golden retrievers

[raspberryberet7]

we have the chance to take in a golden retriever puppy (8 months). while i am a dog lover and dog owner my current dog is a king charles spaniel and very easy to look after. are golden retrievers hard work? can anyone tell me some pros and cons. i really would love to take her but dont want to get in over my head thanks in advance x

Why is this dog being rehomed? Some concerns here. They are big dogs and this is prime adolescent age. Training is likely to be an issue. You’ll have to start over. Are you ready for a big and bouncy hairy puppy?
Plus if it had come from a decent breeder the owner should be returning it to the breeder.

apparently they have a child with some sen that can't cope with the dog

GR are generally very biddable dogs. They need to 'work' to be a great dog and require lots of training.
They stay puppies for a looooong time and can be very mouthy .
But on the whole I would say they are good dogs.
Like a lot of bigger breads they can have problems with their hips.

Do you know why the current owner is getting rid of him / her ?
See If you can go to the dogs house and see how it interacts with its current owners, see if they will let you accompany them on a off lead walk so you can get a better idea of any issues.
Obviously make sure it gets on with your current pooch .
Don't commit until you are 100% sure you can handle it and have lots of time .
They can walk for miles !

Oh and the hair , Ee gods the hair !

Nope. You'd be mad (and I say that as a 4xGoldie owner and breeder)

Child and/or parents who can't cope and are re-homing a dog not through the local breed club only means one thing: behavioural issues. Why are they not going through the breed club? Or the dogs original breeder?

I'm a big fan of people rescuing, but it should be done properly - not private home to private home and certainly not with dogs that, at eight months, are strong enough to cause serious damage if there are issues.

Even assuming the dog doesn't have specific behavioural problems which are causing the need to be rehomed, retrievers are quite hard work. We have one and I'd say the downsides are that she's very excitable and friendly (as in, runs up to strangers, jumps up, tries to say hello to everyone she encounters), full of energy and needs a lot of exercise (2-3 hours a day at least). She went through a phase at about 8 months of being quite destructive and even now at 18 months we have to be really careful not to leave things within her reach. She's very hairy and sheds lots and she loves water and mud so it's a constant battle to keep the house presentable (she's a big fan of rolling in mud and then rubbing herself on the walls!) She's quite smelly as well.

On the other hand, she's the most beautiful, lovable dog ever, she's very patient and good with the kids, she's cuddly and easy to train (except for recall - she cannot ever ignore another dog and will absolutely not come back if she sees a potential pal). She toilet trained very easily and she almost never barks. She's the best. She's definitely harder work than a king Charles spaniel though.

LandSharksAnonymous is a breeder of Golden Retrievers, maybe @ her for advise (assuming she doesn't find this thread first). But as per PP, I would want to know why the breeder isn't taking the dog back because that is what good breeders do. And if they aren't a good breeder, I'd be concerned about other issues with the dog. Also the 'apparently' they have a SEN child sounds like you don't know the people, so that's also an issue - could be bull and it could be the dog already has issues that they don't want to deal with. Resource guarding for example.

Oh X Post - LandSharksAnonymous found you already!

My spidey sense tingled telling me there was a Golden Retriever thread to comment on😃

I would be very wary of this.
I have a GR and have had 3 previously so I love them to bits BUT they are big, smelly, hairy, clumsy and can resource guard.
They are also bitey little buggers and at 8 months are in prime arsehole territory.
Are they trying to sell it to you?

We adopted a golden at about eight months old and we loved him until he died at fourteen. I would say they are a huge commitment. He’ll need two good walks a day, one of them should preferably be through woods or something similar. They love to wallow in muddy puddles which means your house will stink of damp dog all day. The hair gets everywhere, your clothes will be covered at all times.
Yes, they generally do have a loving nature, but the teen years last a long time, training is essential, but they do suffer from selective deafness, so good luck with that.

Don't do it. We always had small dogs then got a black lab age 9 months he's now almost eight. While he's been a good boy and we love him we would never have a big dog again. They're a huge commitment on a scale far different to cavvies. Frequent walks in all weather too large for a dog flap.

They are also stubborn, they can just plonk themselves down if they don't want to do something and you can't move them.

thank you everyone for your advice i've decided to listen to you and forget the idea. my problem is im a soft touch when it comes to dogs but im leading with my head on this!

I think that's probably the best idea @raspberryberet7.
I know it's easy to fall in love with the idea of a pup , but the reality is they are hard work .
Plus you ( I presume) were not thinking of getting a dog before the owner told you about him .

Could you guide the owner to getting the pup a good home through a breed specialist or very reputable rescue center or he may well end up been given to a novice that likes the idea of a 'goofy' puppy.