Golden Retrievers: Feared or Loved?

[Husky_mom]

this is like the thing with sharks, most if not everyone fears them but cows kill more people in a year than sharks and we dont fear cows do we?? (well some might do, but for a mayority thing) and i dont blame dogs or anything nor i am a breed banner i love every breed, but as for pits people fear them and goldens bite more people than them (as exemple) for goldens being more of a sweet dog people approaches them and they might bite.....

but as said before any breed fear looking or sweet looking, big or small, has a tendency to be agressive, some few some a lot, maybe out of fear, or bad training or BAD OWNERSHIP but we love them all.

P.S. please dont get me wrong

and for answer i do like goldens, but i wouldnt pick one to own, my devotion goes to huskies as for my username

[JenBKR]

I happen to love goldens, as I grew up with the most incredible golden/lab mix. The only breed I've ever really been afraid of are german shepherds because of a dog in my neighborhood who was very large and could be very mean (and I didn't understand at the time that he was mean because he was chained up all day, even when the owners went on vacation ) But when my husband fell in love with Roscoe at the shelter, I figured it was time to face my fear and viola! Obviously I am no longer afraid of GSDs

[K9soul]

Where is the statistic that says goldens bite more than pits? And really, all of that is relative to how many own goldens or whatever breed people own versus how many pits or other bully breed people own.

Really I try to stay out of these things but it always aggravates me how whenever a thread is started, seems particularly about whether people like labs or goldens, it turns into a thread of comparison and stories of "bad" dogs of that breed, whereas a thread about pits or rotties or other more maligned breeds has almost all positive, glowing praise. The fact is there are poorly bred, poorly raised dogs of all breeds, and I bet when someone asks in general, "do you like this breed" it's safe to assume they mean dogs of that breed that fit the standard, that are what they are supposed to be. I do realize labs and goldens in particular are the "poster children" of friendly family dogs and ignorant people spouting off how pitties shoudl be banned often use them as an example of a dog people should get instead, but really, sometimes it almost seems here that there is "reverse breedism" and people feel the need to say something negative or some negative example of them when they are brought up, whereas that is not very well tolerated with other breeds.

Anyway, sorry to get off track. It's just something I've noticed in threads over the past few months when a discussion regarding goldens and sometimes labs (as a breed discussion) is going on.

As for the question (which confused me a bit, just love or fear? ). I do love goldens as a breed.

Edited to add: I don't mean this as aimed at any one person or group of people or any particular post even in this thread. It is just the thoughts I've had a few times when this type of thread has come up, and I decided this time to voice them .

[Husky_mom]

sorry if i offended anyone, please don´t get me wrong i love all dogs. and as for the statistics i cant remember if it was animal planet of discovery, but thats another thing, and i know is just relative, please dont get mad at me and my comment i didnt meant to say something negative of either breed or start an argument i just meant for an example as why to fear a golden since they look so mellow an all but sorry again to you and everyone who reads this..

[K9soul]

Husky Mom, please don't think I'm mad or offended. I'm not at all. I didn't mean to come off that way either I just wanted to state some thoughts I've had for a long time. It just seems to me that statistics are thrown out there a lot (on about any subject) without really knowing the details. I know a long while ago on another board, some anti-pitbull person posted statistics about pits and rotts as being dogs that caused the most human deaths of all breeds. They linked some document of a study done but there are so many factors (i.e. were these dogs chained, were they fighting pits, abused, etc) and I just don't think they can really prove anything such as "this breed is more prone to bite than this one." But again I could be wrong.

Hope there is no misunderstanding.

[bella123]

I have 1 Goldens, Stewie was a year old, we had to put him down he had bone cancer, but he was the kindest dog. But we also have Charlie and he is 4 months. He is very sweet. Aside from getting him to go outside to pee, he is awesome.

[sandragonfly]

quoted by lv4dogs
You sound like me & yellow labs.

and for me, dobies. not just me, it ripped crayola (my golden baby)'s ear once before. but I never will fear them, only I fear the owners. the BEWARE OF DOG signs I see everywhere now is driving me nutty.. anonymous once quoted this -

no dog is born either vicious or friendly, but rather a blank slate that is moulded, for better or worse, by the owner.

therefore, BEWARE OF OWNER signs should be made!

anyway, to goldens, as you see I own a loving one, and wow, I've never heard or seen golden bites but would never thought of it, about 90% of media used goldens for advertisings. I remember I saw facts somewhere why they did but only remember two reasons, most friendly/playful breed and a best family dog.

I love my goldie, like everybody else who met him & -died- if ever seen a mean golden, will sadden me.

[BC_MoM]

The only reason, IMO, for a dog to bite is if it is

1) Not trained
2) Aggressive due to abuse
3) Provoked

So, really, ANY breed.. even LASSIE (yes, the famous Collie) would probably have bitten someone if she was provoked enough.

What do you guys think.. do all dogs have a breaking point?

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

The only reason, IMO, for a dog to bite is if it is
1) Not trained
2) Aggressive due to abuse
3) Provoked

That's not always the case. I believe bad breeding can cause behavioural issues that can result aggression and biting and in some cases, cannot be fixed. Of course, some people don't think this is possible so it's jsut my opinion. Yes, this can happen in every breed.

[BC_MoM]

Right. I forgot to mention that. Bad breeding, etc.. my best friends Dalmation literally went insane when she was 7 years old because of the poor breeding. They had to send her to Rainbow Bridge.

[Glacier]

What do you guys think.. do all dogs have a breaking point?

Absolutely. Any dog, any breed, any temperment will bite in the wrong circumstances. There are just different thresholds. IMO, a large part of the point of early socialization is make that threshold as high as possible.

Most dogs will give you a sign that they are getting close to their personal breaking point. If you ignore that sign, the odds of a bite go up. I personally believe that most dogs don't want to bite. That biting is their absolute last resort and that they give us plenty of chances to avoid getting bit. However, a dog that truly wants to bite--will and there is little chance to avoid it. They are amazingly fast at that point.

Like Orangutango, I believe that some dogs are born messed up or end up so bad off that they can't be fixed. I think it's pretty rare. Maybe it's bad breeding--a trait picked up from the mom, maybe the female didn't get something she needed during pregnancy or maybe the dog was just miswired genetically, maybe they missed some vital socialization or just can't overcome their pasts, but something is wrong that can't be fixed.

[Allecto]

I love goldens, but I fear they have been over-bred to the point where many seem to be nothing at all like the breed...

[Vela]

IMO this is kind of a pointless thread. The "golden retrievers" above could be replaced with ANY breed name and have exactly the same posts about it. It's not breed specific to having problems with Goldens being biters or aggresive, ANY breed of dog can be so. It depends on breeding and the genetic predisposition of the parents as well as the environment the dog is brought up in and how they are trained. Again, this is just my opinion.

[Allecto]

IMO this is kind of a pointless thread. The "golden retrievers" above could be replaced with ANY breed name and have exactly the same posts about it.

It is pointless to discuss any dog breed simply because they share nature vs. nurture issues?

I think you could have said what you wanted to say without telling everyone else their posts and thoughts here were pointless.

[K9soul]

She never said everyone's words were pointless, she said the thread itself (meaning the poll, loved or feared? doesn't seem much point to it). And since then it's gone off into talking about goldens with behavioral problems, goldens who have bitten, goldens that are badly bred. Well like Vela said you could replace "goldens' with any dog breed and it'd be true. I see threads on goldens from time to time and they always turn into this with like.. people trying to prove goldens are no better than any other dog breed. Well it is like any other dog breed, some folks will just enjoy/click with them more and really feel attracted to them. That doesn't mean they are "better" than any other dog. Now I looked at two old rottie threads and nothing but positive comments, no negative stories about bad breeding or puppymill rotts, or rotts with behavior problems. Sure they are out there, but the point of the threads were to talk about the breed with others who enjoy the breed. It seems almost impossible to have a similar thread about labs/goldens, the "popular" breeds, because people seem caught up in trying to prove that "they aren't all that."

I'm off my soapbox. These are thoughts I've held back in other golden threads in the past that I decided to air out this time