Someone who commented on this blog sent me some photographs yesterday of a dog he purchased. He was told it was a golden retriever. However he thinks he might be a setter/golden cross. When I first saw the photo and the relative paucity of feathering, I thought he was a golden/Labrador cross. But now that I’ve looked at his feathering in more detail from the other photos, I think he’s probably a golden from field-line ancestry.
Breeches:
Leg feathering:
He is a young dog, but he has retrieving instinct. He’s very easily trained and biddable. I think he might be a pure golden, but because goldens are related to Labs and Irish setters, it is sometimes hard to tell whether a dog is pure or not.
I suspect that most supposed golden/setter crosses are pure goldens, and it’s very rare for a field line Irish setter to be bred with a golden retriever.
But what do you think?
To me, this is totally a field-bred Golden. The old-fashioned kind that could think it’s way out of a paper bag!! I’d suspect that part of the coat paucity has to do with nutrition, or lack thereof. Also his dull sunken eyes. If this dog were on kelp supplements and fish oil for about 18 months, with proper exercise, I bet we’d see a real bloom to that kinda dull coat, and some much more luxurious feathering. Seems like a very nice dog, a good egg, just underutilized. Maybe a backyard dog? The lack of muscle mass tells me that the owners were not big on long walks. Very nice dog though!! Bonnie
I agree with you– that’s kind of dog I love!
I had a golden retriever years ago. It takes a while for all the feathering to come in. Pretty dog.
I actually grew up raising field line goldens. The dog in my avatar is an early field and show dog, Noranby Diana. She would never be shown today, but her type was excellent for a working dog. She’s also a “red” one, which were the preferred color originally, and today, these typically aren’t show. They want dogs that look like blond Bernese mountain dogs or white Newfoundlands.
In field lines, there is a tendency to breed out the really long feathering, because it’s a hindrance in the field.
Here’s a full pic of the dog in my avatar:
I had a dog just like her growing up– brilliant animal.
Also if you can find a picture of the first Dual Champion in goldens, he was even darker red than Diana. He was what is called a mahogany, and these dogs are very rare today.
This blog is mainly about the working golden retriever and other working dogs.
Oops. Sorry. I typed the wrong comment to the wrong person.
I thought Golden when I first saw it. Not a yellow flat coated retreiver?
I doubt it’s a yellow flat-coat– it wasn’t purchased from a breeder. Plus, yellow flat-coats tend to be towards the lighter end of the spectrum.
Looks like a typical puppy mill bred golden to me. Have seen lots of those come through rescue.
The original color for the breed is quite dark and of a more lithe body than currently seen in the show ring.
Not all goldens of this type are puppy mill dogs– on the contrary, most of the working lines of golden have a tendency to produce rather dark dogs.