This short piece will contradict with a few basic principles of fact… or physics.

The first is the common idea that a Golden Retriever is an ‘active’ breed of dogs. Many of us are familiar with The American Kennel Club with its annual National Championship Competition where one dog is declared “Best in Show”.

According to The American Kennel Club “The Golden Retriever is an ‘exuberant’ Scottish gundog”. The photo below would suggest that’s not the case, but in this instance it’s a case of ‘play hard, then sleep hard.’

Golden Retriever

Our Golden Retrievers love to play hard and are always at their best chasing balls and each other and they never seem to tire of their favourite activities. But after a hard day of such play they crash pretty hard, usually on my bed.

This is where we get to the other contradiction of physics and logic, this time, how it’s possible for two human beings to actually sleep in the same bed with two dogs this big. I suppose if they were humans, they might have some inhibition about how much room they take up, concerned about their human cohabitors. But nope, Odus and Acer are completely uninhibited when it comes to sleep space. They simply take over where it is they plan to relax, and the humans trying to share the space simply have to work around them.

When you see how much room they take it up it also reminds me of why they spend so much time at the groomer’s.

As the AKC points out they are a breed built to retrieve waterfowl, so they will spend hours in the water. These two have never met a puddle or wading pool they didn’t want to jump in. So since it’s their natural tendency it just makes sense to give them a good ‘grooming’ regularly.

The American Kennel Club also points out that Golden Retrievers “take a joyous and playful approach to life and maintain this puppyish behaviour into adulthood.” It’s one of the reasons I’m so fond of them. They are happy, enthusiastic dogs and it doesn’t matter what kind of day you’re having, these two bounding up and greeting you with such joy and enthusiasm just makes everything seem pretty great.I guess that’s a small price to pay to give up a little territory on the bed every night.

Here’s the photo and no, there’s no need “to adjust your set” … they really do take up that much space!