Beaumont

Some people think dog are like cars… you find a breed, or model, you like and you stick with it.

While I have owned many makes and models of cars, I have developed a strong attachment to Golden Retrievers.

Golden Retrievers are large and were bred in Scotland in the mid-19^th century to ‘retrieve’ waterfowl such as ducks during hunting, without damaging the game. They love water and this has always been my experience. I have always lived around water and my dogs always spend lots of time frolicking and having a great time there. They are a long-coated bred of dogs and this dense coat provides them with lots of warmth. So many of my blogs about my dogs always talk about how much time we enjoy walking together, outside, at all times of the years, including the depths of a Canadian winter.

They are very popular as a disability assistance dog such as hearing dogs for the deaf and guide dogs for the blind. This has always been my experience with Golden Retrievers. They are a sweet dog and very in tune with my emotional state, and they are hopelessly devoted. They go wherever I go and they are unsettled if they know I’m in the building and they’re not right by my side. Their devotion is amazing, but I have to admit, it can be a bit overwhelming at times. Any idea of a quiet moment on my own is not in the cards if one of my dogs is ‘in the building.’

When you research the characteristics of dogs, Golden Retrievers are considered poorly suited to be a guard dog because they are so friendly and gentle. All my dogs have had friendly temperaments, which is so nice when you spend so much time around them.

When they keep me company in the office no one seems to mind having them around. Even when strangers (to them) come in for meetings, my dogs always enthusiastically greet them, checks them out, and then goes back to whatever they were going previously. They are just wonderful companions.

Beaumont was a Golden Retriever I grew up with in the early stage of my life. He was very much a wanderer, almost like he was looking for the ‘game’ he was supposed to retrieve. He just seemed very inquisitive.

Beaumont was like a speeding bullet and he would disappear into the forest at a moment’s notice. Initially this was a bit disconcerting, but he always came back. He loved peanut butter, and if he had gone on one of his adventures in the forest, all we had to do was leave toast and peanut butter on our porch, and he’d be back in no time.

One day Beaumont took a journey and never returned. It’s always tough to lose a pet, and in this case all we could hope for was that he’d found another family to bring the same kind of joy he brought to my life.

I have always found Golden Retrievers just delightful to be around, and that’s why my newest companion ‘Acer’ is from this breed. They are the best of breeds and we’re the best of friends.

In my life I have never met or owned an aggressive Golden Retriever.

Yet they are sensitive to something as subtle as a child crying at night, and they are always standing on guard. And while they are not noted as being aggressive, I have always sensed that in the right circumstances, nothing would stop them from protecting that crying child. You just sense a dog like this is strongly loyal and would protect their friends at all costs.