Are we setting ourselves up for eternal wet dog hell? (Golden Retriever question)

[KittensAtTheGates]

DH and I are about to move out of the city and are toying with the idea of getting a dog. We are buying a house about a 300-yard walk from a large lake. It’s our absolute dream location as we both love water sports. The plan would be to start most mornings from May to October with a 40-minute swim or a bit of standup paddle-boarding before work (we both mostly work from home). Ideally, the dog would be in the water with us so everybody’s morning exercise would be taken care of. This would obviously require a water-crazy kind of dog, so a GR seems perfect and there are of course many more reasons to love the breed.

The one thing I’m slightly worried about, though, is that all the lovely walks near our future house are also close to the water or through bog land. I can deal with a wet dog once a day, but would most GRs take another bath at every opportunity they get? I have visions of coming home with a soaking, muddy, stinky dog about three times a day. I’ve heard that quite a few GRs play completely deaf once they see as much as a puddle. Is this just a lack of reliable recall issue or can you really not train them to only go into the water with permission? Also, how long do they take to dry?

Sorry for the ignorant questions. I grew up with dogs, but they all had very short coats and weren’t massively keen on water anyways.

Labs soak up at lot less water than a golden retriever. Black hides a lot of dirt too 😂 The golden retrievers we know seem to have a stubborn streak but I'm sure that's as much dog dependent as breed dependent.

If ours are wet we stick the drying coats on and they'll be dry in 40 mins.

We used to have a golden retriever and she was absolutely crazy about water. She had her own paddling pool in the summer which she would lay in all day 😁She was a really well behaved dog but there was no keeping her out of our local lake. Also be warned, they shed a lot and are definitely one of the stinkier breeds!
Having said all that, in my opinion they are THE best breed, so loving. She was my favourite dog of all time and I still well up when I think about her 7 years after we lost her

Lakes are prone to algae which kills dogs (my retriever was poisoned by it but did survive). Can you check if it ever gets it? Generally my retriever only goes in free flowing water.

I'm on my third golden, not had or known one that doesn't absolutely love water and/or mud baths. In my experience unless they're out in unseasonably warm weather they will stay wet all day. Even after a home bath/groom it take two hairdryers over an hour to get them dry & my goodness the smell and fluff hits you like a brick wall. That said, I wouldn't be without a golden retriever!

I have a Golden Retriever - my third - and she's old now, but has always loved water. Most of them do. If yours isn't on a lead then there's a good chance they'll head for the water unless you train them well from the offset with firm commands "NO" when they're lake bound. They are great dogs to train and if you start from when they've had their jabs and go to a good class then you'll have a well behaved dog.

Mine also loved the mud 😁 and it's a pain getting mud and dirt particles out of their long hair. They dry fairly quickly on a hot day if outside, but with no sun they can take a few hours after a towel dry to be completely dried out. Even after lake swims you'll have to bath them regularly or they'll get a bit smelly from the lake water.

They're fabulous dogs though, so if you can put up with the bathing and drying then go for it. Do get them trained with basic commands though - sit, down, stay, heel, no, etc.

This too. Important to make sure the lake isn't prone to algae.

I’d also worry about skin infections if the dog is constantly wet through.

They do lounge wear for dogs- I’m not joking.It’s like a big absorbent towel that goes around them which absorbs most of it.

I used to shower mine, towel and blow dry him, much to his disgust. I couldn’t do it daily though- no chance.

I can’t offer any advice, but I do think there should be more golden retrievers in the world. There were loads when I was a kid. They are glorious dogs.

My golden is impeccably behaved.... until it comes to water. We actually call her swamp dog.

We've fostered several GRs. They are absolutely lovely dogs but there's a reason we now have 2 black labs instead! I really hate washing dogs, especially in winter.

Black labs adore the water and they mostly wipe clean with a quick towel-down, plus - unlike long-haired dogs or even our border terrier - they don't really smell when damp.

Yep our GR is in the water at every opportunity, the muddier and stinkier the better. We've taken to knowing where the muddiest puddles and bogs are on regular walks and popping her on the lead but she will usually manage to find another. And then gets out and dries herself by rolling around in yet more mud.
We hose her down in the back garden, and use a doggy hairdryer! And we also use one of the aforementioned dog dressing gowns.
If you want a dog to join on your water adventures though I can't think of a better breed, they are at home in the water!

Just a plug really for a different breed. Have you thought of an Italian water dog (Lagotto Romagnolo). They obviously love the water, are great swimmers, don't tend to shed and their coat can cope well with the water. They're not so common outside Europe but since winning best in show at Crufts their popularity is increasing.

My golden retriever is scared of water! This thread makes me think he is broken haha. He is the best doggy ever, so sweet and loving and snuggly. He is my best friend. I agree with the above poster who said there should be more goldens!!

Oh dear, many thanks for your many quite entertaining though slightly terrifying posts! Sounds like we'd never have a remotely clean house again. I'm pretty laid back (we have two British Shorthairs who shed like demons), so a bit of dirt wouldn't bother me, but the constant smell of wet dog may take a bit of getting used to.🙈Probably best to find some alternative walks a bit further away from the water. An no pond or paddling pool in the garden!

Good point re. algae! I think it's just blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) that's a problem? The water quality is thankfully excellent there and I've not heard of any issues with blue-green algae.

A Labrador might be slightly less high-maintenance, but DH is very much set on a GR. They seem such lovely dogs, so we may just have to live with all the mud and dog hair. And possibly put in a baby gate to keep the bedrooms a clean and calm refuge for the cats.

I'll look into dog dressing gowns, that might actually make a fun sewing project as well! We'll be putting in a downstairs shower next to the mudroom, so probably a good idea to make it dog-friendly as hosing down a dog outside probably wouldn't work in winter.

I've already read up on Lagotto Romagnolos and they sound like a great option and a very nice size as well, but I'm afraid we've fallen hard for the idea of a GR. DH was never a massive dog person but has made friends with our neighbours' (fairly clean, city-dwelling) GR and won't hear of anything else.

Not just the mud, they also stink most of the time if they go into swampy dirty water most days! And your house will smell too (you will become nose blind to it but visitors won’t 🤣)

I love GR's and I'm not adverse to a bit of mud and hair...but the thought of drying all that floof every day would be a bit much for me!

We have a springer who swims daily. She's fairly short coated (working lines so a bit less fur) and it takes a 1 minute towel rundown and then 5-10 minutes with the hairdryer and she's done.

Goldies love water, but they are the best dogs

It is not the smell of damp dog that gets to you, you really do get very used to damp dog. It is the smell of bog snorkelling dog after the farmer has been muck spreading that gets to you.

Springers are gorgeous as well and that drying time sounds very manageable!

I'm certainly not prepared to blow-dry a long-haired dog every day. I had hoped a towel rundown and then letting them dry naturally or putting them in one of those dressing gowns would be enough. We'll have underfloor heating, so the floors should be pleasantly warm in winter.

Not sure re. becoming properly nose-blind, unfortunately - and I'm really not very sensitive or precious! When I was a child we had three dogs at one point and I always thought the typical dog smell was quite noticeable. Maybe we should offer to dog-sit someone's GR for a few days once we've moved into the new house to see quite how bad the wet dog smell would be.

It is the smell of bog snorkelling dog after the farmer has been muck spreading that gets to you.

I still remember my childhood dogs rolling in cow dung and deer poo very clearly - vile and definitely a case for a bath! The smell is almost burnt into my nostrils, but I suppose it's all part and parcel of owning a dog, really.

Cow and deer are nothing compared to fox!

Mine missed the memo and is really not keen on water/ swimming. I have to throw treats into the paddling pool to encourage her in and even then she's sometimes - naaaahhhh I'll do my puppy dog look and she'll give the treats to me anyway.....
The wet dog smell is something else. But I'd put up with it all the live long day long for my affectionate, wonderful goofball.

I've had three goldies, all lovely lovely dogs. 2 (boys) were mad for the water and just went for it, no recall at all. One of them had to be rescued a couple of times when he couldn't scrabble back up the bank. Not fun, he was a big heavy dog, especially when wet. The third, and my secret favourite, wasn't bothered about water at all. She'd go in if encouraged and swim about a bit, then get out and wait for her brothers to eventually get out in their own time. Despite being water hounds, none of them were keen on going out in the rain.