Talk:Golden Retriever

From a duplicate article at Golden retriever - for review and merging:

Golden Retrievers are a popular breed of large dog kept as pets. They evolved in Scotland after Lord Tweedmouth crossed the now extinct Tweed Water Spaniel with a wavy-coat yellow retriever in 1868. In 1908, the breed was first exhibited in England, but it was not granted a separate breed status until 1913. In 1920, the name was changed from Retriever (Golden and Yellow) to Golden Retriever. Golden retrievers were first registered in Canada in 1927.

The breed is regarded as intelligent, obedient and easy to train. For this reason, they are often used as service dogs, and also as gundogs. It is a breed commonly used as guide dogs for the blind. Golden Retrievers are usually friendly with people and other dogs, making them good family pets, but unsuitable as guard dogs. However, their loud bark means they may be kept as watch dogs. Whilst retrievers adapt well to living in a kennel environment, they prefer companionship.

The dogs vary in colour from pale cream to deep gold. They have an average height of 51-61cm and an average weight is 25-36kg. Their litters usually range from six to ten and they can be expected to live ten to 12 years. The most common health problems with this breed involve cataracts, epilepsy and hip problems.

External link

DMOZ listing of websites about Golden Retrievers (http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Pets/Dogs/Breeds/Sporting-Gundog_Group/Golden_Retriever/)

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You know, this image depicts a retriever whose coat is not too golden. Though undoubtedly a member of the breed, I feel it would be better if someone could provide a photo of a dog more exemplary of the breed. Kent Wang 07:54, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)

That is quite a pale one - but still within the specification for the breed (I took the photo at a dog show). More importantly, this was one of my first efforts at taking dog photos and is not as clear or large as I would like. If we get a better (and darker coated) image, this one will do to show the variation in the coat colours though. -- sannse (talk) 09:14, 26 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I agree. I have on my "list of photos to get while hanging out with dogs" a photo of a Golden with a dark coat. I think it's useful to show the variations in coats because sometimes they look like entirely different breeds! E.g., would be good to have a yellow Flat-Coated Retriever because they look very similar to Goldens and, although some Flat-coat breeders in the U.S. apparently euthanize their yellows, many people do keep them as pets and they're still purebred. Elf | Talk 03:14, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Retriever vs Lab

I've got a Labrador Retriever (guide dog in training) and the article for that breed is very unrepresented compared to the Golden, perhaps we could expand? Sorry, I'm new to Discussions on Wikipedia so I hope this comment is ok! User:PopUpPirate

This comment is fine. Wikipedia encourages people to expand articles! Please do! Find accurate info about the breed of any kind, write it in your own words, and add it to the Labrador Retriever article. All the dog articles grow based on who happens to drop by Wikipedia (like yourself), who has an interest in what, what seems more relevant at the moment perhaps based on the development of related articles, or on any other random factor. So have at it.  :-) Elf | Talk 04:28, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)