiences with the ones I've known)

Are golden retrievers how do I put it.., I find my lab x has the spaniel brain constantly wirring trait that my freinds springer also had whilst the labs I know are more intrested in what's for dinner not trying to create fun for themselves if that makes sense!

Also what energy levels do they have I know my spaniel goes slightly mental without a good airing at least once a day with a good run to lose all his energy (got a great dog park here for that) we're as my lab was happy to potter about gently even in her younger days

I realise non if this makes sense

[GROOVEYCHICK]

ours has ten mins morning then half hour afternoon just road walking and then a good walk in the woods or the big field by us but he will cope with as much or as little as you give him but all are different i guess x
he loves the cats and if im in all day apart from playin with the cats he just sleeps and farts lol x

[Bossybritches22]

Not had a pup but our goldie is SO laid back, family dog. Loves.as.much walks as u can manage but happy with a quick road walk if yr busy.

Basically a family dog loves company only downside as they get older is the bloody fluff balls!!

[Bramblesinafield]

I have a ten month old retriever and love him to bits. He is mostly chilled, but also very very enthusiastic. They're a great breed.

[Toomanychoices]

I have a 9 month old golden retriever. She is lovely, calm in the house, very energetic on walks and absoutely amazing with the children. She adores water and is a super swimmer. The only downside to her is that the minute she is off the lead she rolls in poo (yuk)

[midori1999]

I breed/show/love Golden Retrievers.

Obviously I am biased, they are wonderful dogs though. I would find it very hard to ever have another breed, they are just so easy. They are placid but very, very friendly. Temprement is very important within the breed. They treat everyone they meet like a long lost friend.

Ideally they need two hours of walks a day, including off lead exercise, but in reality most kept as pets probably do get less than that and cope. They would be fine if they missed the odd walk due to children being ill etc, although obviously it's better if you can take them out. They will walk forever and equally lay by (or on!) your feet the rest of the time.

They mostly love water and the only time my recall fails if if there is water to jump into. They could also find a wet. muddy puddle in the sahara.

However, without wanting to put a dampener on things. It is extremely rare for a reputable Golden Retriever breeder to have puppies available after they are born. It does happen, of course, people drop out, but most have waiting lists and so puppies are booked before being born. There are also an awful lot of unscrupulous people breeding Goldens and a lot of badly bred ones have temprement problems now too sadly. It's really important to find a good breeder. If I can help at all you can pm me. (I should point out, I have no litters planned myself at any time in the next few years!)

[Bramblesinafield]

Oh how true, midori!

My ten month golden's recall failed today - river, cow poo, fun pack of dogs to frolic with. All I could offer him was cheese. No. Tomorrow we're going back with chicken and ham, having had some really great positives with recall back at home - minimum distract and we'll work back up again.

He is so funny that its 'yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir' as soon as I have the food of choice n hand!

[Pinkbear]

Well my dog loves the water there's a pond in the park that is great for them swimming in
He spend the day in the the sea today as well so sounds like his kind of freind

Now the puppies are kc registered there are 5 available mother is from here (north) and sire is from down south does that sound dodgy what should I look out for ?

[MaryZed]

Ours was a wonderful, gentle dog. We got him originally as my son has Asperger's and at the time was 8 and very unhappy.

He used to spend hours in the garden with the dog, wrestling, playing on the trampoline, they were lovely together.

But (and this is a big but) he wanted an extraordinary amount of exercise. dh was running marathons at the time, and the dog would go training with him, so he would run up to ten miles off lead along canals and in woodland. He also swam a lot in the local river, and particularly liked the white-water weir set up for canoists. He was a very strong swimmer (inland or sea).

He would get very antsy if he didn't get a lot of exercise (if dh was injured for example) and at those times he would try to get out of our half-acre fenced garden. We surrounded the garden with a 5 foot fence, and he used to be able to climb it.

Recall took a lot of training, and still failed occasionally - he had a thing for deer and for fox-poo .

The best thing about goldies is how they recognise each other. I don't think I ever went for a walk that we wouldn't see at least one other goldie, and the dogs would make a bee-line to talk to each other.

Ours sadly got mouth cancer and had to be put down two years ago. ds was almost inconsolable, as were the rest of us. I won't ever get another.

[Catsmamma]

I have had crosses, both lab/Gret, one half/half and one threequarters/one quarter.

There is something different about them compared to full labs, so biddable and easy, you do feel they are paying attention and learning and that they know what you mean when you ask for a Sit/Stay or whatever, rather than just doing something and hoping for the best! ;)

[midori1999]

Stud dog and bitch living far apart is a good sign, but 5 puppies left available would ring alarm bells for me. KC reg is good, you won't find a decent breeder who doesn't KC register, but it's not a mark of quality alone sadly, plenty of dreadful breeders so KC register.

I am just feeding the baby to sleep at the moment, so it's hard to type too much, but if you want to PM me with the breeers name/kennel club affix and/or the stud dog's name then I may know of them and be able to reassure you.

[MaryZed]

It is odd that there are five, isn't it.

Where I am (Ireland) any good breeders have a waiting list before the puppies are even born. They are like gold-dust, goldies from good breeders.

[greeneyed]

Oh dear not sure I should comment - well where do I start? first off i should say I love my boy so much - As far as I am concerned he is my hairy adopted son. (with special needs!)

Good points

He's a big beautiful bear and his brown eyes melt you.
He's good with my 3 yr old who he allows to climb all over him.
He's a good house dog - boy does he bark!!

Bad points

Of course all the usual stuff with fox pooh, eating dead animals poo, rolling etc hair dirt etc but that's just being a dog and doing doggy things

Barking ear split-tingly loud and usually for attention, he also grumbles all the time but this is just funny, he is extremely vocal. if he was a man you would definitely say he is entitled, he thinks he's entitled to everything :)
He is "known" locally for stealing food, raiding picnics and can often be found upside down in a council bin. - Now retrievers are food obsessed but i guess you'll be used to that with labs!
He is completely stubborn and often has sit down/lie down protests, generally ignores commands and pleases himself.
Despite being incredibly well socialised and every dogs best friend when he was younger he has now become aggressive towards dogs on the lead or behind gates, never when they can actually get to him as he is really just a big wuss.
He is horrendous when people come to the house, barking and jumping for ages, this is a bit of a nightmare with elderly relatives or kids who he could just bail over!
The first two years were hell and my garden came off worse.

He is known by my family and friends as various things, i.e the monster, the beast, brutus etc

Now before you all jump up and down and say well that's how I've made him - we got him from a very reputable breeder took loads of advice followed the books, puppy classes etc but that boy was entitled from the moment he walked through the door :)

Now would I swap him for the world - no!

In addition I have family members who have had two other males who have had very similar traits, I've also had a bitch and she was the opposite, the most obedient people pleasing dog on the planet (a bit boring to honest) I wanted a bitch and couldn't even get my name down for one for love nor money, was persuaded by the breeder that a dog would be just as good (despite my protestations about the two other boys I knew) Anyway I wouldn't change things - he IS a handful but almost daily I have a different dog story to tell and hopefully I'll be able to write a best seller like Marley and Me one day!!

[greeneyed]

Oh and midori if you are our breeder can we have our money back please! :)

[MaryZed]

Um, greeneyed, have you considered neutering?

I'm not sure if it is a sin to confess this here, but we had our neutered at about 2 1/2, because we had a family down the road with lots of bitches, and there seemed to be always one in heat which sent him bonkers.

He was much happier and more obedient after that. But we had to train continuously - he could do it, he knew exactly what he should do, he was just too intelligent to obey sometimes. And he was unbribeable.

Having said that he never jumped up, ever (that was important as we had a lot of children coming to the house), he would always "wait" until released, and he didn't bark (much).

My kids called him the hoover, though, which he was.

[greeneyed]

He is neutered didn't seem to make a blind bit of difference though at least I don't have to worry about him going off in search of bitches as well as food! I know we need to do a LOT of work with him but we just dont seem to be able to commit the time to it at the moment and we just live with it all - he's not all bad, he's fine to be left can get a 10 minute walk or a two hour one doesn't really make any odds to him, good in the house etc - the main problems are around other people so they all think he is horrendous whereas most of the time at home he's fine. Doesn't help when we want someone to look after him for us though there's a resounding chorus of "no" :)

[MaryZed]

Oh dear.

I have to say, exercise was the answer for ours.

An hour a day off lead, at least, kept him sane.

A bit like dh, actually; if he doesn't train every day, he gets horrible.

[FlouryWhiteBaps]

Our boy is 7.5, his nickname is the Hairy Hoover, and he is just gorgeous. We got him when he was four, and he cured our dc of their nervousness around dogs (which was threatening to develop into a phobia tbh) within days of his arrival.

He's a huge, gentle, daft, affectionate, greedy mud-magnet who loves nothing more than walking around with dh's toxic socks in his mouth and thinks in his head he's a dainty lapdog; any attempt I make to get down on the floor to play with the dc results in a seven stone chunk of dog flopping onto my knee eager to give my ears a good wash.

You can't go wrong with a Goldie but I'd be taking up Midori's kind offer regaring checking out the breeder if I were you.

[Bossybritches22]

Oh my Goldie "grumbles " too- if you aren't being quick enough getting the food out/ wellie's on, it's quite funny!

Mine also does a little dance too when excited, skitters around like a supermodel in kitten heels as soon as she hears us get up in the morning & then sits at the bottom of the stairs grumbling till breakfast is served!

[Bramblesinafield]

Mine chats all the time and gets very excited about walks or food. We're lucky to have some great offlead places nearby, lots with water.
My youngest has medical needs and was getting very self conscious. Our boy has brought him out of himself and given him his confidence back.
Out with meaty snacks today to work on that recall.

[midori1999]

greeneyed at risk of sounding like a 'scary dog breeder', if I bred your puppy I will gladly give you your money back in return for your dog so I can properly train him... you can even have him back afterwards as it's obvious how much you love him!