The Other Goldens

I love everything about my Goldens; they are exactly what I envisioned when I bred them. Yet there are other Goldens who look and act so vastly different from my Goldens that the distinction is more than just type. I think what we have now, or are at least what we are well down the path to, are two sub-breeds: The Conformation Golden and The Performance Golden. Each can excel at the highest levels of competition for which they were specifically bred; however, the criteria for breeding each for excellence is wildly divergent. Amazingly enough, we both profess to breed to the same "standard"!

I used to agonize over this, but as I grow older I have come to the realization that there is no "perfect Golden". The big boned, teddy-bear-faced dog with long sweeping blond feathers frolicking after butterflies while avoiding briars may strike me as rather useless and goofy but is completely appealing and endearing to many. Meanwhile, the intensity of a scrawny red streamlined bitch quivering in anticipation of diving into heavy cover in an explosion of speed and agility makes my heart skip a beat but would probably make many pee their pants. Do you have a preference? Of course you do.

But which one meets the standard? IMO, if Fluffer Puffer glides with fluid grace around the show ring, effortlessly and patiently stacking however long it's necessary, while always exhibiting good humor and aplomb no matter the adversity or harshness of the conditions, well, I've got no problem with calling him an exceptional Golden (even if he's no retriever), nor with him being crowned a Champion of record. Likewise, you've got to admit that Lil Red Rocket deserves extreme kudos for pushing past fatigue and distraction to stay focused and responsive in hunting and field trial situations or on tricky agility courses, bending her body and will to execute near impossible feats of stamina and mental prowess (even if you can't exactly call her pretty).

In so many of these cases, it is likely that the day is long and grueling, the lighting/footing/sound level/temperature/etc is horrible, and the grooming/parking/crating/pottying areas are crowded/muddy/soiled/miles away, and canine and human patience has been stretched to the breaking point. All these scenarios are contrived occurrences into which we place our noble beasts for the purpose of evaluating whether varying aspects of their physical and mental make-up "meet the Standard". You value different aspects of that make-up than I do, and so breed and buy them for totally different attributes than I do. But we both love our Goldens because deep down there is that "something" that does make a Golden a Golden, and deep down I bet we really do agree on what those things are, even if on the surface they seem to be very different dogs indeed. We are each in our own ways deeply devoted to and enamored with our Goldens and will be so to our dying breaths - so, really, where's the problem here?

If it is that you place so high a value on things that I absolutely cannot tolerate, or vice versa, to the point that our two manifestations of "perfection" no longer resemble the same breed, then perhaps standards will need be split to accommodate the differences. Sorry, but actually I think that ship may have sailed long ago, when some chose to evaluate "perfection" of form in the absence of function, and some chose to do the opposite. Personally, I think performance Goldens look more like Goldens looked when the Standard was conceived, and that the drift toward bigger bones and shorter noses and longer denser softer coats is a major divergence from the intentions of the Standard, but I also realize that's just MY OPINION. To be fair, I give you the absolute right to think that my dogs are too light of bone, too snippy, and don't have enough coat. You can laugh me out of a show ring, wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit. But in return you also have to grant me the right, whether you agree with me or not, to think that a Golden should NEVER be able to be referred to as a "dumb blonde". I gladly grant you the right to place you major emphasis on your perception of physical beauty if in turn you can tolerate that I place work ethic, drive, instinct and intelligence above all else. You can hope that I will also insist on conformation to the physical aspects of the standard, just as I hope that you remember the breed's stated primary purpose and do not allow those instincts to be diminished or even lost for lack of attention to them.

But if you do not - well, the world *does* need more beauty, laughter *is* good medicine, and there really are *not* enough healthy responsibly bred dogs to meet the pet market demand. Plus, I pity a naïve pet owner and his wife and kids having to contend with the drive and work ethic of my performance-bred dogs. So I say go ahead and breed and buy whatever floats your boat. Telling us that our dogs have to stay under/over a certain height and weight and be non-quarrelsome etc is probably restriction enough. There is just too much subjective in the words of the Standard to expect my dogs to look any more like your dogs that they do, or to expect your dogs to work or perform any more like my dogs do. I don't even care if you say that your dogs *could* do what mine do if they had had the training - I'll gladly give it up that no matter how many blow dryers or grooming tables I purchase, my dogs will never have enough coat to show.

So where does that leave us? Happier in my opinion. The split in the breed used to drive me crazy! It was kinda like when I first found out about puppy mills, or first started forming my own political or religious views, or any other dawning of my own personal consciousness. I was sure that I was right and I wanted - needed! - to convert everyone to see things my way. As I get older, I guess I am either more tolerant or just less sure I know it all. Either way, I don't think that it's my way or the highway anymore. I can now totally appreciate the awe-inspiring beauty of a well-groomed show Golden and I don't really give a good tinker's dam if he has never seen a duck or had to learn a thing past where his food bowl is. And when someone asks what breed my little red field-bred bitch is, I can now just laugh and say she was bred from circus dogs and get her to do some tricks for them without any rancor at all.

In other words, I think that through the years, I have learned a lot, including tolerance, from my Goldens.

Susan Fraser,
owned and trained by the AuH2Ok9s:
Gitchi Gitchi Ya Ya MX MXJ T2B
MACH Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya UD MX MXJ MXF
and forever in my heart:
HR Shamma Lamma Ding Dong UD MH MX MXJ
HR BeBop a Lu SheBop SH