MANY health problems in both humans and our pets are caused by poor nutrition. Please ensure optimum health for yourself and your Goldens by educating yourself about proper nutrition.

One option is feeding your Golden Retriever a raw diet. Sometimes referred to as “BARF”, which stands for Bones and Raw Food, this diet involves feeding your dog primarily raw meaty bones.

BARF

• BARF FAQ – This site has answers to many frequently asked questions about BARF (Bones and Raw Food).
• BARF Pictorial – This site shows one Animal Nutritionalist’s method of preparing meals for their dogs.
• USDA Nutrient Database – Find out the nutrient content and levels of your BARF meal plan.
• Dr. Tom Lonsdale’s website – “Tom Lonsdaleis a spokesman for The Raw Meaty Bones Lobby Group. This group has gradually coalesced from veterinarians working in clinical practice throughout Australia.” … “The concerns that unite the group are the wide range and severity of diseases affecting domestic dogs and cats all of which can be directly attributed to the feeding of artificial foods.”
• Feed your Pet Raw Food And see your Vet bills drop! – This excellent article is written by Shirley Lipschutz-Robinson
• Enzymes: The Difference Between Raw and Cooked Foods – This article explains the importance of eating raw foods.
• The BARF Philosophy – From Dr. Ian Billinghurst.
• BARF FAQ – Information collected by Jane Johnson – this page addresses many of your preliminary questions about feeding a raw diet including links to testimonials.
• Does Your Dog BARF? The Bones and Raw Food Movement – written by Christie Keith, a raw feeder since 1986 – provides a brief introduction to the raw diet.
• Are Raw Meat and Dairy Products Safe? – written by Christie Keith, a raw feeder since 1986 – evaluates the risk of feeding raw meat to your pets

Golden Retrievers are excellent dogs for competing in obedience trials. Because of their athletic nature, intelligence, and desire to please their owners, the Golden Retriever is a natural at obedience competition. In fact, the first three dogs of any breed to win the AKC Obedience Champion title, which started in 1977, were Golden Retrievers.

If you’re interested in training your Golden Retriever for competition in obedience trials, you’ll begin, of course, by taking basic dog obedience classes, and working with your dog to ensure that he follows commands quickly and reliably. Once you and your dog are ready, you can begin competing.

The largest US organization for obedience competition is the American Kennel Club. The AKC offers “all breed” obedience trials that are open to dogs of all 150 breeds that are recognized by the AKC. In addition, clubs devoted to a particular breed can hold licensed AKC trials just for their breed. There are many Golden Retriever clubs throughout the country that have been through the AKC licensing process to allow them to hold AKC sanctioned competitive trials that include Golden Retrievers only. The Golden Retriever Club of America is the national Golden Retriever association, and most local Retriever clubs are members of the Golden Retriever Club of America.

During obedience competitions, your Golden Retriever will compete in one of three categories: novice, open, or utility. According to the AKC regulations, there will be the following expectations at each level:

NOVICE* – For the dog just getting started in obedience.
o Heel on Leash and Figure Eight – show whether the dog has learned to watch its handler and adjust its pace to stay with the handler.
o Heel Free – done off leash.
o Stand for Examination – is of great benefit when the dog needs hands-on care by a veterinarian.
o Recall – provides the handler with the ability to call the dog and get an immediate response at all times.
o Long Sit (1 minute) – allows the handler to have control of the dog when visitors come to the home.
o Long Down (3 minutes) – dog must remain in a down position.

OPEN – The second level includes more complicated exercises, some of which may be given by hand signals. Exercises include:
o Heel Free and Figure Eight – Same as Novice, but off leash.
o Drop on Recall – can be a lifesaving command for a dog, since it gives the handler control in potentially dangerous situations.
o Retrieve on Flat
o Retrieve Over High Jump
o Broad Jump
o Long Sit (3 minutes) – similar to the long sit in Novice, but the position must be held for a longer period of time with the handler out of the dog’s sight.
o Long Down (5 minutes) – dog must remain in a down position.

UTILITY – The third and highest level of obedience competition. Exercises include:
o Signal Exercise – shows the dog’s ability to understand and correctly respond to the handler’s signal to stand, stay, down, sit, and come. No voice commands are given; only hand signals are allowed.
o Scent Discrimination – shows the dog’s ability to find the handler’s scent among a pile of articles.
o Directed Retrieve – proves the dog’s ability to follow a directional signal to retrieve a glove and promptly return it to the handler.
o Moving Stand and Examination – the dog must heel, stand, and stay as the handler moves away. The dog must stay and accept an examination by the judge and return to the handler on command.
o Directed Jumping – the dog must go away from the handler, turn, and sit. Then the dog must clear whichever jump its handler indicates and promptly return to the handler.

Golden Retrievers, on the whole, are fairly simple to groom. They have a double coat that is smooth and has hair of medium length. The texture of their coats is not prone to matting.

Golden Retrievers should be brushed about twice a week with a stiff bristled brush and should be dry bathed on a regular basis. Save wet bathing for just once every few months, as the Golden Retriever’s skin can become irritated from too much bathing. When you do bathe your Golden Retriever, you may notice that his hair has a wavy look when it is simply toweled and allowed to dry naturally. If you want your Golden Retriever’s coat to look smooth and straight, you will need to use a blow dry, straightening the hair with a brush as it is blown dry. However, unless you’re showing your dog, there really is no need for the coat to look straight and smooth.

Occasionally, your Golden Retriever’s ears will need to be trimmed of hair, in order to keep them looking neat. This is especially important if your dog is to be shown. Start at the top of the ear, trimming away stray and fuzzy hairs. Use thinning shears, and work all the way around the outside of the ear, trimming and thinning the hair so that it lies down neatly along the ear and neck. It’s best to avoid an “over-groomed” look; just try to trip up the hair around the ear so that it all looks uniform and even in length. You may also need to trim some strays from inside the ear in order to ensure a neat appearance.

You may also need to trim the feathering on your Golden Retriever’s hind and front legs. Holding your thinning shears vertically, start at the foot and trim up the back of the legs. In most cases, you want your Golden to have some feathering on the backs of the legs, so don’t trim too closely. It’s better to trim just a little and have to trim again, than to trim too much off at once.

Most Golden Retriever owners also trim their dogs’ tails from time to time. The easiest way to do this is to comb the tail out until it is tangle free and then have the dog lie on his side so that you can spread the tail out on the floor in a fan shape. Trim the tail so that it looks a bit like a knife blade when you’re finished, with the hair at the base of the tail longer than the hair at the end. The hair at the tip of the tail should be rounded off into a point. In most cases, the longest hair on the tail should be about 4 inches. However, your dog should look proportionate all over, so judge the length of the tail hair by the overall proportion of the hair and the body.

Golden Retrievers are great with children because they are so patient and tolerant. Though it’s always critical to teach your children proper behavior with a pet, you can count on a Golden Retriever to be far more tolerant of the clumsiness and sometimes roughness of a toddler or young child than many other breeds.

Golden Retrievers are also great pets for families with children because they make great playmates. Goldens love to play fetch, chase, and even hide and seek. When a child and a Golden bond, they are a wonderful match, and will spend endless hours playing together in the yard. Golden Retrievers are gentle and smart enough to learn not to be too rough when returning a fetched ball or other item to a smaller child. You’ll find that the two friends will quickly learn to play with each other in a way that is comfortable for both of them. When play time is over, you’ll likely find your Golden Retriever and your child snuggled together on the floor in front of the television, taking a rest.

With some simple training, your Golden Retriever can learn many tricks to delight your children and guests in your home. Goldens love to perform and your child and dog will have lots of fun together learning tricks and showing them off to anyone who is willing to watch. This kind of activity is a great way to teach your child kindness to animals, patience and a sense of accomplishment.

Golden Retrievers are “people” dogs. In fact, the quickest way to get a Golden to misbehave is to keep him away from his owners. This is not a dog you can banish to the backyard. He’ll love going out for a romp in the yard with you, but when you’re inside, he wants to be inside too. Get a Golden Retriever if you want a dog that will truly become part of the family.

While Golden Retrievers are not known for being watchdogs, they are loyal and protective of their families, and will certainly alert you to a stranger’s approach. They do consider your home and yard to be their territory, and they will watch it closely. They are not, however, likely to attack; though some have been known to show very protective instincts, particularly when they believe the children in their family are at risk.

All in all, you just can’t find a better family dog than a Golden Retriever. They’re smart, gentle, and sweet, and their only desire is to be the best friend of everyone in your family.

Dr. Bonita Bergin, the initial creator of the idea of a “service dog” reports that Golden Retrievers are the best suited breed for service dog work. The reason that Goldens are the best suited breed is their combination of gentle disposition, great intelligence and strength. Service dogs must be strong enough to pull wheel chairs but must also be calm as well as intelligent enough to learn the many commands that service dogs and their owners use to communicate with each other. This breed is also especially capable of bonding with their owners, so the two soon come to make a great team.

It is estimated that it costs approximately $10,000 to train a dog to be a service dog, though most are given away to their final owners. Training is intensive and thorough, ensuring that the dog’s owner literally can trust their canine companion with their life. Once the dog is trained, the owner who will receive him must be trained, too, so that owner and dog can communicate with each other and so that the dog can do his job properly. Currently, there is a 5 year wait to obtain a trained service dog. These dogs are used as guide dogs for the blind; hearing dogs that alert their humans to sounds; mobility assistance dogs that may pull a wheelchair or directly support a person; seizure alert dogs; and medical condition alert dogs, among other uses.

Golden Retrievers are also regularly used as narcotics dogs. Because they were originally bred as retrievers for hunters, they have excellent tracking abilities, which also lend themselves well to finding hidden narcotics. And, because Golden Retrievers are so intelligent and eager to please their masters, they can be trained to sniff out drugs more quickly than many other breeds. Their natural athletic ability is also helpful in the narcotics arena. When police and their dogs go sniffing for drugs, it is often in rough terrain and they often work for hours before they find what they’re looking for. These abilities make the Golden one of today’s most often used breeds for narcotics work.

As you can see, the Golden Retriever has many talents and abilities. They are capable of performing many different kinds of jobs, but are also one of the best breeds to curl up with at the end of a busy day of working for the both of you.

Golden Retrievers are one of the most popular breeds of dog in the United States. They make great companion dogs, and are also very popular for service dogs. But the Golden Retriever breed was created to be a hunting dog, and for many years this was their sole purpose. It took several years before people realized the versatility of this breed.

Golden Retrievers retrieve instinctively, which is what makes them such good companion dogs for hunters. However, they are not true hunting dogs, like a blue tick or other breed of hunting hound. What this means is that they do not flush out the game for you, but rather retrieve the game once you’ve spotted and killed it.

If you’re choosing a Golden Retriever to be a hunting companion, you’ll have the best luck by choosing a dog that is bred from a line of field dogs rather than from a line of companion dogs. Over the years, many breeds of hunting dogs have evolved into family dogs. When this happens, you’ll find that over the years, some breeders continue to breed for good hunting traits, while others breed for good companion traits. You should always choose a breeder who breeds his line for the best hunting traits if that’s to be your dog’s primary purpose. Golden Retrievers that are bred with hunting traits will love being in the field as much as their owners, will not likely be gun shy, and will be easily trained to retrieve game.

All Golden Retrievers, regardless of their planned primary function, should receive basic obedience training. A dog that won’t come when called or that won’t sit and stay when commanded to do so is useless to a hunter. So, the first training your hunting dog needs is the same training you’d give any dog that will live with you.

One great thing about Golden Retrievers is that they are perfectly capable of being your hunting dog and your family pet. They are very adaptable and have a temperament that is matched by few breeds. With the right training, they can be comfortable and reliable both in the field and in your living room. This is a breed that loves to be around people and wants to be your constant companion, whether it’s for hunting or just a walk around the block.

Today, the Golden Retriever is primarily purchased to be a family pet. And you can’t find a better breed for this purpose. However, they are still a very capable retrieving dog for the field hunter and will not fail you in terms of intelligence, eagerness to please, and superior tracking skills. The Golden Retriever is truly one breed that has it all.

Golden Retrievers are the second most commonly registered breed with the American Kennel Club. Only Labrador Retrievers outrank the Golden in popularity.

Because of their beauty and trainability, Golden Retrievers have been used extensively in television and movies. Buddy, the star of the movie “Air Bud” and its sequels was a Golden Retriever, as was the dog Comet in the television show “Full House” and Speedy from the “Drew Carey Show”. The spokes dog for Bush’s Baked Beans is a Golden Retriever named Duke. The movie “Homeward Bound” also featured a Golden Retriever.

President Gerald Ford had a Golden Retriever named Liberty who was often photographed at his side in the oval office.

Golden Retrievers are particularly prone to cancer. In fact, a study done by the Golden Retriever Club of America in 1998 showed that 61% of Golden Retrievers die from some form of cancer, making it the breed’s most deadly disease.

Though Golden Retrievers are physically fully mature by 2 years of age, they display puppy like behaviors until they are around 3 years of age.

Golden Retrievers have been around since the early 1800’s when a Scotsman named Lord Tweedmouth first introduced them on his estate.

The first three dogs of any breed to win the AKC Obedience Champion title, begun in 1977, were Golden Retrievers.

Golden Retrievers are ranked as the third most intelligent breed of dog, after Border Collies and Poodles.

Golden Retrievers are considered to be the best breed for service dogs.

Golden Retrievers were originally bred to be hunting dogs, but today, they are most often used as family pets and service dogs. Hunting is one of the least common uses of Golden Retrievers today.

Golden Retrievers are what is known as “crepuscular” dogs. This means that they are more active in the morning and evening, and often sleep during a good part of the middle of the day.

Golden Retrievers love to swim and are some of the best swimmers among all dog breeds. Swimming is a great way for your Golden Retriever to get the exercise he needs.

The Golden Retriever was first registered by the American Kennel Club in 1925.

One legend has it that the Golden Retriever actually originates from 8 Russian Sheepdogs who performed in a Circus Troupe.

English Golden Retrievers differ from American Golden Retrievers primarily in the color of their coats. English Golden Retrievers are typically much lighter in color – normally in shades of cream. American Golden Retrievers are much darker in color, and often come in shades of red and mahogany. These dark colors are not acceptable by kennel clubs in the UK. However, the lighter colors of the English Golden Retriever are uncommon in the US, but are acceptable.