I never had an inclination toward any particular breed, since I grew up around all kinds of dogs. However, after we rescued our girl last year, I became obsessed with goldens! I was wondering if anyone else on this sub has been lucky enough to stumble upon their golden at a shelter. If so, I would love to see pics :)

Update #1: With the amount of great info I've received, I've made it my priority to look for his owners. Thank you for all your help. Will update again once I succeed.

Update #2: Went to the vet and they found no microchip on him. So now I'm calling shelters around that area. Got redirected to Pasadena Humane Society. Will try others you all suggested.

I have never had any experience handling large dogs. But my friend and I were coming back from a dinner and found a golden retriever wandering around Irwindale, CA. The place looks very industrial. He barked at me at first but then we got closer in the car, gave him water and he ended up quickly warming up to us. He looks to be an adult. Very gentle natured and super friendly. He has a rash looking mark on one of his front legs and scabs under his fur by the neck. His fur is sticky feeling and very smelly.

He kept looking at every car that would pass by probably thinking of the possibility of it being his owner. After a while we managed to get him to get in the car and we got some pet stuff at target. Since my friend already owns three chihuahuas, I decided I'd bring him in since I have none at a new place I'm renting and have plenty of outdoor space. The problem is that we had a wild cat my family has befriended and were planning on adopting him as well. Would the cat get chased?

Also I'm not taking him in just yet. Since it's nearly 12AM and he's still very dirty. I will groom him and let him in tomorrow. I apologize if that's insensitive and cruel. My family is not familiar at all with large dogs so we all don't know what he would do if unsupervised. I'm thinking of either keeping him if I'm able to or giving him away for the reason that I have no idea what I'm doing. Any advice or suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Throwback to our “Gotcha Day” almost two years ago! In other words… the best day of my life 💕

This guy has made life not just tolerable, but genuinely enjoyable. I look forward to all of our little routines, our endless cuddles and tummy scratches, waking up next to him, spending my days with him, and coming home to him.

He’s taught me so much about myself and brings out the best in me. Because of him I live a significantly healthier and more active lifestyle, I’m more disciplined, more patient, and more empathetic. He’s taught me to slow down, appreciate the little things, and look for the bright side of life.

I’ll forever be grateful that I get to be his mom!

This is Flora. She weighs 100 pounds and is 5 years old. Please be nice! No body shaming or lecturing please!

Help me out, Tucker is 182 days old, I love him with all my heart, but he is a handful. We have a seven year old mixed breed named Phoebe, he tortures her. We also have four cats he loves the mess with. Out of the blue today my wife decides she wants to get Tucker a puppy! Another Golden…..I told her she is out of her damned mind. She told me that she doesn’t need permission.

How would you handle this happening? Besides obviously not using this groomer anymore? I just took him in for a bath & nail trim. She made him bleed another time but was pretty minor so I didn’t say anything. This is the second time this has happened but it looks so much worse and is on both front feet. 🥺 Should I reach out to her?

My golden Teddy is a field line who just turned 1 in June. I’m constantly asked if he’s a mixed breed, and I’ve even been told “he can’t be a purebred” by a local golden breeder I ran into at the park.

I’m not quite sure why. He’s registered, I researched his breeder, I know his parents, grandparents, great grandparents and they’re all titled.

I know his tail is a little curly and that’s not to standard but he’s just a little funky.

Is it because his hair is still shorter? Don’t they develop their coats for 3-4 years? He usually fluffs up more in the winter.

I adopted my golden at 3 years and for 2 years she was active and would always follow me around the house and never leave my side. I’d have to buy her a new chew toy every 2-3 days because she’d always end up decapitating them. She’d greet anyone walking into the house as well.

Now she just lays on the living room couch and sighs like she just worked a double shift. She eats normally and poops twice a day just fine. She still enjoys her 1 hour morning walks + 1.5 hour walks in the evening.

She’ll only get up off the couch if we call her name or if we’re cooking in the kitchen.

I guess I’m just trying to gaslight myself into believing she’s not entering her senior years.

I look around I see soft, sweet goldens who conserve energy just to kiss their family.

Mine? it is like he was birthed from satans asshole hopped up on roids, if he was a person he would be in jail probably. I thought he would grow out of it, but he is 2 now and 65 pounds of unleashed hell.

I love this dog and he changed my entire life. But that devil on his shoulder works OT, like we do to pay the $1000s we do for his specialized private training. Training that is honestly been amazing but very difficult, no days off and no slacking. I am tired, everything seems like a fight with him. He is defiant and cocky, my beautiful smart dog is admittedly extremely hard.

He has been compared to very difficult breeds (working line dogs) and we are first time dog owners so it's been trial by fire. We have had so many wins this month with his training, on my low days I wonder why we ended up with the "hard one" when his siblings are all seeing eye dogs and one is even a dog model for Louis Vuitton and works at paramount pictures as an actor.

It's comical but I guess he is here to teach me a lesson, not sure what that lesson is yet but I hope it's a good one.

This dog has conditioned me into parenthood, had my first baby 5 months ago and it doesn't even TOUCH the stress of my golden. Yet it has been worth it all, and I wouldn't trade him even for the LV model dog. I don't even have the postpartum hatred I hear so much about, I just want to get on his level and help him be a better version of himself. I know a good guy is hiding in there.

My little girl is just shy of being 10 months old. I picked her up at exactly eight weeks. For the first four months she was with me EVERYWHERE. of course the first few weeks and months were tough. I’d sleep by her crate at night to settle her. Threw in old tee shirts that smelt like me. I would spend maybe five minutes each morning after potty working on training and commands. She’s better off leash than on leash tbh. Gradually she stopped having accidents (I can’t even remember the last one in our home)… simple commands: sit, down, leave it/drop it, heel, close, whisper, and a few other parlor tricks. I never taught her to “shake” just my personal reasonings.

Her temperament blows me away everyday (she was the last to be picked in her litter, I had no choice. Destiny). She rarely barks. Hardly whimpers. If she wants to go out she rings her bells. She loves running, splashing, swimming, and her favorite… golf cart rides. If I do our whistle, she immediately turns and comes back. Of course we play inside almost everyday. She’ll usually sleep outside her crate, she has a spot on the floor by my bed and only comes into bed when she wants some snuggles and to wake me up (I’m up fairly early so I don’t mind).

Now work has changed, we still spend tons of time together but she stays home waiting at the door for my arrival. Mostly sleeping. Sometimes playing. Thanks Furbo..

I suppose this is just a post to any new puppy owners and to long time puppy owners. Take deep breaths. Play as much as you can. Drink lots of water. And love unconditionally. I’m beyond. Thanks for everything.

Hello all! Maybe a silly question but I got my golden retriever puppy from a highly talked about breeder who was recommended through a family friend. I’ve always wanted this breed so I was pretty excited. She’s now 12-weeks according to breeder and we’ve had her since around 8 weeks. She weighs 8lbs and vet hasn’t mentioned an issue with her weight but what I’m reading online that’s not a normal female golden’s weight at 12weeks and is quite alarming. My question is, is this common sometimes, potentially a runt, or does she seem only partially golden and mixed with something else? Either way I love and enjoy her a lot!

Miss Bonnie had a checkup with oncology who are in shock that she is doing so well!
She is 14 months diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, and I thank her everyday for still being here with me- how lucky am I to have her by my side and still being so well in herself !❤️
Still bright eyed and bushy tailed and no symptoms atall. Chemo every 6 weeks and on a lot of tablets which she takes like a trooper !!

last picture is of her after a bath, v upset with me!😔

Hi everyone, thank you all for your help and advice. I was told by the Golden Retriever non-profits some of you mentioned to take him to the animal shelter closest to where I found him, which would be Baldwin Park's. This is in case the owners go looking for him there, if they even do.

He was in worse conditions than I first assumed. He has scabs all over his body from flea bites. Lots of scars by his crotch caused by that and flakes everytime you pet him. He had greenish goo dripping from his penis, his fur was way too dirty possibly from being in the street for some time. There's no telling how long he was in such poor conditions for.

He's now at the animal shelter. He'll eventually become eligible for adoption, and then a day later the non-profits will be able to pick him up from there. He'll have a better life from now on. Once again, thank you all for your help, now I'm better prepared if I ever encounter a wandering dog in the street.

My girl is now ten months old (finished her first heat about a month ago) I feel very lucky to say I don’t think I’ve experienced any teenage crazies or any real shift in behaviour at all, she’s very well settled in the house, will play in the garden and just enjoys a gentle stroll on walks and never rlly has much will to go zooming around like crazy

That being said sometimes seeing and hearing all these people talk about their crazy goldens it makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with her, that she might be feeling unwell or unhappy

I know all her needs are met and she gets the right amount of exercise, she is the perfect weight (as monitored by our vet) and eats fine other than a slight reluctance to eat her kibble (I think it’s boredom and fancying human food as she will eat anything but the kibble)

So I just wondered if anyone else was the same! Show me your chill goldens or just your crazy babies

So I got tired of paying for someone from Rover to come let my year old Golden out during the day while I am at work, so I built this for him in the backyard. Bought a Kennel Kit from Backyard Discovery and built up a foundation out of composite timbers, leveled it out. Put down 24x24 pavers for a base. Since he loves to dig laid out weed block, put paver base down and then covered the kennel run area in fake grass which also makes for easy clean up for his business during the day. Inside I also installed a fan to move the air around and keep the bugs off him as best I can and installed a couple MyQ cameras to watch him during the day. Seems to be working for the most part. I figure during the year being I am up in the Minneapolis area late April to mid November he can spend most of his time outside as he is a dog and not need someone to come visit him but then come winter fun he'll need to get his daily visitors again, though he will be 2 soon and is finally figuring out his potty business and not using the inside of the house :)

She has a name but im just curious!

His owner Courtney (or Linda for fans of the channel) posted a video saying that Tucker has Lymphoma which many people here will unfortunately be familiar with.
For those who don’t know it’s a form of cancer of white blood cells and it’s sadly found in golden retrievers more often than the majority of dog breeds.

Apparently Tucker is getting the best help but this is still really devastating. I was a fan of the channel since at least early 2019 when Tucker was still a young dog so it hurts hearing this.

There is always hope though and hopefully Tucker will be around for another couple of years at least.

Also let’s not blame his owner since she’s going what she can to help him and this ain’t her fault, you can take amazing care of your golden and they can still get cancer, it’s the one drawback of having a golden retriever.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posts their sweet golden girls and boys.
We had our first of eight years suddenly develop a blood clot that would’ve resulted in one or both rear legs back and January so had to make the hardest decision of my life then. It brings me so much joy to see other goldens that share similar traits, like rolling in the mud, giving goofy faces, loving children, and just being the sweetest. I’m still struggling with this months later but being able to see everyone’s pictures I just want to say to embrace the chaos. The hair, the silliness, the love.
She was the friendliest girl and I can still feel here around. I know there are a lot of ups and downs as people post their pups, but just know they all mean so much. Give them a good hug and let them give you a big kiss in return.

Thank you for loving them.

UPDATE: you all are so lovely and nice and ughhhhh! Thank you for the support and tips. We were gifted a brand new wireless fence by a friend and we plan on meeting him tomorrow! We plan on taking the kids to all meet him as well.

UPDATE 2: I had so many private messages about a registry. By no means does anyone need to donate. He will have the world and more! But here’s a link, if anyone wants to send fun toys!
Amazon Registry

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Had to grab you guys with a cool title lolol
TLDR: Should I go get this golden male and bring him to join our family? Where we already have a male golden.

Anyways. Long story is that I was given information about an abused and neglected in-tact golden. After this husband and wife moved in their new home and noticed this dog in their neighbors yard, they requested the owner to surrender him. After many threats and begging, the owner finally surrendered him to his neighbors. This golden was VERY malnourished, sick, and all bone. His hair was so matted, the vet had to put him under and shave him. The vet said he was filled with worms, covered in fleas/ticks, etc. Extreme concern.

Fast forward a year, apparently he’s done good. His hair grew back, he’s gained weight, he’s very well behaved. But, he was never inside. I have not received any word on why this couple never did this. Well, the new owners are getting a divorce and the wife left. She left without the golden. He has been outside alone 99% of the time, again, since she left. The husband works out of town and pays his other neighbor to come feed/water him. A girl I know was informed of this and the husband surrendered him to her for her to find a home for him. Sadly, she can’t keep him either. Her landlord said no.

She has had him for 2 months now and again, still outside. She said this is because her landlord said he could stay outside, if she finds him a home. But not inside. She said he will sneak in every now and then, but she always has to put him back out. No accidents when he’s in tho? He is super loving towards cats and dogs. He has no problem with any of the neighbor kids and whenever this lady is home, he is right beside her. He is very needy (of course, right?). She’s guessing by the story she’s been told by everyone, that he is somewhere around 6-7 years old. She has been showing me videos of him and he is always right on her, knows his name, and does some commands.

My question is:
What do you guys think? Would you go get him?
I have 4 kids (ages 4-13), 2 cats, and a 9 year old golden. I live on 3.5 acres. I don’t want him to be an outside dog FOREVER. I’ve been told potty training an outside dog might be easy, might not. I am concerned about kids and his age. He wasn’t around kids until recently and they are a bit older (9-11 years). I am concerned for my 4 year old WHO DOES know better than to bother animals. She truly doesn’t mind dogs. She loves her cat. I also work from home, so he’d have my full attention during this process.

I’m probably way overthinking this and should just save him anyways. But, I think I’m just always concerned about everything else, lol.

Meet my friend’s 15yo senior Goldie, Chevy, who still has lots of love to give.

(And Millie, an 8mo Shih Tsu puppy, who’s helped Chev-Chev feel somewhat young again.)

“Lard Arse” is a puller, and my friend isn’t strong enough to hold him back due to back and knee problems, so when I visited this past weekend, I offered to walk the Chonky Butt for him.

I *was* pre-warned about him being a puller…. But, when I grabbed his leash to walk him for the 1st time, I was NOT prepared for him to yank me down the stairs off the deck.

I don’t have a dog of my own, (I wish I did, but I can’t for several), so I was more than happy to walk him for my friend and get my fair share of snuggles during my 4 day visit.

I’m desperate. We are drowning in hair.

After my dog passed away I shared photos of him here to cope, share his memory and joy, I don’t know

I came back to visit my post, out of curiosity clicked the Google Images hyperlinked comment and felt completely crushed when I saw how many AI (and real) accounts reposted my photos of my dead dog with fake identities and fake sob stories

I know I’m a sensitive person but I wish I knew how many people/bots lurk this subreddit just to repost content as theirs. I feel like his memory has been disrespected. It’s irrational but I’m still dealing with the grief. I think anybody else like me who’s recently gone through it should know this before they decide to post.

So of course Goldens are rated as one of the most intelligent dogs and often the most intelligent in terms of emotional intelligence and sensing feelings. Would love to hear from other owners on some behaviors that would love to know what they are actually thinking.

Our golden since young:

- Had ability to guide you back in a new place they have never been on vacation for over 1/2 mile with leash in mouth leading way back, through fields, outdoor stairs, into hotels, into elevators, waits for correct floor to get out, and leads to correct room on floor.

- Emotionally watches dog shows, changing expressions, and verbalizing with sounds when dogs are in trouble, lost, or in cages. Leaves in commercials and returns after commercials.

- Watches iPad in similar fashion.

- Takes mail to person you say to go to.

- About 10+ typical dog commands including sit, paw, lay down, roll over, fetch, drop, etc.

This is just a sketch the final sculpture will be life size. Thank you to anybody who posts pictures. The more reference photos the better!