Purina

Other names/Nicknames:

• Golden Flat-Coated Retriever
• Yellow Retriever

Country/Date of origin:

• Scotland
• Mid-1800’s

Height:

• Females:  21-1/2 to 22-1/12 inches
• Males:  23 to 24 inches
  

Weight:

• Females:  55 to 65 pounds
• Males:  65 to 75 pounds
  

Personality:

• Brains, beauty, and birdiness.
• An exceptional sensitivity to owner’s moods.
• Great intelligence coupled with an intense desire to please.
• Gentle and loving.
• This breed is everyone’s friend.

History:

Developed on the estate of Lord Tweedmouth in Scotland, the Golden Retriever is thought to be the result of a dominant mutation called a sport, which was found in a litter of pups from a Flat-Coated Retriever and Tweed Water Spaniel cross.  There has been a lot of myth around the story, but we can assume that this is probably close to the way it happened. The beautiful golden dogs were given as gifts to the Tweedmouth family’s many sporting friends both in the United Kingdom and in the United States (where several of the Lord’s sons settled).  It is still used successfully in the field, although it has steep competition from the Labrador Retriever for top spot in water retrieving.  Recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1932.

Body Type:

• A heavily-muscled, dense-coated, gun dog of the retriever family.
• Heavily-feathered tail is carried horizontally, level with back, and is not altered.
• Small ears hang close to the head and are not altered.
• There is considerable difference in size between dogs and bitches in this breed.

Coat:

• The dense, double coat has a water resistant undercoat.
• The coat may be straight or wavy.
• Color allowed is gold, as the name implies.
• The British allow pale shades of gold and cream but the Americans insist on a rich lustrous gold and penalize light and dark dogs.
• Americans want the neck hair to form a ruff and the British prefer it trimmed off.

Health and Wellness:

• Rapid surge in popularity has left this once healthy breed with numerous genetic defects.
• Hip dysplasia.
• Elbow dysplasia.
• Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD)
• Autoimmune thyroid disease.
• von Willebrand’s disease.
• Subaortic stenosis.
• Hemophilia.
• Renal dysplasia.
• Metabolic bone disease.
• Juvenile cellulitis.
• Cataracts.
• Lymphoma.
• Addison’s disease.
• Atopy.
• Food allergy.
• Acute moist pyoderma.
• Idiopathic epilepsy.
• Osteosarcoma.
• Megaesophagus.
• Acral lick granuloma.
• Cushing’s disease (PDH).
• Progressive retinal atrophy.
• Oraopharyngela.
• Neoplasia.
• Lymphosarcoma.
• Oral fibrosarcoma.

What you should know:

• Fourth most popular dog in the United States.
• Well known for its work as a guide dog for the blind, hearing dog for the deaf, and as a therapy dog for the emotionally disturbed.
• As a testament to its intelligence and trainability, the first three dogs to win an AKC Obedience Championship were Golden Retrievers.
• Retrieving instinct is so strong that anything not nailed down will be carried around.