Hello everyone! Here is a short video of how Oshie reacts when I get home versus how he reacts when Nancy gets home. It has been on YouTube for a few weeks now but I forgot to share it on here. Enjoy!
Hello everyone and welcome back for another Golden Retriever fact. I hope you are all having as great of a week as we are.
I have two more facts to share with you this week.
Fact #1
Golden Retrievers are smart. I am guessing that you knew this already, especially if you own a Golden but do you know exactly where the lovable Golden ranks on the American Kennel Club list of the smartest dogs? Well on the top 10 list that includes breeds like the Doberman, Rottweiler and Labrador Retriever, the Golden comes in at number 4! I don’t think Oshie would agree with this ranking. Oshie thinks he is pretty smart when he tricks us into giving him treats.
Ranked ahead of the golden retriever (from 1 to 3) are the Border Collie, Poodle and German Shepherd.
#1 Border Collie Puppies
#2 Standard Poodle
#3 German Shepherd
#4? And Oshie…doesn’t this look like the number 4 smartest dog?
Fact #2
Golden Retrievers have a thick and beautiful double coat. This double coat protects them during any season. During the colder month the undercoat grows in and provides and insulating layer to keep them warm while the top coat provides water resistance.
A Goldens undercoat sheds seasonally. During spring, as the weather begins to get warmer, the undercoat will begin to shed. Regular brushing with an undercoat rake is the best way to control the shedding and keep your home relatively clear of golden fibers of joy. Most Goldens love the attention they get while being brushed and it is a great opportunity to check your pup over for and injuries or abnormalities and create a stronger bond with your furry family member.
I hope you learned something new or at least enjoyed this weeks facts. Check back next Wednesday for new Golden Facts!
I have decided to start posting facts/history about Golden Retrievers every week for as long as I can find facts to post! I hope you all enjoy it and maybe learn an interesting thing or two along the way!
Origin of The Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever breed was born in the Scottish Highlands in the late 1800’s. The founding of the breed is credited to Dudley Marjoribanks (picture below) who was later known as Lord Tweedmouth. Quite the name, right?
Lord Tweedmouth was an avid hunter and owned an estate in Scotland called Guisachan where he kept his hunting dogs. On a trip to Brighton England he came across a cobbler who had been given a yellow wavy-coated retriever as payment. This was the only yellow puppy from the litter and Lord Tweedmouth purchased him, brought him to Guisachan and named him Nous.
Good old Dudley…I mean Lord Tweedmouth, was very interested in the breeding quality of his livestock and dogs. His goal was to create the ultimate retriever, one that would be perfect for the Scottish weather and terrain. He decided the best way to achieve this goal was to breed Nous with his Tweed Water Spaniel, Belle (tweed water spaniels are an extinct breed).
The combination resulted in a litter of yellow pups which would become the base for the breed as we know it today. Lord Tweedmouth also mixed in a few wavy and flat coated retrievers as well as a red setter with the descendants of Nous and Belle and he predominantly kept the yellow dogs in order to further his line. The results are the Goldens you see today!
Comeback for a new fact next Wednesday!
3 years ago today we brought Oshie home! We got one special pup and we are happy to have him as part of our family. We are looking forward to spending many more years with this special boy and hopefully adding another pup somewhere along the way. I put together a short slideshow of some of my favorite Oshie images from the past 3 years.
Golden Retrievers have a soft mouth. That might seem like a weird statement to make because when you look at a dogs mouth you see a big floppy tongue and a bunch of large hard teeth. What I mean by this is that Golden Retrievers are able to carry delicate items in their mouth without damaging them. This is one of the characteristics that makes them a great retriever. If you are a hunter you wouldn’t want your retriever to bring back a mangled bird would you?
We were well aware of this and had even heard the claims that they could carry and egg in their mouth without breaking it. Recently on social media we had seen a few videos of owners testing this on their beloved Goldies with success. Now we don’t doubt that they do have soft mouths but we wanted to see if Oshie was capable of completing this challenge. We suspected he might but were also prepared for him to break the egg. Below is the video we made of Oshie attempting the challenge. He gave it his best ha-ha.
Enjoy!
Jesse
Nancy
Oshie's World 
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