For more than a century the golden retriever has been a multipurpose family dog whose solid-gold temperament enables it to work in the field all day, act as a burglar alarm at night and serve as best friend and nanny to the entire family. The golden's handsome features, glorious color, brisk intelligence and love for people have endeared the breed to the American public to an unusually high degree. There aren't many places golden retrievers cannot venture with their owners. The golden has few equals as a working gun dog. Its steady, amiable temperament makes it a dependable guide dog for the blind. Its concentration and tracking skills make the golden a success at mountain rescue.
Its gentle nature and loving ways lend themselves to therapy work. Its comeliness, intelligence and athleticism allow it to excel in conformation shows and in obedience and agility trials.
Yet to Miller and other devotees of the breed, all that glitters is not golden. They are concerned that the shining popularity of the golden retriever will tarnish the virtues that have endeared it to dog lovers the world over. To make matters worse, those animal lovers at Disney planted the kiss of death on goldens by featuring one in the movie "Air Bud."
By the Banks of the Tweed
The golden retriever's many virtues were originally assembled by Sir Dudley Marjoriebanks, the first Lord Tweedmouth of Scotland. In 1865 Lord Tweedmouth purchased a yellow retriever named Nous from a cobbler in Brighton, England. Nous, whose name means "common sense" or "alertness" in British usage, was the only pup of his color in an otherwise black litter of wavy-coated retrievers.
The litter had been bred by the Earl of Chichester, and Nous, according to some accounts, had been given to the cobbler as payment of a debt. In other accounts Lord Tweedmouth bought Nous directly from the earl. Lord Tweedmouth's estate, Guisachan, was located on the Tweed River. For many years the lord and his family hunted the rugged countryside there with a breed of water dog known as the Tweed water spaniel, which is now extinct. Eventually Tweedmouth wanted to produce a dog with greater versatility than Tweed water spaniels possessed, so he bred one to Nous sometime in 1867-68. That breeding produced four bitches -- Ada, Cowslip, Crocus and Primrose -- that were fundamental to the development of golden retrievers. One of those bitches, Cowslip, was especially important in that regard.
Lord Tweedmouth's recipe for the ideal retrieving dog included a handful of this, a dash of that and a soupcon of the other. His thoroughly detailed records, made available by his descendants for publication in Country Lifemagazine in 1952, revealed that Lord Tweedmouth outcrossed to black wavy-coated retrievers to improve the hunting instincts of his dogs. To the love of water, already present in Tweed water spaniels, he added upland-hunting ability and color, courtesy of the Irish setter. For improved tracking skill he consulted a sandy-colored bloodhound.
Lord Tweedmouth's ideal retriever was a dog with an outer coat that sheds thorns and brambles in the field, and an undercoat that offers protection from icy waters; a balanced, symmetrical dog that works equally well on land and water, while remaining highly pleasing to the eye; a dog strong enough to perform as a retriever of upland game and good-sized water fowl, yet not so big and clumsy that it rocks the boat from which it works. Above all, Lord Tweedmouth wanted a dog that was cheerfully ready to do all this for every member of the family. He was spectacularly successful in attaining his goals, and as a result the golden retriever became one of the British Isles' most highly respected multipurpose field dogs.
For the Record
The Kennel Club of England accepted the first goldens for registration in 1903. They were registered as "Flat Coats -- Golden." Records show that the first golden retriever to reach America was a bitch named Lady, who arrived with Lord Tweedmouth's son and daughter -- the Hon. Archie Marjoriebanks and Ihsbel Marjoriebanks, the Marchioness of Aberdeen--who traveled to this country in 1894. Thirty-one years later the American Kennel Club (AKC) registered its first golden retriever. The breed was formally recognized by the AKC in 1932. Today the golden stands a strong fourth among the 143 breeds registered by the AKC, which enrolled 68,993 new goldens in 1996.
The Golden Age?
Buddy, the golden retriever who starred in "Air Bud," has had his right hind leg amputated because he developed a cancerous knee joint. That will not deter the Disney folks from filming a football sequel called "Air Bud: Golden Receiver." In fact, Buddy has become a symbol of the ability to overcome diversity.
A cynic might observe that Buddy is a symbol for his breed in other regards, too. He was abandoned by his original owner in the movie, a fate that befalls too many goldens today. After he had become famous for being able to hit the three pointer (how's that for irony?), that owner, who thought there was a buck to be made from the dog, wanted him back.
In real life, which sometimes bears an eerie resemblance reel life, the virtues that brought the golden retriever stardom threaten to undercut it. Unscrupulous mass-market breeders have produced dogs that often bear little more than a passing fancy to the ones Lord Tweedmouth spent years perfecting. Some equally unscrupulous show-ring breeders have not been as righteous as their self-promotion suggests in weeding out from their breeding programs all dogs that pass on genetic faults. Consequently, the GRCA expends great effort to encourage prospective buyers to find responsible breeders whose principal concerns are the sound structure and health of their breeding stock.
This, unfortunately, is easier said than done. Less-than-quality puppies do not always come from houses with washing machines on the porch and misspelled, hand-printed signs at the end of a weed-choked driveway. A puppy can have AKC papers; the puppy's breeders can have a phalanx of rosettes on the wall; and the puppy might still be hard of seeing and halt of walking eventually. Syndicated animal writer Mike Capuzzo warned his readers that "goldens are susceptible to hip dysplasia, heart problems, cataracts, skin conditions, abnormalities of the eyelid, eyelash and retina, and epilepsy, among other health problems." What's more, said Capuzzo, "temperament problems have been reported in recent years. These include biting, which is like accusing the Easter Bunny of predation. But so it is."
Capuzzo concluded his advice to prospective golden owners with the following golden retriever rule: "Don't buy from a breeder unless you've got a ton of money or know a great breeder. Adopt from a golden retriever rescue group through an animal shelter."
Buyers who believe they have found a great breeder should discuss health and temperament issues with that breeder. As one golden retriever club suggests in its code of conduct, a responsible breeder "will fully explain to prospective buyers the inherent problems as well as the joys of golden retriever ownership." If a breeder suggests that goldens have no genetic problems, that breeder has failed honesty -- the most elementary test of greatness.
Goldens used for breeding should be put to the test, too, particularly to tests for hip dysplasia and eye problems. Breeders should be more eager to show a prospective customer these documents than they are to show off the trophies on the mantelpiece. All breeders should keep accurate health, breeding, registration and pedigree records for every dog in their care. These records are the most important papers that go with a puppy to its new home. Finally, great breeders do not have to be forced to take back or to help place any dog of their breeding that a buyer cannot or will not keep any longer.
Survival of the Fittest
Its greeting-card image notwithstanding, the golden retriever is a working dog, powerful and energetic. Golden owners must give their dogs enough exercise to keep them fit and to run off the ebullience that is their birthright. The GRCA recommends "hard consistent exercise," 20 to 30 minutes twice a day. Obedience training is also a necessity for goldens. A full-grown male measures 23 to 24 inches at the shoulder and weighs 65 to 75 pounds. Though female goldens may be somewhat smaller, an enthusiastic and poorly trained young female can be just as exuberant and unmanageable as the largest male.
The Right Course
In plotting the development of the golden retriever, Lord Tweedmouth employed a strategy that has guided stockmen for centuries in the British Isles. That rule is known as "horses for courses." In layman's terms it means selecting for a breeding program those animals that have the attributes required by the region in which they will work. Persons considering a golden retriever should be guided by the same principle. If life were a poster contest, many people would qualify for owning a golden. The breed was not designed, however, for a two-dimensional course. In order to be happy -- and to make its owner happy -- a golden should be given the kind of course for which it has been bred.
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