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The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties.[1] They were named retriever from their ability to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love of water. Golden retrievers have a dense inner coat that provides them with adequate warmth and a water repellent outer coat that lies flat against their body.The official colour of the breed is the varying shades of gold that are most often seen.[2] These dogs are well suited to suburban or country environments. Although they need lots of outdoor exercise, they should be kept fenced in because of their instincts as hunting dogs.[3] The Golden retriever’s intelligence gives them the ability to be versatile and play a variety of roles including guide dog for the blind, hearing dog for deaf people, hunting dog, illegal drug detector, and search and rescue participant. Because of their loyal and gentle temperament, golden retrievers are also popular family pets.[4] Golden Retrievers possess a friendly, eager-to-please demeanour, and are the fifth most popular family dog breed (by registration) in the United States,[5] the fifth most popular in Australia,[6] and the eighth most popular in the United Kingdom.[7] The Golden Retriever has its roots in Scotland. In the mid eighteenth century, wildfowl hunting was very popular among the rich. In Scotland a dog was needed that could retrieve from water and land because it was covered in ponds and rivers. Early retrievers were crossed with the best of water spaniels giving birth to the dog we know as the Golden Retriever.[8] The Golden Retriever was first developed in Scotland at "Guisachan" near Glen Affric, the highland estate of Sir Dudley Marjoribanks later Baron Tweedmouth. For many years, there was controversy over which breeds were originally crossed. In 1952, the publication of Marjoribanks' breeding records from 1835 to 1890 dispelled the myth concerning the purchase of a whole troupe of Russian sheepdogs from a visiting circus.[9] Improvements in guns during the 1800s resulted in more fowl being downed during hunts at greater distances and over increasingly difficult terrain. This led to more birds being lost in the field. Because of this improvement in firearms, a need for a specialist retriever arose as training setter and pointer breeds in retrievals were found to be ineffective. Thus work began on the breeding of the dog to fill this much needed role.[10] The original cross was of a yellow-coloured Retriever, Nous, with a Tweed Water Spaniel female dog, Belle.[11] The Tweed Water Spaniel is no.. to get more information visit
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