Joy and loyalty wrapped in sunshine is the perfect deion of the Golden Retriever, a top dog for families, handicapped owners, and obedience competitors. The Golden lives to learn, to generate smiles, to romp with the children, and to please his owners. He's a bundle of canine cheer without an unkind bone in his body.
Although not as popular as his rambunctious cousin the Labrador Retriever, the Golden resides in the American Kennel Club's top 10 with more than 68 thousand individual dogs and 14, thousand litters registered in 1993.
Like many of the sporting breeds, the Golden was born in Britain in the 1800s. Breed ancestry includes the extinct Tweed Water Spaniel, a small Newfoundland, the Irish Setter and other water spaniels. The Golden was developed by Lord Tweedmouth at his estate on the Tweed River near Inverness, Scotland, for retrieving shot waterfowl. The foundation stock of the breed was a yellow retriever puppy of unknown breed and a Tweed Water Spaniel, both of which appear several times in early pedigrees.
In the early 1900s, Goldens were shown in England as Flat-coated Retrievers, Golden variety. The dogs made their way to the US with travelers in the 1890s, but were not exhibited in shows until after 1920. Initially, the dogs were used to hunt, but they gradually migrated to the show ring. Although the Golden color ranges from pale orange to deep gold, the deeper colors were originally preferred. Today the medium and light shades are more common than the burnished copper-gold.
Brains as well as beauty, along with an innate need to please his owners is the Golden trademark even above his handsome appearance. The first three dogs to achieve the Obedience Trial Championship instituted by the American Kennel Club in 1977 were Goldens.
This particular Golden Retriever became the undefeated Middleweight Champion of the World.
Make that twice, once under Bold Bill as well.
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