Growing up in rural Oxfordshire, we had various dogs - a Labrador, a Springer and a Heinz 57, dare I say! Our last dog was a rescue Whippet, taken on shortly after my father passed away. When I married, some eighteen months later, Kevin the Whippet came along too.
Graham had always wanted a dog (denied by his parents) but Kevin, who initially hated men, was a bit of a culture shock. With love and patience though, Graham came to think as much of Kevin as I did, and he became an integral part of our lives – sleeping in our bedroom, squeaking away in his wicker basket (Kevin, that is, not Graham!)
When Kevin passed away our young children wanted another dog, but with work commitments and moving around with the job, they had to make do with dog-sitting for my mother. But after moving to Guernsey we all missed the company of a dog, so when our paperman came cycling around delivering the Press with his Goldie plodding along and sitting faithfully waiting on the pavement, the dog appealed enormously. Not the most scientific approach to dog ownership, but because of the breed's warm and friendly reputation, we decided to look into it.
Of course, there are downsides to the breed: one could vacuum the house hourly and still find the odd wispy blonde hair somewhere, and because they love water and muddy puddles where they can cool off, the hose is often in use, in addition to regular baths. Mud in the house is something you just have to live with—thankfully, the tiled floor in the dogs' room handles copious amounts of dirt!
Goldies are not the greatest guard dogs, and are likely to lick a thief into submission, though the bitches are the more feisty of the two. Winnie would welcome us home with her growly talk, but to a stranger the noise she emitted was quite off-putting!
We have had five Goldies now, the most at once was five, which I wouldn't recommend. We bred a litter of three from Chelsea, our rescue bitch, with the help of her breeder, Jane Watchorn, and intended to keep Molly – slight problem, as we fell in love with Barney as well. He is such a character, and of all the Goldies we've had perhaps the most laid back, attention seeking softie of all.
Because of the difficulty of getting a puppy (it seemed easier to adopt a baby at the time) we eventually accepted two year old Winnie. True to her breed, she was immediately friendly, gave a paw and sat up and begged. She gave us twelve wonderful years of loyalty and devotion. She was besotted with playing ball, something my husband had always hoped for, and the words 'cricket in the garden' made her overjoyed - father and son would practise bowling whilst Winnie brought the ball back every time.
Two years later, we had a second Goldie, a locally bred puppy. Our teenage daughter was instrumental in training him and although generally Goldies prefer to do their own thing when it comes to obedience, Hamish was a revelation and helped keep our daughter on the straight and narrow in those difficult early teen years.
Winnie settling into her
new home.
Shoes and blankets occasionally disappear up the garden when we are welcomed home, but only Hamish was a chewer—numerous mats, remote controls and a couple of cordless phones became no more.
Our Goldies have had varying interests in chasing rabbits, birds and ducks, but not with any real hope of catching them. Encouraged by his mum (not his real one!) Barney likes nothing more than going on tour of the St Peter's lanes watching rabbits, or any wildlife that moves, safely on the lead or in the back of the car.
Chelsea enjoying motherhood.
Barney, Miss Molly and Chelsea are with us now. Each has a different character, but all are loving and willing to please. Barney is the most extrovert, and a slight show off—if someone passes him in the street without stopping to admire him, he turns his head in amazement. 'Why can't they say how beautiful I am?!'. Molly has taken on the ball retrieving trait, much to my husband's delight, whilst Chelsea is a born digger/excavator of banks – forgot to mention that with the downsides! We designed and built a fenced garden within a garden so that our twin loves of dogs and gardening are kept separate and harmonious!
Molly and Barney revist their roots in
Scotland, the home of the breed.
Whilst we would say never say 'never' to another breed, particularly from the gundogs, we love our trio of Goldies very much, and have very fond memories of the two that have passed away.
