Golden Retriever History

Golden Retriever History

Carol Matthews

The Golden Retriever, one of the most popular intelligent dogs around the world, is known for its service in a wide variety of areas including field trials, obedience, hunting and offering companionship and guidance to blind people. During early days of the 1800's, hunting was considered both a practical measure for obtaining food as well as an interesting domain of sports in England and Scotland. The Golden Retriever was developed from the need to have a medium-sized dog that has the flexibility to move through wild fowling, both upland gaming zone and waterfowl.

In 19th century, Lord Tweedmouth at Guisachan estate, Scotland, kept the records of the development of the Golden Retriever for the first time. These records were published for the first time by Tweedmouth's great nephew in the year 1952. It was during the mid of 19th century when Lord Tweedmouth purchased his the Golden Retriever Nous. In his estate, he put the effort to breed the dogs with desired characteristics.

During the early days, Tweed Water Spaniels were predominantly used as hunting dogs, since they were marked for their true intelligence, courage and vitality, the factors most essential for hunting. Tweed Water Spaniel dogs were of great importance for the development of the ancestors of the modern Golden Retriever. Lord Tweedmouth encouraged breeding between his yellow puppy Nous and Belle, a female Tweed Water Spaniel and this couple gave birth to fours golden puppies. However in later days, Irish setter and Bloodhound in addition to Tweed Water Spaniel were used for the breeding of modern the Golden Retriever.

At the end of 19th century in England, the popularity of the Golden Retriever increased significantly. In the year 1908, the first exhibition of Golden Retrieve was held in the Crystal Palace show, England. A separate status had been established with the formation of the Golden Retriever Club in the year 1913 in England. In 1920, these dogs put their footsteps in North America for the first time in the line of dog-breeding history.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) offered the recognition and listed them in the year 1925. During the time between 1930s and 1940s, the popularity of this breed became significantly increased. The Golden Retriever was the dog that achieved the crown of obedience, The Obedience Champ Title, from the AKC, while competing with many other varieties of dogs in the year 1977.

While in the early years of breeding, the efficiency of this truly intelligent dog was only limited to its hunting ability, but later on the Golden Retriever was recognized for its versatile characteristics.

In the initial days, the dark shade of the coats of the Golden Retriever was predominantly preferred by people, however, the preference has changed dramatically in due course of time.

In today's world, the dog is recognized for its true intelligence, obedience and courage, which sets it apart from many other breeds.