Dating back to 19th century Scotland, the Golden Retriever was bred for the purposes of retrieving wildfowl; a popular activity among Scottish nobility. It was developed after a long line of breeding from the Newfoundland, Tweed water spaniels and the Irish setter. To retrieve in the diverse marshlands of Scotland, retrievers were bred with the now extinct Tweed Water Spaniel to create the breed that exists today.
The breed was developed in Glen Affric at a wealthy estate from 1835 to 1890 by a Scottish nobleman and avid hunter named Sir Dudley Majoribanks, later known as Lord Tweedmouth. During this time, Tweedmouth sought to create a breed that was a talented hunter – with a superb nose, who would be more attentive to its owner than the existing retriever breeds. He also wanted the dog to be loyal and even-tempered in the home — characteristics you’ll find in today’s Golden Retrievers.
Tweedmouth’s breed first attracted attention for their skills in the hunting field. One of the most well-known was Don of Gerwyn, a liver-coated descendant of one of Tweedmouth’s dogs, who won the International Gundog League trial in 1904. Golden Retrievers remained largely unknown until 1904, when one of the Tweedmouth’s dogs won the first field trial for retrievers. “Yellow retrievers” were registered thereafter with The Kennel Club (of England) as “Retrievers – Wavy or Flat-Coated” and were shown for the first time in 1908, in a class for “Flat-Coats of Any Other Color.” In 1913, Goldens were recognized in their own right as “Retrievers – Yellow or Golden. In 1920, the breed name was officially changed to Golden Retriever. The American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1925.
The Golden Retriever became quite popular with British nobility not only for its hunting and retrieving abilities, but because it was such a great companion. It is an excellent bird dog and considered to excel in both land and water retrieval. The breed is so eager to please that it also makes an excellent search and rescue dog. Modern Golden Retrievers have a natural love for water, keen sense of smell, and a soft grip, traits that they inherited from their 19th century ancestors. Today, the Golden Retriever is the second most popular breed in the U.S.