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G.R.R.C |
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The Breed |
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The History of The Golden Retriever |
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The Golden Retriever breed originated from a series of mating carried out by Lord Tweedmouth from 1864 onwards. The starting point was his acquisition of a good looking yellow colored Flat Coated retriever which he took to his estate at Guisechan, near Inverness in Scotland. He then proceeded to mate this dog with a Tweed Water Spaniel, (a breed now long extinct), he then breed on from the offspring of this mating using the occasional outcross to an Irish setter, a second Tweed Water Spaniel and a Black Flat Coated Retriever. The dogs which were produced proved to be grand workers, biddable and attractive. Puppies from the mating were given to friends and family, notably his nephew, Lord IIchester, who also bred them. The dogs bred true to type, and were the forerunners of the breed we know today.
It was not until 1908 that the breed came into the public eye. Lord Harcourt had formed a great liking for the breed, and had gathered on to his estate at Nuneham Park, Oxford, a collection of the dogs which were descended from the original mating, he decided to exhibit them at the Kennel Club Show in 1908 where they created great interest, they were entered in a class for any variety Retriever and were described as Yellow Flatcoated Retrievers. The term `Golden Retriever` was first coined around his time, and has been attributed to Lord Harcourt.
Once they had been seen by the general public, there were many people that wanted to own one for themselves, and the breeds popularity was assured. One of the people that saw and acquired one for herself was Mrs. Charlesworth, who became the greatest Golden Retriever enthusiast the breed has ever had. From 1910 when she acquired her first Golden, until her death in 1954, she championed the cause of the breed against all newcomers, and nagged her fellow enthusiasts remorselessly to keep the bred as a true dual purpose dog. And it was she who organized her fellow enthusiasts into forming a Golden Retriever Club in 1911, writing a breed standard, and campaigning for the breed to be registered with the Kennel Club as a separate breed. (the kennel Club had previously registered them as Flatcoated retrievers). The breed was accepted by the Kennel club in 1913, and an allocation of challenge certificated was made the same year. The race had already been on to see who could win the first field trial award with a Golden, and the honor had fallen to Captain Hardy with his bitch Vixie, who went on to become an influential dam in the breed. The honor of wining the first C.C.`s on offer proved to be an anti-climax.
One enthusiast, Col Le Poer trench, insisted that the Golden had developed from a bred in Russia, and had persuaded the Kennel Club to register his dogs as Yellow Russian Retrievers. At Crufts Dog Show in 1913 there were two classes for Golden's and for Russian Retrievers, but nly one set of C.C.`s. the best Golden's had to challenge the best Russians for the C.C`s and the Russians won both of them! At the next show, however, there were Challenge Certificates exclusively for Golden's, and the honor of being the first to win a C.C went to Mrs. Charlesworth`s dog Normanby Sandy Mr. F. W. Herbert`s bitch Coquette. The race was then on to win 3 C.C.`s and a Field Trial Award and thus become the first Golden champion, and honor achieved by Mrs. Charlesworth with her dog Noranby Campfire. All canine activities came to a halt as the First World war grew in intensity, but the Golden Retriever had done enough to establish itself in the canine world, and the hearts of dog lovers. |
