My love story with this breed started 8 long years ago. (with a happy ending of course)
I know that having a pet is a big responsibility and time-consuming. Since I adore dogs, I was constantly watching the "Dog Whisperer" show with Cesar Millan. I used to like their advice about training and education of pets. And there was one series where I saw the Golden retriever dog.
And you know, a couple of weeks later, I actually met the Golden retriever in life. A man my husband knows was actually a breeder of Golden retrievers. His dog couple has a breeding record with a surname Vives de Vivaldi. And of course I was very excited to tell him about my dream of having a Golden retriever dog. And guess what, two weeks after that, my husband presented me with a Golden retriever puppy. That couple had 6 lovely puppies at that time.
So, now I have HER. I named her with a beautiful name Elsa.
I won’t waste your time describing the characteristics of the breed, as there’s a lot of information on the Internet. I want to tell you about the dog itself.
Appearance and manners
My dog is of medium size. Her weight is 46 - 68 pounds. The coat is also of medium length and cinnamon color. In winter it’s much brighter. Since we live in a flat, shedding brings a lot of discomfort and problems. But I actually got used to it. When it’s warm, the shedding is profuse and may take up to 4 months, so I have to be very patient. 
I love keeping my house clean, so it was a very important thing for me to teach the dog to respect other members of the family and not to cross some borders, that’s why she sleeps only on her own dog bed and never steals food from the table.
I never let her (when she grew up) to lie on the sofa, let alone on our bed! And I advise you to do the same, otherwise your house will turn into a dog’s castle and you’ll never be able to deter your pet from sleeping where you don't want her to sleep.
This is how my lovely dog sleeps
People use a pillow to put under their heads for the neck to feel comfortable, while dogs usually like hanging their head down the bed and, of course, nowhere to go without toys! Our dog has a chicken leg and pink hedgehog in these shots. By the way, she was 6 years old at that moment.
This breed does smell of dog, but it smells of a “clean dog” if it’s possible to say so. It has fresh breath, which other breeds usually can't boast of. And if anything happens and there’s bad breath appearing, then we brush her teeth with a special toothpaste with a meat flavor.
Since the dog is used to the process of teeth and ear cleaning, brushing, eye washing in the morning, mouth washing (if the food was too delicious and there was a lot of saliva) and also regular bath from childhood, there are no problems with her in terms of hygiene. I can’t even think of an accident when she, for example, ran away or resisted the procedures.
She’s been very curious since childhood. So, that’s why I let her follow me to watch what I’m doing in the other room, go out each time I leave the house to hang out the laundry or simply let her sniff the bags with new clothes. Not to mention her curiously to what’s happening outside. :)
She likes lying on the stairs watching the world pass by
When guests come to our place, the dog becomes so excited and starts bringing all her toys to show and grab attention. Within 5 minutes she calms down if there’s nobody willing to play with her and goes back to her bed.
But sometimes we have guests who can stay at out place for a week for example, and drink her water and eat her food In that case the food becomes one hundred times tastier and water fresher. I’m speaking about the case when our friend’s dog female Giant Schnauzer stayed at our place for a week.
During that week, the dogs never had any fights or disagreements, even though our flat is rather small. They shared everything, including toy balls.
So, I’m leading to the fact that the Golden Retrievers have sound temperaments and this is absolutely true to life.
And this photo was really difficult to take, as the doggy didn’t want to pose :)
And here as well, you can see it in her glance
The Golden Retriever is called so for a reason, and not only for the coat color, but most of all for the mellow character. This a breed that will bring a lot of love and happiness into your home. It isn’t a watchdog and it’s unlikely that it’ll protect your house from thieves. It’ll live well with any other animals in the house and not actually only in the house. When I had a cat, they used to share their food and slept together. It’s absolutely a non-contentious dog breed that will work tooth and nail to try to avoid a conflict. It’ll never harm small kids or animals.
This is how respectful the meeting with a cat outside looks.
The dog is absolutely not vindictive. Even if somebody has ever made any harm to her, she’ll never bite or growl. It’s more likely that she’ll run away rather than make an attempt to get at somebody. I like the way she treats children. She finds it funny when they laugh near her and want to touch her ears.
Lifestyle and food.
Since the breed is very active, Golden retriever requires special care and protection, good food and long walks outside.
Each time when the weather is good, we take long walks and the dog goes out without a leash, only listening to my voice requests and demands. I was teaching her that skill since her childhood. The dog understands that walking outside is not a perfect opportunity to run away, but it’s a great chance to watch and sniff everything around. There wasn’t a day when I got lost a sight of the her or a dog herself.
I walk her 2 times a day, usually at the same time. Once it happened that there was no chance to walk her and the dog waited to go out for 16 hours! Only once there was such a case.
I have a part-time job, so the dog is rarely left alone. In general, there’s usually somebody at home to enliven the dog’s life.
Of course that’s not always the case. If we leave the house, she misses us and feels sad, I think that she doesn’t eat or drink at that time until we come home.
As for feeding, we don’t bother in terms of additives and different lurings. Our dog has no heritable diseases or health problems, so we buy her good, quality, tasty and different dry food like Bon Menu and Brekkies Excel from Affinity. I don’t understand much in the ingredients but I know the most important things: the dog likes them and they work well for the coat, teeth, bones and gastrointestinal tract.
Health. I know that Golden retriver’s health mostly depends on the parent’s health condition and the food of course.
Annual vaccinations against rabies and major common diseases in the area where the dog lives, as well as protection from insects and intestinal parasites are required!
And don’t forget about the hygiene of the dog, as it’s important not only for the dog itself but also for the family members it lives with. Since being very small I taught my dog to be patient to all hygiene procedures, so when she grew up, there are still no problems with her.
Verbal and physical contacts are very important for the dog to feel the love of her owner and his/her importance. Only if you love your dog, it’ll be obedient and responsive.
If you want me to list the advantages of the breed, I’ll say that for me there are loads!
And there’s no need to write about the disadvantages. For me it’s like writing about the disadvantages of my child. My dog is my family member, since we brought her home and forever.
If you are ready to have a Golden retriever dog at your place, if you are ready to train it with good manners and behaviour, then it’ll steal your heart forever!
Love your dog, and it’ll give you loads of its love back.
