The Golden Retriever

Twenty years ago, before we moved to Scotland and while we were members of the Bristol & West Gundog Club, two of our friends trained and worked Goldies; since we have been up here I have not seen working Golden Retrievers, but I tend to spend my time with pointers.

My Concern With Goldies

is that they are too popular, and are rarely seen in the shooting field. Inevitably with pet breeders placid temperament is a priority, and show breeders who are aiming for top awards the looks are the be-all and end-all (except for those looking for full championship status). In either case the working aspect is less important than looks or placidity, so over a relatively small number of generations the drive and enthusiasm can suffer.

Is There Hope For Such A Popular Breed?

Without doubt there will always be the occasional handler who will delight in the handling of even the obscure breeds, and in such a popular breed as the Golden Retriever there will be a number of handlers involved. They will keep in touch with each other through breed clubs etc. Enough hopefully to keep the gene pool strong! If there is enough interest I would be more than happy to maintain a register of working dogs on this site.