Golden retriever for next year? Where to start

[stilllovingmysleep]

We would like to start planning and researching so that we can hopefully get a Golden Retriever next year. This is our first choice based on research so far but open to suggestions

Don't know where to start! So looking for ideas and advice

Some facts:

We have a harden, have parks and woodside nearby
We have a DS 12.5 and dog he really prefers puppy to shelter dog (DH would prefer older shelter dog)
DH and I both work hard but we work at different times, each has long slots WFH and someone is always at home 3 pm until 6 pm when DS comes home from school
We have 2 experienced professional dog walkers on our street who also have dogs stay. That's important as we are thinking about travel.
Do dogs by the way ever travel with families when it's to another European country? Or not a good idea?
That's a general question I have as both DH and not English and travel to Europe to our country or origin a few times a year

We also have a cat! She's 3 years old, a very sociable and opinionated indoors ragdoll. So that's a basic question for me- how will she feel with a puppy coming in?

We are expecting if puppy comes next year to take time off work for a while maybe a couple weeks?

Any ideas and advice welcome. DH has had dogs before; I haven't

Sorry meant we have a DS age 12.5
We have no other dog, just the cat

And I suppose I didn't ask the most obvious question. Where to even begin looking for good breeders?

Champdogs is a good place to start as is the breed club.

Under no circumstances should you buy from pets 4 homes. With the possible exception of a few the vast majority on there are from puppy farms etc.

Goldens are wonderful dogs. Fab with children, easy to train. They are hairy mud sponges though, and can get smelly. If you don't like hoovering twice a day then maybe give them a swerve.

They need a moderate amount of exercise (less than a spaniel or a border collie, more than a French bulldog for example)

Your cat will adapt to the puppy but make sure the cat has its own space that the puppy cannot access (upstairs so you can use a stair gate to separate them) and don't let the puppy chase the cat as once they've done it once they will think it's a great game and it's harder to train out than to prevent.

Good luck in your search.

In my experience once you've had a Goldie you'll never have another breed. They really are wonderful

Hopefully this should reassure you with regards to the cat question!

(Posted it on the other retriver thread running too as I saw you had posted on there)

Also one of my boy just because he's so handsome 😅

Following with interest! We are also wanting a retriever. But are in no rush, want a good breeder and want to do the research. Such beautiful dogs with a lovely temperament

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

Hopefully this should reassure you with regards to the cat question!

(Posted it on the other retriver thread running too as I saw you had posted on there)

Also one of my boy just because he's so handsome 😅

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady what a gorgeous boy!!!!! And your cat

What about this difference between "working" and "show" GR? Any advice?

And any advice on boy or girl?

More questions.

Went to champ dogs. Overwhelming!! What health tests are necessary?

Have a look at Champ dogs and reputable breeders from Kennel Club. We have a 13 year old GR and a 9 month old GR, who joined us in June this year. Its been ideal as she has learned her behaviour from our older girl - the gentlest softest doggo on the planet. She is fully toilet trained now with an amazing temperament. Still working on recall though- I couldn't let her off lead yet. Lockdown has meant not socialising with other dogs as much. They need company, but they also need plenty of excersise. We are often on a good 5 or 6k walk. I work from home so its ideal. Do bear in mind when little they are a bit of a mare. Its like having a tiny baby.You are up multiple times in the night and its very full on, especially the biting/shark phase (teething) this seems like it will never end, but like with babies, it does! Superb dogs all round x

@Onesipmore

Have a look at Champ dogs and reputable breeders from Kennel Club. We have a 13 year old GR and a 9 month old GR, who joined us in June this year. Its been ideal as she has learned her behaviour from our older girl - the gentlest softest doggo on the planet. She is fully toilet trained now with an amazing temperament. Still working on recall though- I couldn't let her off lead yet. Lockdown has meant not socialising with other dogs as much. They need company, but they also need plenty of excersise. We are often on a good 5 or 6k walk. I work from home so its ideal. Do bear in mind when little they are a bit of a mare. Its like having a tiny baby.You are up multiple times in the night and its very full on, especially the biting/shark phase (teething) this seems like it will never end, but like with babies, it does! Superb dogs all round x

Thanks @Onesipmore that's helpful!

For how long does the tiny baby phase last?

@stilllovingmysleep well, we collected her at 9 weeks and it didn't start immediately ! Its a bit like having a baby, you block out the bad/painful bits ! A few months (google teething) I think it stopped as her milk teeth came out. All the family had to be on board with how to deal with it. Giving frozen carrots to soothe sore gums, not reacting, replacing your hands and feet with a chew toy, praising her when she didn't bite etc. Its a real commitment. She now takes a treat so so gently. They are clever dogs and we did lots of brain training with her at the start ie ditched the food bowl to use the food for treats during games. It wore her out and distracted her. We also crate trained her, which worked brilliantly. She has just this week progressed out of that - so if she wants to sleep in it she cam, or she can snuggle up to our older dog, who she adores :)

@stilllovingmysleep

What about this difference between "working" and "show" GR? Any advice?

And any advice on boy or girl?

Working dogs generally have a higher prey drive and need more exercise/stimulation than show, but this is a generalisation and you'll get exceptions on either side. Working dogs are generally smaller/thinner build as well.

As far as boys and girls go, I really think it's personal preference :) I don't have a GR but we always wanted a boy - mainly because we didn't want to deal with any seasons, lol. Again, boys will generally be bigger/heavier but there always exceptions.

I have working-line gundogs and they are very high-input. Bloody pains in the arse around the house if they don't get some brain work as well as exercise, and an absolute joy to own if they are happy and fulfilled. I find them a lot of fun but they are not for the fainthearted.

IME working line GRs are much deeper colour than the show-line ones - a lot of the show-line ones are almost white, the working line more golden.

I'd phone a few breeders and stud dog owners and go from there.

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman

I have working-line gundogs and they are very high-input. Bloody pains in the arse around the house if they don't get some brain work as well as exercise, and an absolute joy to own if they are happy and fulfilled. I find them a lot of fun but they are not for the fainthearted.

IME working line GRs are much deeper colour than the show-line ones - a lot of the show-line ones are almost white, the working line more golden.

I'd phone a few breeders and stud dog owners and go from there.

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman are these golden retrievers? Not sure what "gundogs" are I'm sorry

While I also don’t recommend pets4homes for buying, they do have a really good breed info area which will tell you everything you need to know about medical checks, breed lineage and basically everything you will need to know. It is also really useful as a pros and cons list of each breed which is good for checking out other breeds. I think you can also sort by doggy variables e.g. low barking, shedding etc.

Not GR but our working line lab was VERY hard work, and the tiny baby phase lasted about 2.5 ( possibly 13) years 😂.

My last one was working type, current one is more show type but a slightly darker colour than a lot of the show ones.

Show type definitely calmer (but still a handful until they mature)

Not much difference between dog or bitch generally.

However with the 3 I've had:

Bitch - very good with young children but could be aggressive with teenagers and men. Very stubborn (once bit my dad when she didn't want to get out of the car) liked to run away and wander the streets. Always came back though.

Boy #1 - great with kids. Great in general actually. Quite nervous, hated fireworks and being in the car.

Boy #2 - extremely loyal, bit of a one woman dog. Great with kids (If he's not knocking them over by accident)

@stilllovingmysleep, 'gundogs' covers all the breeds developed to work 'under the gun' - the spaniels, who find and flush game (cockers, springers etc), the retrievers, who bring game back to hand (goldens, labs, flatcoats), the pointers and setters who find, indicate and flush, and the hunt-point-retrieve breeds (German pointers, Vizslas etc).

In some of these breeds (particularly the British ones) there is a very marked split between show and working lines in both character and appearance. In general, working line dogs are ambitious, driven and very energetic, much more so than the average show-line dog of the same breed.