Golden Retriever puppy... come at me with all your best advice, warnings and thoughts please!

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After thinking long and hard for many years we have decided the time is right to get a dog. A golden is the best fit for our family because we have one 8 yo DS who is quite shy but very loving. We also have access to several great big parks on our doorstep which we absolutely love. I’ve been in contact with a registered breeder and she’s planning a litter in the autumn, which is perfect because it’s after our summer holiday and also DS will be turning 9 then.

Someone will be home with the dog all day so it won’t be left for long periods of time I guess unless whoever was home needed to go for a doctor visit or somewhere you really can’t bring a pupper!

So... come at me with it. I suffered badly with PND and so I am a bit worried about ‘puppy blues’ that will come with this big life change. I want to use the time I have now to make sure I’m as well read and prepared as I possibly can be. I expect this to be as big a life change as having a baby, so I want all your stories and tips; the good, the bad and the ugly.

Thank you so much

We have a goldie. She's fabulous, but boy was she hard work until she was about 2. I thought it was just me as I thought I was really well prepared, did all of the puppy classes, but she was VERY naughty. I went to a gundog trainer with her when she was about 4 months old and he told me he'd never met a dog that young that was so wilful. I worked really hard with her, and although she can still be a bit bouncy, she's SOOOOO much better and calmer. I used his mantra of 'always or never' throughout her puppy phase - ie NEVER let your dog do something you don't want them to do, even once, otherwise they will think they can ALWAYS do it!

When we got her, my children were 11, 10, 8 and 6 and they found the early days a bit scary as she would get very excited and nippy. We worked very hard on only letting her chew 'legal' things - toys, cardboard, antlers etc, but not 'illegal' things like shoes, slippers, chairs etc! Stockpile some loo roll inserts and cardboard tubes, boxes etc, that they can chew on when they are teething and I did use a crate so that she had an escape/safe space away from the children!

Another useful piece of advice was to have a Kong ready for the mornings or times when you need to be doing other things (making packed lunches etc) and so the dog can be kept safely busy.

And yes, do take lots of photos. I have hardly any of her as a tiny puppy - they grow so fast!

We went to visit a friends golden retriever puppies today. I've no advice but they were super cute!

Awwww. They are gorgeous!

Forgot about spaying - I asked several friends with retrievers, and vets, and read a fair amount, and there is so much information and counter information, so I ended up with the broad consensus which was if you are definitely not going to breed, then let her have her first season and then have her spayed. Which is what we did.

How many did you take home with you, Dakota?

If not, how on Earth did you manage to resist?

Dakota, they are gorgeous! So lovely and dark.

My last boy was darker working type but current pup is much lighter show type and so far much calmer...we will see if that lasts!

This is my boy

They are awesome doggos. Ours is 18 months old now.

She had to frisk us before we left they were so cute and squeaky. This was them two weeks ago

We have a golden he’s almost 8 Honestly I wouldn’t even say you need much advice, I think the breed are so clever! Our golden is a dream dog. Only 2 issue 1) He’s so big brings in the biggest muddiest paw prints ever!! Not he’s fault obviously, 2) Get a good groomer- once your pup gets a little older without regular grooms hair will be everywhere!! Brush your pup daily get him used to it we brush ours down at least once every other day to keep on top!! Treats are the way to a golden heart when it comes to training!! X

Great choice of breed, for a family dog.

Any puppy will be really hard work for atleast 18mths, you have to expect things to be chewed etc. Housetraining varies depending on the puppy but again hard work, you will get used to being in the garden a lot! Goldies also moult all year round. So a good Hoover is needed.

But they are lovely loyal dogs.

Good luck OP.

My golden retriever is 2 1/2 years old and is absolutely amazing. I put a lot of time and effort in to training and it really paid off.

Sit, stop, wait and leave are the important stuff.

Lie down, roll over, high five, share, say hello, please and sorry are the bonus ones.

One fail when I told her to wait but not stop and she didn't. She had been trained to stop then wait and I did it wrong so she did .

She can count too. Is a routine dog which is great in some ways and some make me give a wry smile. Do something once and she thinks that's the way now.

Get a clicker.

I've got an extendable lead if you want one. Used once and she didn't like it.

Spaying - we were going to let her have two seasons before having the op but she was so out of sorts by it we decided there wasn't enough benefit to a second season to make it worth putting her through another one. She can't be spayed until three months after her season stops. Keep a close record. A friends dog came into season again before she'd had time to get her dog done.

Mine wore a T-shirt type thing with poppers around her back end. Much nicer than a light shade.

These photos are sheer torture.

I'd just like to repeat some advice that MissBattenburg gave upthread.
Socialisation is very important, and that means exposing your puppy to lots of experiences, within the scope of what she can cope with...it does not mean letting your puppy play with every dog it meets. You want your dog to be sociable which often means walking calmly past other dogs. You don't want to end up with a dog obsessed dog who is constantly on the lookout for it's next playmate and hurtles off at the drop of a hat whenever she spots a dog in the far distance.
I've seen too many dogs either turn out like this or get themselves into a fight when they're adolescent and still think they can rush up to adult dogs who are far less tolerant of doggy bad manners.
I would seek out a few nice, good tempered dogs, for your dog to meet, and then practice calling your dog away and rewarding them for coming to you. Far more important than learning to rampage round, although it is lovely to watch 2 dogs playing nicely together.