by Graham Cox| Working Goldens Graham considers a distinctive gundog challenge. by Graham Cox |
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-2- "Tiptop" as water-dogs, they could also generally be relied upon to be bold in cover: though he was careful to add that generalities can be dangerous. Where he was unequivocal was in extolling the virtue of what we would now call biddability. The Golden, he said, "is a nice dog to teach. He is kind and willing to learn", adding "I would say that he was on the whole easier to break than the other varieties." This from a man who "had, bred, trained and used Curlies, Flats and Labradors." Generalities are, indeed, problematic. Even this one. So, although we may restrict our attention to working bred dogs we soon become aware that the force of different bloodlines may be such that variations within breeds can be as significant as differences between them. As ever there is no substitute for knowing your stock and moderating the training process accordingly. But there certainly are popular suppositions about goldens and the most prevalent is the truism that goldens are slower to develop than labradors: puppyish and playful for longer with everything that implies for progress. As a generalisation that is on track, but it doesn't say enough. What matters is that temperament develops more slowly than raw intelligence. You have, therefore, to resist the temptation to race ahead: a temptation which is ever present because of the speed with which working goldens typically learn things. More to the point, I think, is a less generally acknowledged characteristic which is every bit as relevant to the strategy you adopt. The shortest way of expressing it is via June Atkinson's warning that "you must never lose your temper with a golden" and over five decades the Holway goldens have demonstrated the importance of that insight. The best way of elaborating the point, perhaps, is to draw on the wisdom of the man who, for over thirty years, was responsible for the breeding, rearing and training programmes of the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association. Derek Freeman's Barking Up The Right Tree published in 1991 presents fascinating insights from an organisation which has had its best success rates with Golden Retriever and Labrador first-crosses. Of goldens he writes that willingness sometimes dries up and that this used to be termed 'stubbornness'. That isn't, he says, a fair description. "A better term is 'lack of generosity'. Golden Retrievers are intelligent, they know what life is about and as individuals soon get to know what they can get away with. It is a breed which is easily offended and when their generosity or willingness is withdrawn, it can sometimes be difficult to restore." That is incredibly perceptive. Goldens need to have their sensitivity respected and they assuredly do not need to have their intelligence patronised by people confusing a different pace of maturing with innate ability. Those are two very different things even if you can only realise the potential of the one by taking full account of the other. Appreciate these points and much else falls into place. Goldens are gregarious and take less readily to kennel regimes. Above all they relate. They want to be with humans. It is possible to let goldens be 'wild' as puppies and still get them back 'in hand'. By contrast, and this is the assessment I have heard from massively experienced and successful trainers, you would in all probability lose a labrador if you let it go. A labrador is more than happy to be independent whereas the golden wishes to be with a human. It is always dangerous to treat the best cases as if they were the generality, but there are guns who have 'lost' labradors and had it suggested that they try a golden and it works. |
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