THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER

 

 

The golden retriever is a big, sweet dog that with a long interesting history behind. Its first appearance was in Scotland, in the mid-17th century, when hunting was very popular among the aristocrats. The characteristics of the  Scottish environment make it necessary to have a dog that was able to retrieve game both in water and on land. The prey often fell in inaccessible places, so they tried  to train some English Setters,  but,  unfortunately , the results were rather poor. So,  in order to obtain the perfect dog with the features they needed, the first retrievers were crossed with Water Spaniels, and  the Golden Retriever we know was born.      

 

 

In 1903 in England they were called the “Flat Coats” and only in 1911 they were recognised as Golden Retriever. Instead, in America,  the Golden arrived in Canada in 1927 and in USA in 1925.

The Golden Retriever is a large breed dog with long fur; and also a very good retriever. The Golden is widespread both in America and in Europe so we have two variants: the American Golden and the English Golden. Their body is muscular, they have big and expressive eyes and a long tail covered with fringed fur.

The muzzle of the English golden is wider and shorter with a slightly flatter forehead; the rest of the body is also a little smaller than the American version. The males are between 56 and 61 cm tall, while females 51/56 cm.     

Instead,  the American Golden Retriever has two other variants: the American and the Canadian. As for the colour of the fur, there are small variations on the shades; but the exceptions that tend to red, brown, white or black aren’t accepted by the breed standard.

 

Matteo T., 3scB