Golden Retrievers
Monday, October 28, 2019
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A versatile member of the dog family, of great value in the field and glowingly handsome in the show ring, is the Golden Retriever. He's a powerful, active dog with a coat of rich gold that. for ring purposes, should be neither dark as in the Irish Setter nor cream-colored.
As a gun dog the Golden is useful on upland game and, of course, retrieving waterfowl. Although a relatively new breed, a Golden usually is well in the running in national competition and sometimes wins the top award. He is increasingly popular with sportsmen after a slow start here. The parent organization, the Golden Retriever Club of America, wasn't started until 1934.
You can read about "Curly Coated Retrievers" here
You can read about "Curly Coated Retrievers" here
The only recorded ancestor is a big sheep herder of the Caucasus Mountains—the Russian Tracker. The Tracker was a taffy-colored, double-coated dog with better-than-average intelligence. In 1860 Sir Dudley Majoribanks found a troupe of eight of them performing at the English resort, Brighton, under a Russian trainer. Struck by their intelligence, he tried to buy two of them but it was all or nothing with the Russian, so Sir Dudley bought the troupe.
Sir Dudley bred the dogs for ten years without resorting to an outside cross. then crossed with a Bloodhound. The cross intensified the scenting abilities of the breed thus created, refined and darkened the coat slightly. The progeny had a decided resemblance to the present-day dog, according to old photographs.
Canadians took to the handsome, hard working Goldens before the sportsmen of the United States. Retired British Army officers brought the breed to Vancouver Island and Victoria, B.C., about 1900.