Giant Golden Retrievers General Chat

Firstly Im confused didnt realise there was a "show" / "working" strain. I trim a goldie who's so big Ian has to help me get him in the bath. I do know he came from a PF when they got there they were appalled but decided they had to "rescue" one.

It just shows that in some breeds there are at least three spilts, working, show or pet, some dogs can be all three though each split can bring something bad to the breed, working types may be more fitter, in that they have to be able to do all the work for large amounts of time, but this can also be because of the exercise regime their on, they can look more, shall I say tighter, they often don't carry excess weight, are not bred to be a extreme size, or often for looks per say, coz as long as they are able to do the job, so they have to have a certain conformation and coat type, and in some jobs colour can be a advantage, but most the time who cares if they are a different colour, have or don't have a mark here or there etc, but the breeders of these are often breeding the dogs who do the job, which can mean a more 'on the go personality', meaning the dogs can be too much for the average pet home, but these breeders don't always health test, which can and does cause problems, then theres show types, they can be bigger then working types, can have more build, have a stricter critea in how they can look, but they can also have different characteristics focused on, which can at times become extreme, and although there are more likely to be health tested at the same time certain things about their conformation can cause problems which need to be watched for, these dogs are often bred for less drive though, which can make them more suited to working dogs to become a pet then you have pets, which can be 'failures' from either section above, can carry lines from either above, have the same plus and minus', or can again be totally different, they can have generations of pet breeding behind them, with any different level of care regarding conformation, health and temperment, it can be harder to know what your getting, but is also one of the most popular types of dog around, which can lead to a increase in breeds being different to what can be laid down as 'correct', and can be as pure as you can get, but just as there is a difference (in some breeds) of work and show theres a difference (in more breeds) between show type and what I would say is pet type. Now thats not meant to offend anyone, so hopefully it wont, and because of my opionions about the different types it prolly that you saw pet type goldies, so they are bred for various (but often the same) reasons, with the breeding not being for improving the breed characteristics that are not often regarded to be the 'norm' of the breed can become apparent, which in this case could be height.

but there shouldnt be a split in a working dog imo... it should be the one and same thing!! i hate the term but they should be 'dual purpose'.. a breed shouldnt be changed to suit..dont like it get another breed imo.

I think i got misread I am not bothered what size they are as they are all much loved to me..But their is a vast difference between the working retriever and the show type .But my last retriever who was also a fairly big boy like his father well his dad did both he was great at agility and also a show dog.Really they should all be the same to go with the breed standard but in golden retrievers their is a vast difference ..Its been this way for a long time allthough some of the breeders do use them for dual purpose.
I might say that my second retriever who was also a big boy was very healthy all his life until he was 12 then he had a degenerative spine disorder and my last one who died in 2009 well he was reared homeopathically he was a stocky dog and he was allways healthy till he was allmost 12 .And The one i have now has just had a full medical and he is top of the class according to the vet .I allways buy puppys from people who have hip and eye scores and the puppy has health checks..And i am very responsible myself and my dogs are all fed the very best ..Callum is eating waitrose chicken every day as i am well aware you are what you eat..And so he gets the very best of everything .

Tupacs I agree, been their debated that a few times on here if the breeds job is still applicable in todays times, like a Labs or as its this thread a goldies is, but say a Bulldogs isn't I believe that if the jobs still applicable that show dogs must be able to proove that they have the correct conformation and mental ability to be able to do the job, if they can't why can't they, they are the same breed, they originated from the same dogs doing the same things didn't they? but in breeds where they can't do their original job I think that they should have to proove a certain level of fitness that would enable them to do so if that makes sense? But nowadays it seems that many dog breeds are not really in unison, the splits happened and everyone thinks their doing the best job, and I think that dogs can actually be suffering as a result and it would be better if everyone worked together on this, and I think that breed clubs should include both working and show breeders, and pet owners too, and different dog breeds should go forward with everyone breeding more towards the same goal rather then at polar opposites, thats my opionion on what should happen whereas my orginal post was my opionions on what is happening

My golden is just a shade under 24 inches at the shoulder. People regularly go 'oh he's a very small golden', well no, not really he's on the upper end of his breed standard ;-)

I meet a lot of goldens who look 'big'. In reality they are very broad and sadly, very often fat I think labradors look fat before goldens do, ie. that coat allows for a lot of chunk to build. When Roo is stood next to them he looks tiddly and he's a bit chunky at the minute, saying that I met two lovely working strain goldens a few weeks ago, exactly the kind of golden I want next

I grew up seeing goldens in Scotland but I do not remember them having such a low centre of gravity and being so stocky as the ones here in Phuket. Am I imagining it?

My Goldie is quite small compared to other Goldies. He weights just under 30 kg. But I was told by a gun dog trainer he was perfect weight and by the vets. I get other Goldie owners all the time say isn,t he thin, and I do feel like saying no, but yours is fat.



But the end of the day who cares if they are big or small as long as they have a fab temperament. Especially if they are family pets.

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It all depends on if it's a working goldie or for show. Nearly all of ours are from working stock and they're more slender but not with long legs. Moss was from a large litter and smaller than the rest of ours.

Moss is second in from the left.
Willow on the left was from a show line, he was a lot stockier and a bit taller than the rest. Logan third in from the left was bigger than moss but can't see it on here.
They all had short legs.

When we went to the breeder for Barley she was breeding another line with longer legs for running faster, but Barley isn't one she thought that it wouldn't be suitable for us.
Because we had the others from her. Her's are used for working and retrieving game, so she knew what she was talking about.
This is Barely

This might help

Lovely to see your beauties again Gail

Thank you @Brunniebabe Gail

Hi, my Golden retriever "Nugget" was huge and by far the biggest golden retriever I have seen to this day. He was 65kg or about 140 pounds at his peak, but when he got to the old age of 15 he had cut down to 51 kg. Standing On his back legs he was only just shorter than me at 5'9". His parents were both pedigree show champion dogs and he was almost double the size of his brothers and sisters, except for one of his brothers who was almost as tall. He could literally knock the planks out of our fence.

Hi, my Golden retriever "Nugget" was huge and by far the biggest golden retriever I have seen to this day. He was 65kg or about 140 pounds at his peak, but when he got to the old age of 15 he had cut down to 51 kg. Standing On his back legs he was only just shorter than me at 5'9". His parents were both pedigree show champion dogs and he was almost double the size of his brothers and sisters, except for one of his brothers who was almost as tall. He could literally knock the planks out of our fence. A big boxer tried to fight him but Nugget pinned him down on his back with his paw on his throat. Kids used to try and ride him like a horse. I miss him so much.

This Photo of Nugget, he was still less than a year and a half old.