Any golden retriever families who can advise before I get a puppy?

[wildery]

Hello all, first-time potential dog owner here (DP has had dogs before). After a few years of waiting and planning, we've decided to go for it and have settled on a golden retriever. Now looking at pups and researching their family lines. Is an elbow score of 2 anything to be concerned about, and is an inbreeding coefficient of 14% not ideal? Anything else I should particularly be aware of. Thanks in advance for any help!

You have had good advice on hip/elbow scores etc so I will add the following.
Hair, lots of hair
Mud, they will find even the smallest patch and they arent easy to clean
BIG dogs and need to be treated with respect, they may look like teddies but arent. One of mine badly injured a GSD that tried to start a fight with him.
Clumsy, be careful around small children - my youngest was a large 7 and struggled a bit with puppy play.
Can resource guard (my most recent one did which was a shock as my previous 3 didnt)
Greedy
Can easily put on weight, which isnt good given their propensity for arthirtis later on
Stubborn, and you cant physically move them
Very clever, they will work things out (especially if food related)

They are wonderful though - go from majestic to derpy and back again in a minute!!! I wouldnt have any other breed

Again though, that’s just how your friend has trained (or not trained) them.

None of mine have ever chewed a thing they shouldn’t . Two of have gone to as puppies but have been trained not to immediately and consistently.

I’ve never had anything in a garden dug or destroyed. A firm “no” as puppies for a few days if they try and they get it fast.

They have always had a contained area when not supervised which means they didn’t get into a habit of being destructive - there was nothing other than appropriate chew toys to touch.

My dogs have also never tried to touch children’s toys after the first week or so. I work hard to train them that they can only touch dog toys that are given to them. I’m currently sat with my 3 and a half year old playing with duplo occasionally chucking the odd bit around, and a 12 week old GR who has learned to completely ignore it. She looks, looks to me and I say, “calm”
and she knows to go back to sleep/back to her own chew toy. It just takes consistency.

”drop” is also the first command I teach for the times when the do pick up something they shouldn’t. My 12 week old will now drop something from across the garden during training sessions.

I had a friend who would despair that her dog would chew furnishings and children’s toys and books when ever she went out - yet she refused to train him out of it, it tried half heartedly to train, refused to crate train or keep him in a safe, confined area when she wasn’t there as she thought it was cruel to restrict him. It’s the opposite, it’s cruel to treat an animal like a human and allow them to carry on unrestricted.

My Goldie wasnt very destructive - we taught "leave it" very early

Stubborn, and you cant physically move them

Oh, this 🤣 one of mine was from a long line of show champions. She would not get dirty. Ever. She would refuse to walk through mud. If we came to a large puddle, she would dip her dainty little toe in and whine until we eventually picked her up and carried her over it or went another way or she would not move for anything. You could have dangled a roast chicken on the other side and she still would have refused to walk a step further.

She was only happy, standing like she was as Crufts being groomed and told how beautiful she was.

This was while her sister, who was her complete opposite and would be rolling in the same puddle getting mud everywhere and loving it.

Golden retrievers in general are known for being straightforward to train, placid and docile. Any dog will be an unstable nuisance if if you don't know how to train it and exercise it. But a retriever isn't difficult. They do love children but that doesn't mean children love them.

Yes, sometimes the "love" is over the top and bordeline inappropriate.
My Goldie had a thing about one of DDs friends (they were about 12 at this point) and would make a beeline for her and try and hump her whenever she came round.
He also enjoys licking toddlers in the face if they get too close

Just to echo an earlier post's advice about temperament, I have known several GR growing up, all of whom were well trained, gentle and wonderful with children. My PIL acquired theirs (from working lines) 3 years ago, spent very little time training it, and it has consistently growled and showed aggression towards other people and us, and has tried to attack DS twice. Their former trainer thinks the problem might be more deeply rooted in the breeding, but also frustration/boredom at being kept in a small inner city house without adequate stimulation. The working GR in particular is a highly intelligent and active breed that requires a lot of exercise and stimulation, a lifestyle that lacks this could lead to a lot of problems further down the line.

Not had a GR, but we've had a few GR office dogs at our dog-friendly office with a range of temperaments!

We had a gorgeous girl who belonged to a vet, she would sit next to you and demand you hold her paws. Heartbreakingly she had a sudden heart attack out on a walk one day and that was it, she was gone :( they got another GR a while later as a youngster and I have a video somewhere of him bounding around the office like a kangaroo, if there had been small humans in their family he would have sent them flying!

Another colleague had a much older GR who was an absolute angel and just wanted pets, she was a ROUND girl though and clearly loved her snacks. She adopted another rescue GR as a youngster and at less than a year old he was already substantially larger than her other GR, and took elephant sized poops on the office carpet to match 😖she started to wonder if he had Great Pyrenees in him as well as GR! He was rescued from being illegally imported I think so he was a bit of a mystery.

It might be a good idea to have a read through some of the profiles of rescue GR's to get an idea of some behavioural and health issues other owners have come up against, which has led to them ending up being signed over. Like this handsome guy, only a year old and already with hip dysplasia and resource guarding issues 😣https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/retriever-golden/3022457

I am on my 5th Golden retriever, and do not agree with that list at all, and I am not sure what makes you an expert.
They are extremely intelligent dogs, which makes toilet training easy. They are quick to learn and all mine have had excellent recall very early on.
Like all gun dogs they can become very mouthy as pups, but there are strategies to deal with this and it is only a phase. Apart from that they are excellent with children, gentle and loving.
Yes, they moult, but so do many other breeds and at least they do not need clipping every few weeks.
I never routinely treat for fleas or worms as I do not want my dogs poisoned by dangerous chemicals.
They do need 1-2 hours exercise a day but are generally quiet at home
The only real downside is when they die they break your heart forever.💔

Golden retrievers are my favourite breed.

I have working line bred ones and they are chalk and cheese compared to the show/pet lines who are much more relaxed (typically).

I wouldn't touch anything that has been bred from with an elbow score of 2. 0-0 or nothing at all.

Mine aren't walked for 1 - 2 hrs a day, they go out each day for around 30 - 45 mins, longer at the weekends, but they are working gun dogs and I compete all year round, so I train each time we are out.

People who are charging £3000 for a pup are greedy bastards, don't spend that on a GR pup. A well bred one would be in the region of £1800 - £2200 max anything else is daylight robbery.

They are very strong and about 30kgs so even when beautifully trained when they yank it can pull your shoulder

lovely and happy dogs but stubborn…will refuse and sit on a walk

hair everywhere

gigantic poos to pick up

When we chose our GR we were interviewed by the breeder to check we would be suitable owners. We met the puppy's mum, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma... there were about 7 of them altogether! All lovely friendly dogs. Dad was going through his range of tricks to get attention and Mum just plonked herself on DH's lap and made herself at home.

There can be resource guarding issues with them. Just remember "hands come to give not to take away" then you won't provoke it. Ours did chew a bit but not excessively for a puppy. There will be hair. Lots of hair. Little clouds of it wafting around the house. All our walks had to be a circuit. If I tried to turn around and come back the way we came he would not budge! He was a lovely gentle soul. I only heard him growl twice at other dogs his whole life and that was when they were approaching in a threatening manner. He was a doddle really. Looking back we made loads of mistakes with him but he was still a lovely dog.

It totally broke my heart when he died.

Ours weighs 39kg (vet happy with it), having come down from 41kg
He doesnt pull any more on walks but hes training not to get on the furniture so he assumes anyone at floor level is to be sat on instead

Moult continually, muddy breed to. Also needs lots of attention and exercise. If you can't commit to 90 mins of walks a day do not get one. They are a working breed and need to be active otherwise they get destructive through boredom.

Sorry to jump on this thread but you all seem knowledgeable GR owners.
My husband is obsessed with Monty Don's GR. What type are they as they seem much slighter than the GR I see.

Working line GRs are slighter and usually darker than the bigger, cream ones.

One of mine was from a working line, she was a lot darker and smaller but my god, she needed far more exercise than the younger, cream show line GR I had at the same time, who just wanted to sit and hug while the other was tearing around fields at high speed.

Pupdate! Hello, here I am nearly a year on. Thanks for all the really great advice, even though I ignored all your warnings - we did go for a golden retriever. Thanks to @conniecon who recommended that Facebook group, which we joined and found a great breeder. Couldn't be happier, even though we're now firmly into adolescent mischief, there has never been a muddy puddle she's ignored and her favourite food is doormat.

@wildery she is beautiful, I’m hoping for a golden retriever as my next dog

She is gorgeous - they really are the most loving dogs