Golden Retriever: A Nineteenth Century Dog
One of the most obedient and intelligent dogs, Golden Retriever dogs are famous for offering their services in a wide variety of domains including hunting, field trials and conferring guidance and companionship to blind masters. In the early decades of the 1800’s, hunting was popular among natives of England and Scotland. During that time, hunting was considered both as a way to gather foods and a mode of entertainment. With their flexibility and a medium-size, the Golden Retriever has the ability to move through the wild-fowling, both upland and waterfowl, in a smooth fashion.
In 19th century, Lord Tweedmouth at Guisachan estate, Scotland, kept the records of the development of the Golden Retriever for the first time. These records were published for the first time by Tweedmouth’s great nephew in the year 1952. It was during the mid of 19th century when Lord Tweedmouth purchased his the Golden Retriever Nous. In his estate, he put the effort to breed the dogs with desired characteristics.
During the early days, Tweed Water Spaniels were predominantly used as hunting dogs, since they were marked for their true intelligence, courage and vitality, the factors most essential for hunting. Tweed Water Spaniel dogs were of great importance for the development of the ancestors of the modern Golden Retriever. Lord Tweedmouth encouraged breeding between his yellow puppy Nous and Belle, a female Tweed Water Spaniel and this couple gave birth to fours golden puppies. However in later days, Irish setter and Bloodhound in addition to Tweed Water Spaniel were used for the breeding of modern the Golden Retriever.
The last decades of 19th century, England witnessed the increasing popularity of the Golden Retriever. In the Crystal Palace, the Golden Retriever gave its first public appearance in a dog show in the year 1908. When the Golden Retriever Club in England was formed during 1913, a separate and unique recognition had been established. In 1920, the Golden Retriever came into North America and won the heart of many people.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) offered the recognition and listed them in the year 1925. During the time between 1930s and 1940s, the popularity of this breed became significantly increased. The Golden Retriever was the dog that achieved the crown of obedience, The Obedience Champ Title, from the AKC, while competing with many other varieties of dogs in the year 1977.
During the early days of development, the versatility of the Golden Retriever was still unrecognized and this breed was only treated as a hunting dog. However later on all knew the versatile characteristics of this breed.
In the initial days, the dark shade of the coats of the Golden Retriever was predominantly preferred by people, however, the preference has changed dramatically in due course of time.
Throughout the years, the popularity of this breed has increased and the Golden Retriever has been known as one of the most adorable and intelligent dogs among all other breeds around the world.
