Goldern Retreivers

[Steve S 0]

I read the GSP and fox thread and saw the post by Lampinglurcher and his Golden Retreivers, and I started thinking that I haven't seen many Goldens working. I know they were bred to work; they're loyal, and have a great degree of cooperation, biddability, and stability in temperament. My question: why aren't we seeing the breed used as much as Labradors, GSP, Deutsch Drahthaars, Griff, brittanies, etc...?

[lampinglurcher 36]

as far as i can see at the moment goldens are out of vogue in the gundog world, its also alot harder to get a good working pup than it is a working lab or springer.

ive found that goldens also work differently, now this difference suits me well but some dont like it. for example a good golden will wind scent as well as ground scent, which has been invaluable to me and mine will also find birds that the labs have missed.

Alot of the blokes around here are into field trialling etc as well which the labs really seem to thrive at. i use mine every day on live game, so a cracking dummy dog aint much use to me.

[lampinglurcher 36]

Edited December 28, 2010 by lampinglurcher

[Lab 10,979]

as far as i can see at the moment goldens are out of vogue in the gundog world, its also alot harder to get a good working pup than it is a working lab or springer.

ive found that goldens also work differently, now this difference suits me well but some dont like it. for example a good golden will wind scent as well as ground scent, which has been invaluable to me and mine will also find birds that the labs have missed.

Alot of the blokes around here are into field trialling etc as well which the labs really seem to thrive at. i use mine every day on live game, so a cracking dummy dog aint much use to me.

My sentiments exactly......a world of difference from a dummy picking trail dog to a game finding dog. Glad i have a kennel full of the latter..

[lampinglurcher 36]

thought id add - i dont mean to say that labs are just trialling dogs, some of the best working dogs ive ever seen have been labs (mainly drakeshead blood) but goldens suit me better

[shotup 9]

did a golden not win the IGL only a couple of years back against the best of best labs?

[potshot 0]

Sorry this is bollocks - the goldens have always been a minority breed in terms of numbers compared to the common garden labs. However the working side of the breed has shown a tremendous resurrgence in the last 10/15 years with many more working goldens in the field, in tests and in trials. There are certain geographical areas where they are strong, the south west, east anglia, the midlands, northumbria and of course Scotland which is from where they originate. Yes Andrew Wright won the championship a couple of years ago, this year 4 goldens qualified and ran in the championship and three of those dogs qualified at any variety 2 day open stakes. Good working pups range from £600 to £800 each so more expensive than your average lab pup but then there are far fewer good breeders and there are only 4/5 really good stud dogs at any one time. Iv'e been in the breed for 25 years and IMHO it has not been in such good a state for 50 years.

[potshot 0]

Oh and btw I do test and trial with my goldens but I aslo pick up with them all the time, I run a picking up team and regularly shoot over my dogs. The OH and I have eight goldens between us.

[Steve S 0]

Thanks.

[lampinglurcher 36]

Sorry this is bollocks - the goldens have always been a minority breed in terms of numbers compared to the common garden labs. However the working side of the breed has shown a tremendous resurrgence in the last 10/15 years with many more working goldens in the field, in tests and in trials. There are certain geographical areas where they are strong, the south west, east anglia, the midlands, northumbria and of course Scotland which is from where they originate. Yes Andrew Wright won the championship a couple of years ago, this year 4 goldens qualified and ran in the championship and three of those dogs qualified at any variety 2 day open stakes. Good working pups range from £600 to £800 each so more expensive than your average lab pup but then there are far fewer good breeders and there are only 4/5 really good stud dogs at any one time. Iv'e been in the breed for 25 years and IMHO it has not been in such good a state for 50 years.

 

i said 'as far as i can see'...

and in the south west - cornwall in particular there are not many. very few in fact compared to the amount of labs

i cant talk about any sort of resurgence in the breed as i havent been into it for 25 years.

potshot do you have any pictures of your dogs?

[potshot 0]

 

This is not the most recent one but does give a good idea of what are dogs are like.

[potshot 0]

and in the south west - cornwall in particular there are not many. very few in fact compared to the amount of labs

 

There is a good line of goldens called EVAL based in Cornwall although the owner has really slowed down a bit now. There is another chap that runs his goldens at a shoot just north of Bodmin. The Williams family at Werrington Park are well known for their goldens. I am heavily involved with the Cornwall Field Trial Society and at 2 out of the 3 retriever trials this year goldens have taken first place. There are many more well know breeders just over the border in Devon.

[lampinglurcher 36]

one of the few i know who really works his goldens lives just by me, like you said the eval lines' breeder has slowed right down (from what i hear) i know of the williams dogs, my point is that the majority of gundogs i see on shoots or being worked are labs and spaniels. i would love to see more goldens in the field being worked hard

also, of the few i've seen there's even less that i would want a pup off - most are too stocky and slow for my liking... still good working dogs but not my type.

[lampinglurcher 36]

Potshot do you have any pictures of your dogs working?

[North Country Boy 0]

Ive been shooting near on 10 years now and have only ever come across one golden lab, it was a peg dog, but ive never seen any in the beating line, fox red, black and white labs yes but never golden.