Anyone have a Golden Retriever?

[Carole]

Hi! We are considering a golden lab pup and I have a few questions. Do you prefer a male or female? How bad do they shed (it will be in the house with us)? Do they smell? Any tips? Any good web sites? I messed up - we are thinking about the retriever not the lab.

Thanks!!

 

[tw1nsmom]

We have a black lab and he sheds all the time, year round. When he was a puppy he was a terror. He chewed everything, including our dining room table and woodwork. He's fantastic now. Gentle, calm and really good with the children. After the kids go to bed he likes to climb up on the couch and cuddle with me (he still thinks he's puppy size). Just be prepared, all breeds of labs are known to stay at the "puppy"stage for quite a while (3 yrs). You have to be really diligent and patient about training them. I also recommend crate training at a very young age. After they adjust they really do feel safer in their crate. Also, it will minimize the trouble they can get into when your away. Good luck with your decision.

 

[pumba]

she claims that they are the smartest dogs around and they are soooooooo lovable........good with families......and that is important.....your lab sounded like our dalmatian.....ate wood and oak and hall trees and doors......just liked oak.....

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We have two neutered male littermates - one black and one chocolate. They will be two years old in April. They don't shed as much as we thought they would. But it's still a lot of hair!

They are indoor outdoor dogs.... fenced in yard.... kennel trained if we leave them inside alone. They do not have run of the house (basement and upstairs tile) and are not allowed on the furniture. The key is EXERCISE! Keep them tired. We walk them 2-4 miles a day and if the weather is reasonable they spend a lot of the day in a big fenced in yard. Around 10:00 p.m they are begging to get a "cookie" and go in their kennels. Time for bed!

It seems our puppy stage has settled down faster than the typical lab. And they have never chewed anything inside... but they are always supervised or kenneled. Lots of bones and chew toys help too!

Good luck getting a new furbaby!

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

Almost forgot!


Here is an excellent website with TONS of info.

http://www.justlabradors.com/

 

[DisneyObsessed]

We have a Golden Retriever. I can't lie, he sheds. You kind of learn to live with it. You can minimize it with grooming and bathing. We bring ours to Petco every 4-6 weeks. You will be vacuuming more than ever before. That being said, our dog is the best thing we have ever done. His love and constant companionship makes the hair thing worthwhile. Not to mention his antics. He will be 4 next month, and he's more of a puppy than ever. He makes me smile more than anything else in my life. We have a male. The vet has told us he is the calmest golden he has ever seen. Some can tend to be hyper. From my observations, females are more hyper than males. When you pick your puppy from the litter (don't get one from a pet store) hold it in your arms with the puppy on its back. If it just lays there saying,*love me*, it's a keeper. If it struggles and wiggles all over the place, chances are it will be very hyper. Best of luck with your puppy search. I can't stress enough how happy I am with mine. And we were never dog people before. It took my son 11 years of asking, before I finally agreed. As I said before, he is the best thing we have ever done.

 

[goofy4tink]

If you're thinking about a golden retriever, you can't go wrong. We are on our second one. Love him to pieces. He does shed quite a bit. We call it our tumbling tumbleweed around the house. But, a Swiffer does a great job with that issue. If groomed on a regular basis they don't smell. Well, unless they get in a compost pile!!! Eewwww! Unrequited love in a fur suit is what you get with a golden. They love being with their family. Don't plan on leaving your pup outside, with-out his humans. They get very sad. We've only had males. Were going to go with a female the last time, but the breeder had a perfect match for us, except for the sex. I can't think of any websites at the moment. I used to go to a discussion board over on aol. It was in the pet area. Deals with goldens. But I can't remember what it was called.
You know, when my first golden went to 'the bridge', we were going to get a different breed. One that didn't shed as much, was smaller, etc. So, we went off to a dog show to check out different breeds. What happens??? We met a terrific golden breeder. Now, we have one of her pups. So much for a different breed. Once you go golden, you never go any differently!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Hey DisneyObsessed...great looking pup. Looks like you go with the whole personality testing thing too. Mine was a squirmer. Tested a little high, needed a stronger type owner. Firm hand. Yep, it was right on. My Chappy is terrific. But needs a lot of exercise. A tired dog is a well-behaved dog.
Your pup is very similar in color and head size/shape to mine. Let's see how many people we can sway over to the golden side!!!

 

[ZachnElli]

I have 2 goldens and they are great dogs! My oldest is the very typical golden, loves everyone and everyone gets kisses! Would lick a burglar's face crawling through our window, lol! The other one is a mix and was an abused puppy I found along side the road and he is friendly, but very skittish around strangers ( that's because he was abused). They both shed quite a bit and I HAVE to vaccuum every other day at least. Regular brushing helps with the shedding immensely though. They love being brushed too. The only negative is, my golden is 12 years and is suffering horribly with arthritis and it's so hard to watch. She is just too big for me to pick up and she yelps at me all the time to pick her up, carry her up the stairs and I just can't. It's very sad. But she has had a great life, I'm just really sad that it's almost over.

 

[justjulie]

You can't go wrong with a golden as far as I'm concerned. My children grew up with our beloved Montana and she was my best friend until we had to put her down at the age of 13. She never (and I mean never) snapped or even so much as growled at my children who used her as a blanket, pull toy and guardian. Personally, I prefer a female. My mom and dad had Montana's littermate until she too was put down within months of ours and they now have a male - I just prefer a female.

 

[Feralpeg]

I have two 8 year old goldens. Personality wise, they are great! You couldn't ask for more loving dogs. I have a male and a female. The male is the darker redish color. The female is light. The male has no health issues. The female is a health disaster. She has terrible allergies. The vet told me that this is very common in goldens (especially the light ones). She also has a thyroid problem and hip problems. I have a friend with a golden that has to have allergy shots on a weekly basis.

They do shed a great deal. In addition, golden retrievers have an oil in the coats that can rub off on things. I had a grey-blue colored carpet that totally discolored due to the dogs. It turned the carpet yellow. I've talked to several other golden owners and they have also noticed this. I guess if your carpet were the right color it wouldn't be so noticeable. My female would rub against the furniture because she was itchy. It discolored the furniture. I have these dogs professionally groomed once a month. They are very clean, but the oil still comes off on things.

They also are prone to ear infections.

I'm not trying to be negative, but you should know what you are getting into. I would suggest that you speak to a vet about the pros and cons of owning a golden.

Having told you all this, I'll say that I love my dogs! I've put up with a lot of things because they are such loving wonderful pets.

 

[poohbears5]

I have 5yr old golden named spirit she is a great dog even in a house of five kids she doesn't get real hyper and she is fantasic with kids and quite a personality.

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Carole, check out my tag. Even the Tag Fairy knows how I feel
------------
Dawn

 

[Carole]

Thanks for all the information - it has given us a lot to consider!!

 

[KristiKelly]

We have a goldendoodle, Golden X Standard Poodle, I know that many people do not approve of intentionally mixing breeds (so please don't bash me), but in our case this was best for us. My son wanted a Golden Ret. for Christmas, but after having a Dalmatian for 13 years (Dal's shed more than just about any other breed, yes, even with the short hair) I didn't want the shedding and due to allergies I have developed in the past year or so. These are suppose to pick up the wonderful temperment of the Golden yet pick up the non-shedding & low allergy/dander of the Poodle. Our Annabelle is only 14 weeks and looks far more like a Golden right now and so far no shedding & no odor. I realize, this is not for everyone, but National Geographics Channel is airing a show Sunday night @9:00 on Labradoodles (yep, Lab X Std. Poodle), Schnoodles, etc. I think they will discuss the good & bad of this.

 

[acepepper]

We had a Golden Retriever for 14 years. Got her at 7 weeks and had 3 boys after that, who pulled her about, rode her like a horse, dressed her up and generally made her life hell at times. Not once in that time did she show one single second of aggression towards them. Not even a growl or a snarl. When she was 2 years old, we got two cats from a shelter, mother and daughter, the daughter being only a kitten. We put the mother into the vet's overnight to be spayed and the kitten tried to suckle milk from the dog and she just lay there and licked her. When the dog died, that cat, whose mother had died a few years previously, didn't go out of the house for six months.

If you have kids and you want a dog, get a retriever. For temperament, you can't beat them.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We have a golden as well. He will be 5 in April. He was 7 lb. when we brought him home and now he is close to 80 lb. He is the biggest sweetheart dog we have ever had. DS was 1 when we got the dog and they have grown up together. I'll let him out to greet the kids getting off of the bus and he doesn't think of running off (admittedly it took 2 years for this). He is spoiled rotten and sleeps either on my bed or in a certain spot in our room, where the rug is perpetually dirty. We have berber in the family room and tan carpets elsewhere so the hair doesn't show so much, but if you pet him a bunch of hair will come out. I don't care; someday when we get another dog I'll fight to get another golden.
Robin M.

 

[Lanshark]

We have a golden retriever. They are wonderful family dogs. They like to be around people so they are definitely not the kind of dog, not that any are, that you can tie up in the back yard. They need exercise but mine is as quiet as the cats in the house. They shed a bunch. The way we solved the problem is we have him clipped down, shaved, every 3 or 4 months. The work is well worth it. He was extremely easy to house train. The most loving, devoted dog we have ever had. We lost our old golden last March. He lived to 12 years old. Our "pup" is now 3 years old.

If you have any specific questions please feel free to PM me.

 

[LadyAurora]

My parents have two goldens, a brother and sister. They are very well-behaved and gentle. Nothing is more important to them than being with "their" people. They do shed...but you wouldn't be considering a Golden if that was a problem for you. Personality-wise, they are great. Watch-dog wise, they are failures. They think everyone is their friend. It's kind of funny to watch them compete to see who can get petted the most...they will try to push each other away if there is only one human to pet them!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by LadyAurora
Watch-dog wise, they are failures. They think everyone is their friend. It's kind of funny to watch them compete to see who can get petted the most...they will try to push each other away if there is only one human to pet them!

This is a very true statement!

We have a 5 yr old golden and whenever we have guests over I always caution them NOT to pet the dog. They're like "why not?" I tell them that once they pet Sunny, they'll be stuck petting him for the remainder of their time in our home. He's always, always looking for petting! Such a lovey dog, not a mean bone in his body.