Popularity of the Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is undoubtedly the most popular dog breed in the world. This versatile breed of animal suits a variety of owners and various situations. Whether you are thinking of getting a dog as a companion or a hunting assistant, you really cannot go wrong with a Golden Retriever. This canine species is kind, gentle, and a natural at almost every given task.

No other breed has found as much media attention as the Golden Retriever.
Starting from Liberty, the First Dog during the Ford Administration to Comet, the retriever on the TV show Full House, to Duke, the dog who wants to give away a recipe of baked beans commercial to Buddy, of Air Bud fame, and so on. All these dogs have one thing in common- they are all the immensely popular Golden Retrievers.

Here are come of the reasons why a Golden Retriever is considered one of the most popular dogs in the world.

Water Dogs

The Golden Retriever has a water repellant coat, permitting them to love water. That, in turn, makes them experts at retrieving water fowl that land in the water during a hunt. Their soft mouths and gentle hold ensure that the bird doesn’t suffer further damage, and is brought back intact to the hunter.

Intelligent Working Dog

The Golden Retriever is not only a great companion and an excellent hunting dog, it is also a search and rescue worker, drug detector and an assistance dog. In addition, it can be trained as a ‘therapy dog’, taught to assist stroke patients with physical therapy and other needy depressed patients. The Golden Retriever gives unconditional love and sometimes patients respond and open up to this animal more than they do to humans.

A popular therapy dog was Hoop, a well-known Golden Retriever. The Utah Veterinary Medical Association inducted Hoop into the Utah Animal Hall of Fame and declared him the Animal Companion of the Year. His friendly nature was contagious and people were generally happier after getting to know him. During a normal day, Hoop would help patients in their physical therapy, and visit other, especially the children, in the wards and help them forget their pain. He also traveled to schools and made a tremendous impact there.

Search and Rescue

The golden retriever is very intelligent and has a keen sense of smell. These qualities along with the ability to want to please make them highly suited to search and rescue activities. Hasty, a Retriever who lives in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado is trained to find people buried in avalanches during tricky cold weather. The Retriever is trained to rescue by ‘burying’ a member in a snow cave 6 feet under the surface. Hasty’s task is to find him and dig a hole so he can breathe fresh air till help arrives.

Golden Retrievers are very active and need ample room to play. They enjoy regular dog games like catching the Frisbee or a tennis ball. They are highly skilled and agile, making them favorites at contests everywhere. The Golden Retriever has a relatively long life span and because of that they are usually over- bred in puppy mills, therefore they seem to have a high orphan rate. So if you are considering keeping a Golden Retriever in your family, check out the animal shelters for abandoned dogs. Not only will you get a grateful dog that needs a home, you will have the time of your life with him.

Whether you want a Golden Retriever as a companion or a hunting dog, or to train for competition, search and rescue, you will not make a mistake on choosing a Golden Retriever. The kind, confident friendly breed is a born natural at everything.