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.

@solvendie, your boy is absolutely beautiful and exactly what the GR of our dreams would look like! I love a properly golden GR, such a gorgeous colour. Nice that his coat is slightly less high-maintenance, too.

Thanks everyone for all your nice posts! On the one hand, you have confirmed my worst fears re. water, mud and dirt. On the other hand, not a single poster has expressed regret or vowed to get a less high-maintenance dog the next time around, so I can only conclude that all the mess, baths and brushing must be very much worth it! I’m sure I can get used to a slightly grubby house quite quickly in return for a cute pup. I’m very far from a Mrs Hinch at the best of times and our house is never really visitor-ready anyways.

We’ll give the cats plenty of time to settle into the new surroundings before we start looking for a responsible breeder. I might come back to update the thread with pictures of a GR puppy at some point!

I’m completely biased as I have a chocolate lab who absolutely adores water but will recall mid swim/splash. I mean he will come bounding at you at speed and then shake himself dry right in front of you which means you get soaked too. But after a towel rub down he’s dry and surprisingly clean.

Oh, another gorgeous dog, @LeroyJenkinssss ! He looks very sweet and like butter wouldn't melt.
What is it with dogs always shaking themselves dry right next to you, though?! All our dogs used to do that as well - they must think they're doing their humans a favour!

@KittensAtTheGates oh no, absolutely no regrets. Ours is only 16months and I get weepy at the thought of him not being around in a decade or so! I’ve also never owned a dog before and I don’t think I would own anything other than a golden retriever now