Mary Allen
The friendly dog with the golden mane is everywhere. But what distinguishes a Golden Retriever as a companion? Can you complete his portrait?
#1 The lineage of the Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever or Goldie, as many dog owners affectionately call it today, originally came from the Canadian island of Newfoundland, just like the Labrador Retriever. His ancestors came to the British Isles as water dogs. In 1864, the Englishman Lord Tweedmouth crossed the only yellow-coated dog from a litter of Wavy Coated Retrievers with a female Tweed Water Spaniel. That was the beginning of breeding efforts. The lord wanted to create a dog breed for hunting, which should be able to retrieve shot game and waterfowl perfectly.
#2 Tweedmouth gradually bred water dog offspring to Irish Setters, Black Retrievers and Bloodhounds.
The new breed was first recognized by the British Kennel Club in 1913. Golden Retrievers quickly became very popular. They came to Germany more and more from the 1980s, but then as docile family dogs.
#3 Breeding the Goldie
Today there are two lines of the Golden Retriever: The so-called show line, dogs with a heavier build and thick fur, the color of which is usually lighter than that of their relatives, and the working line: Goldies, who are more athletic and slimmer in build and have an even higher working pathos than theirs anyway show interested, watchful colleagues of the show line. Goldies belong to FCI Group 8 “Retriever dogs – search dogs – water dogs” and are listed in Section 1 as retrievers.