King Midas of Woodend was born in 1937. He was bred by Edwin Dodge of the Winnebago Kennels of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Upper Midwest. Early golden retriever stronghold.
And he won the National Field Champion title in 1941– the first time it was awarded.
The AKC gives awards this title to one dog per year. To win this title, a dog must place first in a trial that has been designated the Nation Open Stake.
The last golden retriever to win this title was in 1951, and it is very unlikely that another will do so.
This has become a game for field trial-bred Labradors.
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I should note that Midas is retrieving a duck, not a goose.
If we are to pay attention to the proportions of duck and dog, it is obvious that Midas wasn’t a very big dog at all.
To call Gilder (born 1929) a “very light colored dog” is not entirely accurate. The majority of published photographs of Gilder were taken at an advanced age (around 10 or older) with much paling due to age. Photo at a much younger age shows a dog that could be called light golden, but certainly not a “cream”. Gilder went through several owners before coming into the possession of Major Wentworth-Smith (Yelme), who recognized the dog’s potential and developed it.
Edwin (Ned) Dodge did not own the Winnebago kennel, Dr. Gifford did. Mr. Dodge’s kennel name was Woodend; King Midas was acquired from Gifford.
I didn’t say he was a cream. I said he was very light colored.
Light colored meant something very different then than it does now.
I don’t think any of the real creams, as we know them today, existed until after the Second World War.