Golden Retriever - the happy golden friend

Golden Retriever is a large-size dog breed with a wavy coat (see dog breed). This dog breed is used primarily as a gundog and a retriever for wildfowl and bird hunting, but Golden Retrievers also become one of the most popular family pets because of its natural character: friendly, kind, and intelligent. In 1925, this dog breed is officially recognized by the AKC, in Sporting Group.

In the mid-19th century, in Scotland, wildfowl hunting was a popular sport for the wealthy Scottish elite, but the existing retriever dog breeds were inadequate for retrieving the downed preys from both water and land. Retrieving from both land and water was necessary because the hunting grounds of the time were pocketed with marshy ponds and rivers - the wildfowl's habitat. In addition, the improvements of gun during the 1800s resulted in more fowls being downed at greater distances and over increasingly difficult terrain, leading to a need for a specialist retriever, Golden Retriever was bred in this situation.

The Golden Retriever was first developed near Glen Affric in Scotland, at "Guisachan", the highland estate of Dudley Marjoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth. For many years, which breeds were crossed was disputed, but in 1952, the publication of Marjoribanks' breeding records from 1835 to 1890 dispelled the myth concerning the purchase of a whole troupe of Russian tracker sheepdogs from visiting circus, instead it details a careful line-breeding program. Commonly, the breed is said to have originated from the Russia tracker (also called Russian Retriever).

Russian Tracker

The original cross was of a yellow-colored retriever, "Nous" with a Tweed Water Spaniel female dog, "Belle". Nous was purchased from an unregistered litter of otherwise black wavy-coated retriever puppies. In 1869, this cross produced a litter that included four puppies. These four pups became the basis of a breeding program which included the Irish Setter, the sandy-coloured Bloodhound, the St. John’s water dog of Newfoundland, and two more wavy-coated black retrievers. The bloodline was also inbred and selected for trueness to Marjoribanks' idea of the ultimate hunting dog - a more vigorous and powerful dog but still gentle and trainable.

The ancestry of the Golden Retriever is all sporting dogs. This dog is active, powerful and had a gentle mouth for retrieving games while on hunts.