Tell me about golden retrievers please

[Naicecuppatea]

My parents had a beautiful golden when I was growing up and I wouldn't want any other type of dog. We have 2 school aged children and I would love to get one now. Please remind me, what do I need to be expecting?

My parents had 3 and when we were in a position to get our own and it was the only breed for me and I now have a 10 week old boy.
He's as much of a pain in the arse as most puppies but very bright and loves cuddles too.
They are quite big and clumsy but my 11 and 7 year old can cope but smaller children may not, a good friend of my parents had their child badly injured by a Goldie purely by accident.
They are very people focussed and love company so you will need to be able to be with your dog most of the time.
Still, best dogs ever!!

I have a nearly 5 year old boy. For me I'd say remember they are very hairy and seem to moult constantly, they drool a lot and they are greedy!

However, they are lovely, affectionate, great with kids and I wouldn't change my boy for the world.

Thank you both! How long do you walk a day roughly? And are the kennel clubs the best place to look?

I have a GSDXRetriever, and my parents had pure GSDs when I was growing up. Because he's a rescue, it's hard to know whether the traits are inherent to him/his breeding or due to his background. But:

-He always likes to have something in his mouth when he greets us -a ball, a toy, a leaflet from an old medicine packet, a toilet roll inner....anything will do.

-He's quite sensitive. He doesn't like it if part of the family goes out and the rest stay in -he wants to be with us all. Similarly, if I go for a rest because my head is bad, he'll lay at the top of the stairs so that he can keep an eye on me and an eye on my DH/children.

-He's smart, but not a smart as the pure GSDs were. He seems to follow instructions rather than working things out for himself Whereas the pure GSDs would work out how to open gates, doors, etc., Trigger is happy to just mooch around.

-He's fantastic with small animals. We have chickens and they can be let out to roam while we clean their pen. He just looks at them and either settles down at the end of the garden or goes inside. He's great with the cat, too.

-He's very neat and tidy. He won't get up on the sofa if there is something on there. He waits for you to clear him a space.

Terrible land sharks as puppies. No one could sit on the floor without her losing the plot with excitement and nipping hard enough to bruise
Got over that with consistent rewarding good behaviour, distraction and standing up and turning away from her.
She can be a little nervy. Hates fireworks and raised voices.
She lies and pretends she needs the toilet when she wants to bin dip.
Ate a bed.
She is very loving
Has a whole vocabulary of growls when playing
Cheats when playing so she can give you playful nibbles.
Sheds like a tree in autumn
Gets upset if people aren't where she expects them to be
Will tolerate tickles for hours and complain if you stop
Makes you feel like you are her favourite thing in the while world.
Is always eager to play.
Very expressive.

IAmNot When you say ate a bed do you mean a dog bed or an actual single/double bed? I've just got this image of you getting home to find a DCs bed destroyed I know a lab that destroyed a sofa so it's not an impossible notion.

I think they're lovely dogs, I've never owned one but MIL had a lovely old one, he loved nothing more than a good old fuss. He was apparently a hole digger in his younger days.

They are blonde

I have a dog crush on golden retrievers. Currently have a black lab (aged 13) and a show cocker spaniel (5 months) and would like a goldie when the inevitable occurs. (That makes me sound harsh, but her litter brother died 8 months ago and although the puppy has perked her up wonderfully, she is a darling, stately old girl).

The only thing that worries me is their propensity to cancer, which I understand is a bit like flatties. :(

Gentle with children and small animals.
Mine was an excellent guard dog.
Greedy.
Canine dandelion clocks - his fur destroyed several vacuum cleaners.
Highly intelligent. Too intelligent. Learned new commands on third repetition but would ignore you if he couldn't see the purpose of what you were asking him to do. Had the vocabulary of a two year old.
Destroyer of dog beds - gave up buying him fancy beds and went with a hard plastic bed with a piece of vet fleece to line it.
Always smiling.
Wonderful family dog. He was the easiest dog we've ever owned.
Sadly missed.

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints She ate the middle and large outer chunks of a double memory foam mattress oh and she ate and buried lots of shoes.
She also loves to dig and roll in mud. The first 20 minutes of every walk has to be on lead as shes silly and over excited and the sense she normally has goes out the window and she runs around like a loon heedless of any dangers. After those 1st 20 mins shes very obedient however.

She has now grown out of shoe chewing and bed eating but will destroy cuddly toys and bury them and the 1st 20 minutes of a walk are still on lead only.
She spent most of the evening last night draped over my husband groaning for attention and doing a good impression of the worlds saddest dog. She wanted to lie on him and have her chin and chest tickled.

What does GSD stand for? Ah, they sound wonderful. Spaniel what a beautiful chap.

Just need to work out how to go about getting one now! Is through the kennel clubs the best way?

GSD= German Shepherd Dog. The best dogs in the world.

Here's mine:

Beautiful boy!

Stalking as I am also looking at a golden retriever .

My children are a little bit younger so we are considering waiting a year or two - does anyone have any experience of a Golden puppy with young children?

I work from home and the children are at school and nursery 3/4 days a week which makes me think it might be possible sooner rather than later...

We got ours when our son was 3 1/2 and it was fine. Here is my boy.

Where is the best place to get one from?

I'd always start by approaching the breed club, they should be able to put you in touch with breeders planning litters.

Being a very popular breed there's quite a number of regional clubs (list here) so you can always go straight to them rather than the national one.

If you'd consider a rescue but are set on a GR the breed clubs do run their own rescue, there's a list of rescue contacts for all the areas on the main club website.

Champdogs is also a pretty good starting point, you can filter their list of breeders by those with current health tests in place which is very handy.

Remember there's effectively two types of golden retriever - show and working

The show type are bigger, heavier, lighter blonde and usually a bit dim

The working type are much smaller, lighter, more athletic, and have a lot more drive

The two types are so different they might as well be separate breeds

Noits - thank you that is good to know. I would like light blonde one but I didn't know they were show types as I guess a working type would be better?

Not necessarily better, Elena, but if you were expecting a working dog to turn out like a show dog or vice versa you'd be very disappointed

Personally I much prefer the working type - the show ones are just too big and lumbering for me and the smaller, faster working types are A lot closer my dog (a Toller).

The only thing I'd worry about with a show type with young children is the sheer size and exuberance - small people will get knocked or pulled over but there wouldn't be any malice in it

Love our Goldie. She is almost 6 now. Best dogs but I am biased

Mine had a pure bred dad crossed with mum who was one quarter collie so she is a bit smaller than a pure bred retriever but just as hairy!!

Lovely pictures Cat :)

The intelligence of the working dog appeals, and yes I can see the children struggling with a bigger dog, although they are used to being around lab sized dogs its the puppy stage that I know will be a challenge!

I saw pics on another thread of the Toller - beautiful dogs.

The recommended sites to look for puppies are great , it will be later in the year we are looking so good to have all the information now to make sure we are choosing the right dog.

My husband grew up with them, I wanted a mutt like we always had in the family, he won :) have 2 DS, 6 and 4.
Ours is 10 mo old. Was on a list at a breeder (have a look at Champdogs). We couldn't choose in the end as the litter was small but he is just perfect. KC assured breeder, she wanted to meet us beforehand etc. £900. Everything tested for a few generations back.
He was a very good puppy, house training sorted out very quickly, but the breeder gave us a good start. Puppy classes essential. I started him off with gundog training, will continue when its warmer.
I do think he's fairly bombproof. I found a soscialisation checklist on the US GR forum and made sure I did it all.
It helped immensely with all training that he was a March baby, so by time he came home it was warmer.
Buy a good vacuum cleaner and lower your standards ;) but because their hair is long and soft rather than short and pointy (eg lab), it vacuums up easily and doesn't stick in everything, iykwim.
Invest in good quality food, really worth investigating that well, I'm convinced it makes a huge difference while they grow.
He only plays with his toys ans socks! He has not chewed up anything in the house ( bar a few crayons and a toy polar bear!) he has an Orvis bed that he loves and it was a great investment.
Doggy daycare once a week for diff stimulation/socialisation. He loves it.
Cannot keep him out of water. He swims and retrieves very well from water, he swims most days exept if there is ice (friends' dog drowned that way)
I tried to crate train but he absolutely hated it right from the start. Slept in it but as soon as I closed it he went ballistic. So now the kitchen is his 'crate' and I just close the door, he is fine. I was very very gentle with him right from the start, never left him to whine, lots of cuddles, train with food. So happy with how he is turning out. He is my shadow and follows me everywhere. No sep anxiety. I leave him for up to 4 hours with no problems (I slept downstairs with him for the first two weeks).
He almost never barks.
Apologies for the long post! Love my shagpile rug on legs!
Do research neutering very well. Think he'll have a vasectomy (already discussed with vet) and if there is bahavioural issues will get an implant, to remove when older when he needs the testosterone. My IL GR'ers was intact, the last one lived to 16.

Really informative post Gandalf - one question I had about leaving the puppy, I am out the house 2 or 3 times a day for 20 mins at a time to do school & nursery run in the car .

The fur does worry me but we have had long haired cats in the past so my standards are already low!

I could take the dog in the car , or is it better to slowly get them used to being alone building up to the 20 mins? DH is at home to help with some of them so we could stagger it and have relatives who could sit in the house who are dog friendly .