I've posted some pictures a while back. I'm a big fan of golden retrievers. Here are mine (refer to first picture) - from left, Hunter the gentleman (6 yrs +), Muffin the princess (3 yrs +) and Sheriff the brat (2 yrs +). My friends say it's crazy to tell them apart, but I'm sure the retriever lovers here can easily tell who's who from the picture!

Sure miss them a lot since I left Malaysia.

PS: Muffin is a retriever mix.

This post has been edited by grhunter: Mar 30 2008, 10:46 PM

Thanks, actually I think Sheriff's it's a mix between UK and US type. He is from a show line. Dad is dark brown and his mom is light brown. I was hoping him to turn mahogany brown or close to his dad's colour, but it turned out lighter. He is heavier, has a more bigger built and has a broader head than Hunter, albeit being slightly shorter than Hunter when standing side by side (short legs).

Love him a lot, very sweet natured and cute! We used to call him the flower horn



Bigben is a very handsome dog - love his body structure. Is he from show line?

This post has been edited by grhunter: Mar 31 2008, 10:43 AM

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Added on March 31, 2008, 10:39 amThat's correct People always say Hunter looks different, think it's because of his eyes and long guai lou eyelashes. We were very active in obedience competitions few years back and he's a very intelligent and hardworking dog (but the owner lazy).

Muffin was adopted (wandering around on the streets alone - I went door to door to help her find her owner and pasted up posters but can't find her owner after a month's effort). She got huge lab eyes, but another glance she looks like a GR. Her body structure does not resemble or come close to the breed standard a lab or a GR and she has a bushy tail that curls like a squirrel. We came to conclude she's either a poorly bred lab/gr, or simply a retriever mix.

Whatever she is, we love her anyway.



Yes I miss them a lot now! Will be back next month to shower them with lots of love (and not to mention treats)!

This post has been edited by grhunter: Mar 31 2008, 10:46 AM

Only Muffin is spayed, the boys are not neutered. Muffin gets along really well with the boys, unless they try taking her favourite bone from her while she's chewing it! (typical princess attitude). During her spare time, she loves chewing Hunter's ears as a hobby (Hunter doesn't mind). After her chewing session, Hunter's ears are all "gelled up" like spiked hair, heh heh.

Hunter and Sheriff don't get along too well - problem with them is Hunter loves to have his personal space and Sheriff is over friendly. When Sheriff comes too close (ex - repeatedly lick Hunter's face), fights ensues. Hence we keep a close eye on both of them when they're out playing.

Ok, undercoat refers to the the inner layer - the soft hair underneath your dog's coarse hair. When they shed, you'd see lumps and lumps of soft hair rolling around your house like dry hays in Western movies, which is their undercoat. All GRs will have undercoat and it's good practice to comb them out often to reduce shedding.

There are 2 types of GR- the English type and the American. The American type comes in darker shade of brown and have a lighter built. The English type comes in very light cream colour (sometimes very close to white). English GRs are more structurely "heavy" - broader head as well. However, for both types - there's the show GR and the field GR as well. Show GRs are bred with bigger bone structure and longer feathering. Field GRs are bred for work hence will have a lighter, leaner, smaller built (regardless of UK or US type) and short coat to allow them to move fast and do their job.

Hunter is the English type - he was not bred for show, hence he may not be the best representation of the English type GR. Sheriff is a mix of English and American type.

As for neutering - when you spay a female, they will no longer come into heat. Neutering is mainly for birth control purposes (and some other health benefits), but I'm honestly not sure if it will completely remove (though I'm sure it will at least reduce) the sexual urge from the males - both my males are not neutered.

A GR puppy will grow darker until he reaches about 3 years old. Cream colour will definitely not end up with dark brown, but you should be able to see some shades of brown that "spreads out" your puppy's coat as he grows. A good rule of thumb to is see the colour of his ears - that will be the shade of brown that he will most likely turn into.

No undercoat? That's odd, I have the assumption that all GRs have undercoat. Now you can't tell from your puppy because he's still got puppy coat. When he grow, his hair will be coarse, but when you feel the layer underneath that coarse hair, you will feel soft fur.

The puppy's ear colour wouldn't change as much as his fur do. But note that the colour could maybe spread out to his whole body, or only to certain parts of his body (the back, shoulders etc). Normally it's from a shade of brown to light cream.

Barney is one handsome pup, looks like UK type to me!

PS : Thanks, I think Hunter is one handsome GR indeed - love his maturity!

This post has been edited by grhunter: Mar 31 2008, 12:02 PM

Thanks, Sheriff is a sweet dog. Naughty, but sweet.

Did you get Bigben from a local breeder? He looks really good. Any plans to enter him for conformation shows? How is his temperament like?

Yea the working line GRs will have a shorter and thinner coat (but I haven't actually seen any pure working line GRs before). I think the show line GRs' beautiful thick coat could be because of several factors other than the undercoat, such as genetics, expensive shampoos/grooming powder plus a lot of blow drying. But generally, all GRs will have undercoat. I think it's still too early to tell the undercoat on Barney's body la, he's probably got a body full of soft puppy coat now.

Remember to takes lots of pictures, they grow really fast. Before you know it Barney will be like Bigben or Hunter

Thanks! They enjoy dressing up for the camera. Just practice often with Shushu with the stay command. Start off with putting something on shushu for a few seconds and command stay. Praise and treat for sitting still. Slowly extend the time she sits still and she will gladly put on anything for the camera in no time

Here are more pictures

Yea, GRs are always crowd stoppers indeed. You are right, do be careful because a good dog like him fetch a high price for dognappers! Now is the best time for obedience training (through classes or by yourself) so if you have time do start training him the basics like sit, stand, stay, come, heel etc..

TQ, are GRs easier to train? I would say yes, but it depends on the owner as well. I've seen plenty of spoilt GRs that are uncontrollable on the leash before, despite training from their owners.

Tq, I bought him at about RM 2.5k.

I'm not from JB, I'm from KL.

You had a GR that looked like Hunter? That's so sad. Do you have a GR now?

Rolling on the floor is easy, it's better to do it on a softer surface like grass. When he's relaxed in a lying down position, just help him roll over and tell him the command. Be careful not to scare him though - do it slowly.

The sit-up command should be ok for GRs to perform, but you need to teach him to balance on his hind legs first. Start off by slowly lifting his paws up and give him the command. Help him bit by bit and with plenty of practice he should be able to perform it himself.

The sit-up is Hunter's favourite move. He does it when we tell him "sit up!". Whenever he did something wrong, he's impatient (waiting for treats) or when he's confused (asking him to do a command that he doesn't know), he does this as well.



Yea GRs love the attention and they love being talked to. Hunter does the hand thing too when he does something wrong! Is that a gr thing?

My dogs are all trained. Sheriff still needs some work as I wasn't consistent in training him when I was in Malaysia. Hunter has the most experience in obedience competitions, Muffin is quite okay but gets distracted when other dogs are around.

This post has been edited by grhunter: Apr 1 2008, 10:05 AM

hi Amanda,

I stopped training for MKA because I received a job offer at Vietnam. I've been working at Vietnam since last month, hence I haven't been training already.

You're still active in agility? Heard Paco is doing well in it

Have you completed the obedience course already? If you haven't, then definitely you need more practice. When Hunter first started out he was the nightmare puppy in class, tugging on the leash, kacau everyone - basically disrupting the class. As we practiced many hours over the months (then it became years), he became much better at it performed consistently well.

If Shushu is too distracted during training, you may want to go earlier to the training ground, walk him around a little and tire him out a bit. Puppies are full of energy and they get really excited when going for "outing". You can pamper him, but make sure you draw the line that training means training - do not be over tolerant when he steps out of line. I'm sure many other trainers don't agree to this and insist you use "toys and treats" to train your dog, but I'd say if the dog is really stepping out of line, I'd reprimand him before the behavior worsens!

Retrievers are very fast learners, teach them correctly, they will "get it" instantly. The nipping will definitely go off when he's grown up. But make sure you reprimand him when he does nip! Those little puppy teeth does hurt!

Think you need to expose him more to children so he doesn't go into beserk mode!

This post has been edited by grhunter: Apr 1 2008, 12:50 PM

I entered Sheriff for like 4 shows, won nothing except some silly red and blue ribbons. , hence I'm no expert in conformation shows!

IMO Conformation shows is an expensive sport, it takes a lot of time, a lot of energy. I'd really rather join obedience competitions - it's fun, bonds you with your dog and satisfying!

Wow you're at final year already? So classes must've been hectic huh?

I don't think I'm gonna be back on track anytime soon. I'll be here for more than a year. If I like it here, I might stay longer. I'm hoping to bring my dog to Vietnam, but there are concerns about it so I didn't (Vietnamese eat dogs, lacking of pet health services, lacking of good pet food for sale etc)

This post has been edited by grhunter: Apr 2 2008, 11:17 AM

Hunter used to be a really picker eater, hence I've changed many brands over the years - started off with Eukanuba, then Pro plan, then Science Diet, Canidae, etc.

Are you talking about Royal Canine? Hunter loved Royal Canine, but once when he was eating he actually choked. He had problem breathing (panicked, eyes turned white) - we suspect the food actually went through his nose (the pellets many years back for large breed was small, I'm not sure if it's still the same today). We were so scared and I had to do "first aid" to dislodge the blockage. He turned out fine, but it did scared the hell out of us.

On a good note though, I did hear that Royal Canine is a good brand. I'm feeding my 3 dogs Eukanuba large breed now, because Sheriff is now a picky eater instead. It's also cheaper than other reputable brands on the market.

To prepare your dog for a conformation show, you need to condition your dog (in terms of food, exercise etc). Then there's things to invest such as a crate, show leash, combs, scissors, vitamins, shampoo, conditioner, grooming powder etc. If you want to get even more serious, then things like blower, grooming table etc are a necessity. Your dog should have good temperament and good body structure (this can be achieved from good lines, proper conditioning and exercise) not to mentioned well-trained, plus you must know how to stack your dog and handle him well enough to show his best attributes in the ring.

The dog show itself is usually hours of long wait before you actually get a chance to get into the ring with your dog, only to appear for mere minutes. The golden retriever category is very competitive, with many breeders in the ring showcasing dogs that imported overseas or bred from champion sires and dams. The whole process, I find is very taxing (in terms of money, time and energy) on the owners and dogs.

I am sure many dog enthusiasts will enjoy this sport (plus I do think it's important to showcase and give recognition to dogs that are best representations of the breeds), but I personally find it more rewarding in obedience competitions which focuses on brains instead of brawns - something that all dogs can enjoy, be it mongrels or pedigrees, puppies or old dogs.

Conformation shows are certainly not my cup of tea, but hey, if you have a chance to enter your dog for a conformation show, you should, just for fun. I mean, it's fun to get some experience in it - who knows you may come to like it? You can enter the puppy category - when I entered last time there was only 2 entries for that category. It's less stressful, plus no one will really blame you if your dog goes beserk in the ring, heh heh.