Anyone have a Golden Retriever?

[DisneyJules]

We have a lab. They shed just as much as a golden retriever and ours sheds ALOT! Though a good bath and grooming REALLY helps! They're great dogs, so happy go lucky.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by Carole
How bad do they shed (it will be in the house with us)?
Do they smell?

Our dog sheds terribly! But you just kind of get used to it. (Plus you vacuum alot)

Sunny has some sort of allergy so at certain times of the year he really, really stinks! The vet thinks it's a pollen allergy and it's definitely seasonal. During these times of the year(probably 2 times a year for about 2 weeks each time) he smells bad and he's itchy. What he smells like is a wet dog. If you've ever smelled one you know what I'm talking about. The vet will put him on antibiotics and Tavist(yup, regular people's tavist) and that will clear it up. We did that for the first 2 years(the meds), now we just deal with it.

One funny note about our golden, he loves to swim. When it's really warm out(about 7 months of the year here) he'll go swimming in our pool 2 or 3 times a day. He gets in all by himself(whether we're in there or not) and does a lap or two and gets out and shakes and rolls in the grass.

He never seems to get dirty. Another poster was talking about skin oils, this is not something I've noticed with our dog. He never looks or smells dirty(other than those allergies)

I know I've posted a few negatives but believe me, his temperment(and that of most goldens I know of) outweighs any of the negatives. The kids have been rough on him at times and he just eats it up and begs for more attention. Never a snarl or a growl. Besides that, there's negatives with every breed. I'd hate to have one of those yippy dogs who pees whenever it gets excited, I prefer a shedding dog to that!

Oh yeah, he was very easy to potty train.

 

[Carole]

We're going to look at a 7 week old pup today. It's the last male. I'm a little worried about an oily coat. I think I can live with the fur. Wish us luck!!

Thanks Everyone!!

 

[grinningghost]

Our golden is 6 years old and is the BEST dog ever. I wouldn't want any other breed after having her. She doesn't shed bad at all (our cat, on the other hand, does). She doesn't smell bad (except when she had a rotten tooth, her breath was awful). She is SUPER smart. She is just like having another person in the house. She learned all the basic commands in less than a week when she was a puppy. She fetches her own leash to go for a walk. She's a sweetie. And so is every golden I've ever met.

 

[Serena]

I love their personality. They are so sweet.

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Carole, keep us posted. You're probably going to fall in love the minute you see him.

 

[mtemm]

Goldens are wonderful dogs!!! We had one for years, unfortunately he's been gone for a while now. I'd love another someday, but dh is allergic.

Yes they shed. we had a show golden that had beautiful long hair. good brushing, done outside, helps. Plus he loved it! except for his tail...for whatever reason hated that being touched, no matter how gently.

as for smell, the only time he smelled was when he went swimming in the pond. Golden's love to swim. We used to even put a baby pool out back for him to lay in during hot weather, but he often found his way to the marshes in the woods behind our house. The worst was when he found some goose poop. He would frolic and roll around in the stuff until he was coated...blech! Nothing smells worse!

 

[Carole]

We got him! He's really cute! Now for the hard part - trying to find a name for him. We'll post a picture soon. Thanks for all your help!

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Carole, that's wonderful! I've been wondering about you. Please send along a picture. Enjoy him in this puppy stage. It goes by waayyy to fast. Do you have a crate for him? We had about a 45 minute drive to get ours 4 years ago, and none of us could decide on a name. When we got to the breeders, she said, "we've been calling him Bailey if you want to stay with that." Bailey it was. We all agreed. But I've since found out, there are a lot of Goldens named Bailey. Let us know when you decide on a name and love him to pieces. I'm so happy for you!
____________
Dawn

 

[ZachnElli]

Congrats Carole!! Our golden's names are Sami (Samantha) and Tobey. (Sami Sue and Tobey Too!) Get raquetballs, the only ball I found that they can't chew up!

 

[Kallison]

They shed a lot and their coats are a lot of maintenance. When it is wet, muddy, snowy they go out and the hair drags gets iced up. They have wonderful, loving personalities.

 

[grinningghost]

Yay! Another happy golden owner! You won't be sorry.

Except they do tend to go through a rebellious adolescence. It's tough sometimes once they hit that stage, but it is so worth waiting out - once they're through it, they become EXTREMELY lovable.

 

[sm4987]

Wow. I'm glad I found this thread. We just got a golden puppy. She is simply beautiful. We named her lady. I must admit that we have never tried traing a puppy, and is quite the lesson in learning. I hope she potty trains really quickly. Right now it is pretty cold outside and getting her to go potty is pretty hard. She feels that cold air and and tries to run back into the house. I'm like, hey I'm cold too. Let's do this I do love the way she's been so far. We've only had her 2 days, but I don't think I'd trade her for another dog. By the way, how do you stop the nipping. She gets so excited playing with the kids that she licks them all over their faces, and then she sees the ears and nip. My kids are great about it though, I just want to stop the behavior before it gets worse.

 

[goofy4tink]

sm4987...congrats on your new pup. We found the best way, for us and our mouthy pup, to curb that nipping.....limit the amount of rolling around on the floor type of play. If (actually when!!) she nips, yelp like a puppy would if he were nipped. A really loud yelp. The pup sees the kids as littermates. So, try to get them to act like that. The yelping gets their attention and lets them know that something not so good has happened.
Potty training....be sure to not let your pup have the run of the house! Limit where she can be. Better off, keep her crated a lot. Find a phrase or word,(we used "make it happen') when the pup performs for you. When she is pee'ing etc. tell her 'make it happen' 'good girl' make it happen'. We now let our 3 y/o out in his pen and tell him to 'make it happen' and he usually does. They are very smart dogs and really want to make their owner happy. Of course, we may have created a monster....Chappy doesnt' like to 'do his business' anyplace other than his pen!!!!

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Here's another vote for everything the last 2 posters said. Do everything they said and your puppy will learn very quickly. We didn't have quite as much class as Goofy4tink We used *pp* as our word, and believe it or not, they do learn words. He will do it on command. Little bits of *cookies* when they do it right helps too. I had someone once tell me that Golden Retrievers have a vocabulary of over 250 words. I believe it. They are the most amazing dogs. They are so eager to make us happy and proud.
_______________
Dawn

 

[SJCSuzy]

We got our Golden puppy on Thanksgiving. He, Koda, is now 3 1/2 mo old and already weighs 35lbs! He will probably be about 80-90lbs when grown.

He learned in the first week at home to scratch at the back door when he had to go. We also use "get busy" when we want him to go potty, use a dog cookie when they do it right and they learn really quickly. We did use a crate alot in the beginning, but now we have him gated into our kitchen and family room area and only use the crate at night or when we leave the house.

Koda still sees our 6yo DD as a littermate and constantly nips at her to get her to play. We don't let her play with him alone and are trying to get DD to act more like a human than a dog, but she can't resist rolling around on the floor with him!

They do shed alot but they sure are great dogs. Enjoy yours and take lots of pictures because they change and grow up so quickly.

 

[Carole]

Hi! The pup is doing well - we named him Dusty after going through many names. We're doing well on taking him outside often to "do his business." We crate him at night and whenever we are too busy to keep a good eye on him.

I love the way he pounces when he runs around outside. He doesn't notice the cold weather when he goes out.

Thanks for all your help!!

 

[DisneyObsessed]

Dusty is a really cute name, in fact, my son has a hamster named Dusty. Sounds like you're doing great with him. ENJOY!!!! And take a deep breath of that *puppy breath* for me. That definitely doesn't last long enough.
_________________
Dawn

 

[Keli]

One suggestion for those of you that have children the puppy recognizes as 'littermates' is to have the children be in charge of feeding the puppy.

We had the same problem with our dd and our golden when Ashli was young. Shadow just wouldn't obey any of her commands although she understood those commands perfectly and would immediately obey if either David or I said them. Someone that breeds dogs told us to have Ashli start feeding the dog because that would suddenly give her importance in the dog's eyes and it did seem to work. Shadow still loved to roll around with Ashli and have 'adventures' in the 'woods' behind our house (a very small stand of trees, lol. Only a child could refer to this as woods with a straight face!) she also knew that Ashli was her boss too and she started to obey when Ashli gave a command.

 

[Trish Bessette]

Best wishes with your new pup Carole!! Dusty will bring you many years of happy memories.

I have a soon to be 10 year old male Golden named "Woody". He is the best! Although I must be lucky because he doesn't shed at all! He does smell once his coat gets wet and he does have skin allegeries. My daughters (10 & 7) adore him. He is a big (90 lbs) baby!

Glad you found a name. I came across a Golden owner a few years back who named his male golden "Molson" (get it, Molson Golden after the beer) I thought that was so cute, even if I don't drink beer!

Enjoy!