Author Topic: What happened to the Goldens?  (Read 17220 times)

Offline Kelly89084

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What happened to the Goldens?
« on: March 06, 2006, 04:12:50 pm »
We go to the dog park every day and the majority of the dogs are well behaved.  Of the ones that aren't, 90-95% seem to be golden retrievers.  I thought these were supposed to be sweet, reliable family dogs.  Why is it almost every one of them at the park has a serious attitude problem?  Is it just something around here or are they bad all over?  It makes me glad I didn't get one after all!
"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer." - Alfred North Whitehead

Offline Kelly89084

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2006, 04:24:19 pm »
We have a great deal of high energy dogs (including my own) in there every day though an they aren't starting fights with other dogs.  I have't seen a golden being mean to a person (although they can be pushy), but they seem to be much higher than average on dog agression. It's really sad.
"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer." - Alfred North Whitehead

Offline jabear

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2006, 04:32:36 pm »
I agree with Tina. Regardless of the breed the dog is ultimately the responsibility of the owner. In my experience, I have never encountered a Golden that I didn't like. Sure they are high energy and can stand their ground when they need to but for the most part they are fun loving, wonderful dogs. In fact, when we were at the dog park a while back it was a Golden that was on the receiving end of some harsh doggy attitude.
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Offline Kelly89084

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2006, 04:39:03 pm »
maybe it's just here.  I agree that it's the owners responsibility, however it just seemed a little odd that there were so many.  I was wondering if it's too many bad breeders causing it.
"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer." - Alfred North Whitehead

Offline Maggie's Mom

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2006, 04:56:09 pm »
I grew up with Goldens, and our dogs were always very well-behaved, except for one female, Bailey.  She was just not a nice dog.  I rarely run into aggressive or badly behaved Goldens, but it does happen. Just like with any other breed, there are always those few that don't fit the norm.  Maybe you just see so many Goldens that it seems like they are all like this, but you see all different of other breeds, so you can't group them together.  Do you know what I mean?  But I do agree, it is mostly the owner's fault.  Oh, and just to add this in:  one of my friend's students got bitten by a Golden just a few months back... but you never really know what happened to provoke...
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Offline Kelly89084

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2006, 05:03:19 pm »
It's possible that I notice it more because I see goldens as the "angels" of dog breeds.   ;)
"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer." - Alfred North Whitehead

Offline ZooCrew

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #6 on: March 06, 2006, 08:09:44 pm »
We have alot of goldens at our park as well, and I have to agree that many of them are not so well behaved, but a smaller proportion (maybe 60-70%). I think alot of it definitely has to do with the owners. Personally, my theory is that b/c they are so popular and thought of as being such wonderful dogs, that owners seem to think the dog will train itself and be perfect without them doing anything.

One thing I've noticed about golden owners though that I find somewhat disturbing is that they get very annoyed that their submissive golden (as many of them are) rolls onto its back when playing.  Apparently they think that the other dog causing theirs to roll onto its back must be aggressive.  No............ yours is just submissive.

Offline Mom2Sadie

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2006, 10:26:25 pm »
I don't think it's the breed, per say.

My guess is, the golden is the most popular dog in the country.  So the ratio of them to other dogs is probably a lot higher.  It's the owners that aren't training them properly.

Aren't goldens high energy?  Maybe they are a bit harder to train.

Tina

I agree that popularity of the breed has led to a lot of inexperienced dog owners with untrained Goldens. I grew up with Goldens and my parents have a 5 year old Golden. But when they got him, they did a very careful search for responsible breeding to avoid the problems that are popping up with Goldens because of bad breeding. Goldens used to be one of the most laid back breeds around. Ours were always hyper puppies and then became couch potatoes around 2. Their Golden now was a couch potato from day 1 and he has an amazing personality. It's not the breed, it's the people who think it's just going to be an easy dog and don't train. They are amazing wonderful dogs but they need the same training that any dog needs.
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Offline brandon

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2006, 10:39:11 pm »
Along that same line, is it just me,or are the labs being bred now very short? Maybe our pup was an anamolie, but she was twice the height of the labs I see @ shows, they're little fellows.
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Offline Kelly89084

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2006, 10:43:40 pm »
Along that same line, is it just me,or are the labs being bred now very short? Maybe our pup was an anamolie, but she was twice the height of the labs I see @ shows, they're little fellows.


I've noticed that too.  I don't really like it.  I prefer the tall ones even if it means they won't win in the ring. ;)
"If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer." - Alfred North Whitehead

Offline Mom2Sadie

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2006, 10:48:56 pm »
Along that same line, is it just me,or are the labs being bred now very short? Maybe our pup was an anamolie, but she was twice the height of the labs I see @ shows, they're little fellows.


I've noticed that too.  I don't really like it.  I prefer the tall ones even if it means they won't win in the ring. ;)

I think there are two types of Labs, show and field. The show Labs are heavier and more stocky and the field are lighter boned and a bit taller.
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Offline brandon

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2006, 10:54:14 pm »
Our lab was 80'ish pounds, and raised from hunting stock.. She was the most god-awful athletic dog I have ever seen.. She was great. The labs I'm seeing at the show seem to be not much taller than a springer spaniel, or somethig, they just look weird to me, but I've always seen labs taller than these.

That's good info to know about they two types, I thought I was losing my mind :) But I know nothing about the show circuit for labs. 

On topic, I agree about the goldens, it's a shame :(
“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.â€

chaosndestruction

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2006, 11:05:26 pm »
Along that same line, is it just me,or are the labs being bred now very short? Maybe our pup was an anamolie, but she was twice the height of the labs I see @ shows, they're little fellows.


I've noticed that too.  I don't really like it.  I prefer the tall ones even if it means they won't win in the ring. ;)
I think there are two types of Labs, show and field. The show Labs are heavier and more stocky and the field are lighter boned and a bit taller. 
I agree with you, I worked at a kennel that trains labs for bird hunting...Almo st all the dogs there were lean and tall.

Edited because some how it got all effed up...
« Last Edit: March 07, 2006, 12:42:37 am by chaosndestruction »

Offline ZooCrew

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #13 on: March 06, 2006, 11:52:09 pm »
yeah, the field labs are taller and lankier than the show labs, which always look fat to me b/c they are so round.  A friend of mine's husband gets field purbreds for hunting and their last dog was a field lab.  He was the biggest lab I had ever seen.  Unfortunately, they had to put him down last year at a fairly young age (I think 4-5) b/c his epilepsy just got too bad.

They now have a field spaniel (springer) that looks totally different than any springer spaniel that I have ever seen.  In fact, if I saw it just walking around I would never had guessed it was a springer.  Most hunting dogs have field and show types, and they usually look much different, due to the purpose being different.

Offline Leah...

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Re: What happened to the Goldens?
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2006, 12:39:41 am »
i did not read the other ppls posts, but my guess is people heard about "the perfect dog" and thought they could get away with not properly training it. so they let these dogs get out of control, but still claim they are the perfect dog, and they wouldn't change a thing. it is not the dogs fault, they just fell into the wrong hands :(

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