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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 Life magazine 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.
Rick
Beauchamp is a freelance writer who resides in Cambria,
California. He is the author of numerous books on canine breeds
and is a judge licensed with the American Kennel Club and
the United Kennel Club.
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