THE BREED ORIGIN: THE REALITY AND THE MYTH
	FACTS SEQUENTIAL SUMMARY
	RELATED BREEDS

Among all sports developed by man, one of them has always been highlighted: the hunting. Partially, because its origin is related to the former food search in the beginning of our history, and partially, because of the human’s desire for ascendancy over other beings and nature, as a challenge. In this aspect, society has evolved and what today may be discussed as morally or politically correct, some time ago was not, and even nowadays is a traditional sport, even for elite, in many places.

The dog has always followed man in this sport, be it for chasing the hunt, be it for retrieving it. So, these sportspeople invested big money to develop and enhance dogs’ breeds that might adapt to their needs. However, as the existing animals did not suit these needs, they started carrying out crossings in order to obtain a strong, medium-sized animal, with good bone structure and great ability to search for the hunt and retrieve it to the hunter’s hands, besides being agile for the many different types of terrain, water, swamp, or dense woods. The main experimental breedings involved Setters, Spaniels from water and the little and light Newfoundland, mainly in the United Kingdom’s lands.

From these experiments on, the Retrievers arose and drew attention as excellent bird dogs. They are known for the superior capacity of retrieving the hunt. That is the origin of the Golden Retriever breed development…

THE BREED ORIGIN: THE REALITY AND THE MYTH

As many other purebred canine breeds, the Golden Retriever has British ancestors (its name in English means: golden = because of the coat color and retriever = because it rescues). It resulted from many years of careful and planned breeding, carried out by Sir Dudley Marjoriebanks (later, the first Lord Tweedmouth), back in the XIX Century, with the objective of breeding a dog that has the ability to retrieve the hunted animal and deliver it intact to the owner’s hands.

The original history about this breed was rejected after 1952, when it was published a Tweedmouth’s manuscript telling the real history of the selection. The records of the history, according to “The Complete Dog Book” of the American Kennel Club, were found by his nephew, the Sixth Count of Ilchester, a historian and sportsman. The former version of the history, which now stands as a myth, tells that Lord Tweedmouth had bought some dogs from a Russian circus, in Brighton, England, attracted by the smartness, intelligence and the yellowish color of the dog’s eyes, weighing more than 45 kilos, with a dense coat and about 76 cm high. Lord Tweedmouth got interested by two of them, but was obliged to buy the whole group of 8 dogs.From Brighton, he would have taken them for a property called Guisachan, in Scotland, where he used to hunt deers. Later, to reduce the size and enhance the dog’s scent, he would have crossed it with the Bloodhound.

In his book, Lord Tweedmouth took notes of his accomplishment in Guisachan, between 1835 and 1890. He does not mention, however, that he had bought the dogs from a circus. He tells that he acquired in 1865 one only yellow species of a frizzly black dogs litter, called Nous, exactly in Brighton and took it to Guisachan. Nous mated with a Tweed Water Spaniel, called Belle, and from that crossing, four female dogs were born: Ada, Primrose, Crocus and Cowslip. For over 20 years, Lord Tweedmouth worked in a lineage that would descend from Cowslip, and had the first crossing with other Tweed Water Spaniel (called Tweed). To keep the lineage strong and enhance the hunting abilities, there were crossings with two black Wavy-Coats (Sambo and Tracer) and an Irish Setter (Sampson). It is believed a Bloodhound was used, but there is no way to prove this hypothesis. The dogs’ coat was varied, as well as the color that would go from reddish to cream. Occasionally, Lord Tweedmouth’s kennel puppies were given to friends and relatives. Some of these people bred the dogs and developed their own lineages. The years spent selecting color, type, and ability, in Guisachan, resulted in the Ilchester lineage, ancestors of the actual Goldens.

The Wavy-Coated Retrievers, used in the development of the Goldens, were usually black and they are the ancestors of the actual Flat-Coated Retrievers. The Tweed Water Spaniel, a type of Water Spaniel from the Tweed River region, in Scotland, is an extinct breed. However, there are stories saying that it was similar to a small “liver color” Retriever (something between brown and yellow).

Along the Great Britain coast, the Water Spaniels were used to help bring food home, thanks to their ability of retrieving the hunt. It is told that they were intelligent, good swimmers and had a great desire for work – just like the Goldens.

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FACTS SEQUENTIAL SUMMARY

1890 – Taken by travelers, the first Golden Retrievers started to arrive in the USA and Canada.

1894 – Lord Tweedmouth’s son and Lady, his Golden Retriever, immigrated to Texas, passing by Canada.

1903 – The breed is accepted by the Kennel Club of England and they are called "Flat-Coats-Golden".

1904 – A Golden wins its first place in a field trial.

1908 - Culhan Brass and Culhan Cooper, direct descendants of Lord Tweedmouth’s dogs, are among the first Golden dogs exhibited in a competition. They were the ancestors of nearly all the present breeding.

1911 – The Foundation of the Golden Retriever Club of England. The breed is acknowledged.

1925 – The Golden dog has its first exhibitions in France. The American Kennel Club registers the first breed dog, which was simply specified as Retriever, with a note as to the color.

1927 – First record as an individual breed in Canada.

1930 / 1940 – The Goldens become popular in the USA and spread through the world.

1938 – The foundation of the Golden Retriever Club of America.

1977 – The first three dogs to achieve the Obedience Champion title of AKC are Goldens. The first (Ch.Moreland´s Golden Tonka) is a female. Today, the breed is well known in Australia, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Canada, Japan, and mainly, in the USA.

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RELATED BREEDS

Flat-Coated Retriever – it is thought that this is the direct ancestor of the Golden Retriever, despite the fact that it is slimmer and has a younger temperament, almost like the Setter.

Chesapeake Bay Retriever – this dog is the result of crossing St John’s Lesser breed dog, with the American hunting dogs of the region.

Labrador Retriever – another descendant of St. John’s Lesser breed dog. It shares with its distant relative, the Golden Retriever, a job function and a similar personality.

Curly-Coated Retriever – currently a very rare breed, it was taken to the United Kingdom by cod fishermen. Its coat is of a water dog, featuring small water resisting curls.

Newfoundland – descendant of Greater from Newfoundland or St. John’s Dog, it is a big and joyful breed, still used for water work.

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