Calling all Golden Retriever owners....

[AuntyJackiesBrothersSistersBoy]

We’re hoping to get another golden in the next year or so. Just wondering whether the dog is more loving than the bitch? We have a 3 year old girl. She’s beautiful and we love her to bits. She’s always been quite independent though. She loves to play but can be quite possessive and growly. She’ll let you cuddle for a bit but then wanders off, as if to say, “enough!” This isn’t what I remembered my childhood golden to be like. Years ago, we had a dog who was very affectionate and loving.

Wondering whether anyone who knows the breed could say whether the boys are more affectionate and biddable?

TIA

My Goldie girl isn't much for cuddles but loves belly rubs. My young Goldie boy does like to be touching me in some way, mostly lying across my feet.

@EmMcK and @ JaimieLannister, that’s what our friends who breed/show/judge goldies said to us. We waited soooo long for a puppy and then my girl was available (she was the last in the little to be picked!). When we met her we could see why....she was very very fluffy, where the others were creamier and sleek 😊. We fell for her, and the rest is history. Three years later, and she is a beautiful girl.

DH has said he’d like another girl but I think I’ll be persuading him to have a boy.

Here’s mine on her first night home....

I had heard that males were more affectionate than females, but of course it will vary from dog to dog.
I have a male though, and he's simply the loveliest cuddliest boy.

They are all LOVELY!

They are ALL wonderful (such waterbabies) ..... will see what transpires, come the day!

Our 8 month old girl. Loves attention and adores the kids. Likes dogs and humans alike.

This is our 3yo boy, he’s the biggest softie and is a mummy’s boy. He thinks he’s a lapdog 😂

Mine is a working line boy. Nearly 8, but people think he is two when they see him out & about. At home he just wants to be cuddled and follows me everywhere.

That was last week, boiling hot day and he had tried swimming underneath a bog. Never seen anything like it.

Devilish here's the result of one of my boy's recent attempts to keep cool!

Ha ha - mine spent the entire winter as a bog monster. What is it with goldies & mud

We have a girl and she is forever seeking out attention and cuddles from us, particularly my husband when he’s around. It’s great - until you’re trying to do something 😂 Love her to bits.

😁😁😁 some fabulous goldens there, thanks for showing them off! They DO love the mud though. And mine likes nothing better than a slimy ditch/cowpats/and fox poo. Every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY is bath day 😐

Mine has the nicknames Hairy Hippo and Hairy Hoover. He's really old now so doesn't get the chance to wallow any more - I can catch him before he gets to the mud!

For all those of you who have been loving the GR pics on this thread, this shoould keep you going for a while...

😊 that’s a smorgasbord of GR’s. Thank you!

Margot, you have to let him, every now and then!

I must've hosed him down and tried to dry him off a thousand times - I just can't face it any more! He's happy to potter these days anyway. We walk past a stream with a steep bank which he used to scramble up and down for a paddle without a second's thought; nowadays he just peers over the side like he's saying "Not on your Nelly!" He's my lovely golden oldie 💗.

Margot, he’s beautiful. We see two goldies every morning on the College run. One quite a jaunty young thing and then a huge old bear of a dog. He plods on the road (close to the kerb) and the other one on the pavement. All the traffic makes way for him, he’s a permanent fixture (it’s NOT a busy road). I’ve no idea how old he is but I can see that he was once a very, very big goldie!

Ahh he sounds lovely. Our boy is huge too although he's lost muscle and isn't as solid as he was; still has a big blocky head and massive paws though. We saw a Bernese Mountain Dog bitch on a walk once and he was the same size and build. He was swimming in a woodland stream a few years ago and this little boy got so excited shouting "Mummy, there's a polar bear in the water!" .

He's nearly 14 now. Can't imagine being without him.
Good luck if you get another Goldie - the boys are the best .

I properly love my mud monster
I’ve had 4 Goldies now and can’t contemplate another breed
When DH finally agreed to getting a dog he specified it had to be small, not too hairy and non shedding - oh well!

Hopping 4 goldies! You must have a lot of love coming your way, on a daily basis 😊

Funny thing is, DH emphasised over and over again that it would be MY dog. HE wasn’t getting involved. Within a fortnight he was snuggling and rolling around the floor with her. They’re inseparable now. She goes to work with him, several days a week too. When on holiday, we saw quite a few goldens (Denmark) and he had to stop and talk to every one 😐. She WASN’T going to be allowed in the sofa or up stairs OR on the bed. Now, she does all three.

I saw a young boy we know on our field walk yesterday. He’s gorgeous and boisterous but with such a kind nature. He had a stick in his mouth and my girl ran over to him and he dropped it for her. She then ran off with the thing and every time he went back for it, she growled and ran off. Definitely a boy, I think!

I love this thread, I am owned by 2 goldies too.

I have fostered them in the past but am now one of the elite club known as The Failed Foster Club 😁

This is my oldie goldie, 14.5 daft as a brush & going slightly batty but as swet as ever.

auntie sadly not 4 at once - we would be drowned in a sea of hair, slobber and love ( and DH would probably leave)
I meant I have had 4 in my life

Dory, I’d end up with a houseful, if I was doing fostering. That’s quite a record isn’t it? 14.5!!! Wonderful. He has a fabulous coat still. Hopping, I see. This is my first. My parents had one when I was about 3 yrs old and I vaguely remember her. I’ve always loved them and knew that if I didn’t treat myself now, I’d never have one. We’ve had 3 years of her. It’s flown by. She’s the one sure thing that can make me smile when I’m having a colossally shit time.

Thank you everyone for the lovely pics!