Agility Goldens

[Laurelin]

This is more of a curiosity than anything as retrievers and I generally aren't the best match but there were TONS of goldens at the agility trial today and they were really good! Almost all of them were incredibly drivey and fast. They were also all really small and about the same medium color gold. Many were on the same 'team' (from Houston). They had very minimal feathering/coat. One particular one was CRAZY. Put all the BCs to shame with its excitement after its run.

Anyways it led me to wonder if there are agility lines of golden retrievers? Or are they just field lines? They really don't look like the field bred dogs I tend to think of, which I've noticed are at least around here often a larger dog and deep red. Definitely not a show bred dog of any type though.


If it weren't for the cancer in goldens...

[Shai]

There are a fair number of field/performance breeders with dogs that tend to look like the show dogs in terms of color, straight coat, a bit more of a "golden" head but who have lighter frames and are built to move with hot personalities. They aren't all rough faced dark dogs with squirrely coats

[Laurelin]

Do you have any links to specific breeders? I'm just really curious because I always think of goldens as being larger and bouncy/lumbering non serious types of dogs. These dogs were awesome though!

Are they breeding for hunting type work or are these breeders breeding more towards agility/obedience type work?

[Shai]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

Do you have any links to specific breeders? I'm just really curious because I always think of goldens as being larger and bouncy/lumbering non serious types of dogs. These dogs were awesome though!

Are they breeding for hunting type work or are these breeders breeding more towards agility/obedience type work?

Well I can't speak for every breeder but the ones I know are breeding for an all-around performance dog with strong field instinct and high biddability in a body that can move fast and hold up to long periods of hard work.

Honestly if a breeder is breeding for a dog who will excel in both field and obedience, they are effectively breeding for a dog who will excel in agility.

I'll pm you a few links that come to mind

[Teal]

There was a Golden from a sporting breeder who took Flyball classes with us.. he was the STAR of the class! Almost made me like Goldens LOL

[CaliTerp07]

I do agility with a woman who has a pair of goldens (mother and daughter). She commented to me the other day that she thinks she has the easiest breed ever for agility. She has very biddable, even tempered dogs with solid drive and didn't ever deal with reactivity or fear or any of the issues that other people from our group have dealt with. She's seen enormous success with her goldens.

I also do it with a couple who have a father/son pair of goldens. They're not the greatest handlers (they have poor timing and are clumsy, and they have trouble rewarding at appropriate places). Even still, the dogs titled very quickly because they're just so biddable and responsive.

gollygretrievers.com is the female dog's breeder. Gorgeous dogs.

[JacksonsMom]

My very first dog was a Golden, so I admit I have a huge soft spot for them.

I am very much interested in a sportier, a bit lighter boned retriever though for the far future though.

Gonna do some googling now...

[Katem]

My agility trainer works goldens. She recently (co?)bred a litter of them. Two of the pups are in the foundation class with Pig and me. There's a third, older golden puppy in the class as well. I believe the dogs are from field/performance lines, but I don't know very much about goldens, so I couldn't say for sure. At any rate, the goldens do very well. The sire of the pups has a MACH and SH along with other titles.

[Bailey08]

Grace is from a breeder who breeds multi-purpose goldens, with an emphasis on hunting. The dogs do field work, obed, agility, tracking, etc. I got G as a performance prospect, but she should be great at field work. We're going to give the latter a try, but I'm not promising her anything.

I complain about Grace's crazy puppy antics, but she's pretty great. Very athletic, super confident, loves training. She's a lot of fun.

[PWCorgi]

I LOOOOOOOVE Sporty goldens.

I will own one someday. But I want my OES first.