Yeah, we wonder about Buddy, our shelter Golden who came in as an adult stray to one of the area shelters and was never claimed despite ads in several places. They said he came in covered with tar on his underside. They think he was purposely dumped as an adult dog, and at one point he had found some fresh tar to lay on to keep warm. (Some frgidly cold nights at the time he was apparently dumped ... but he's no dummy.)
I would love to know how he looked and behaved as a puppy!! Not possible, but some things from his background we have been able to discern, between a couple of the shelter personnel, the behaviorist through our vet, and our own observations.
He's likely the product of a BYB, because he's just way too big. He's a purebred Golden but larger, in height and weight, than the highest allowable standard for an adult male Golden. In one spot his coat doesn't quite wave right. His ears are a just a tiny tad too short ... but not short enough for anyone to notice, unless they really know the breed.
Physical signs showed an "outside only" dog, and he had been one for some time. A still-young dog, estimated at about 3- 4 years old, but already with dried out, cracked pads and the top of his nose leather was dried and cracked too. Reactions to certain things inside our house confirmed his prior outside-only status. He was startled by sounds of the ice machine, dishwasher, and washing machine and dryer. He didn't have the first clue how to navigate stairs ... up or down.
He had no prior training. He had no house manners at all, but responded very well and very quickly to training. He was a champion at counter-surfing, but has since been trained out of it. He's VERY intelligent and trainable, catches on and responds with very few repetitions. Just seemed that no one had ever bothered before.
He has bite scars hidden in his fur, which explains his dog-reactiveness to medium-sized and other large dogs ... Buddy had been attacked. Appears from his scars that no one bothered to get the wounds stitched. (Still working on that reactivity, he's got better but it's not gone yet.) He loves all little dogs and all cats.
Somebody hit him, more than once and it was an adult male. Like others have posted, our Buddy was another one who reacted VERY strongly to a man's upswung hand ... including some light cringing even when an adult male just went to pet him on the head. Somebody tried to housebreak him at some point, because he picked up too quickly on it (less than 2 days). But they must have been harsh, because he acted very afraid when I said "No" the first time he tried to "go" in the house.
He must have been close to some adult female at some point, and felt protective toward her. When I walk him ... he does not want any strange adult males coming anywhere near me, no severe reactions but his hackles raise and he does a continuous low-pitched growl ...unusual behavior for a Golden. But it's selective to strange adult males only ... he's perfectly fine with any and all children, and perfectly fine with adult females. I look at him sometimes ... and wonder about those past demons still in his memory. He's a wonderful dog ... an inside dog now and we love him dearly.