They are extremely affectionate, they have excellent dispositions and they are wonderful with children. They love water, retrieving, running around the yard and playing with children. They are extremely intelligent and easy to train. Their loyalty and affection to their owners have made them one of the world's favorite dogs.

Golden Retrievers are beautiful medium sized dogs with small pendant ears and large tails (no surgical alteration of ears or tail is required). The coat, which is one of the most characteristic features of the breed, is a double coat with a thick weather-proof topcoat and a dense, soft undercoat which is shed during the summer. The length of the top coat varies from short to long. Medium to long is usually preferred in the colder climates such as the Northwest States, while short to medium is preferred in the warmer climates such as the Southwest States. There are patches of longer hair, referred to as feathers, on the backs of the legs, on the neck, chest, and on the tail.

The adult coat, which usually darkens each year for the first five years, ranges from light, almost white, to dark golden. As puppies, the best indication of what color they will be when they mature, is the color on the ends of their ears. A golden body color with lighter feathering is quite common, especially in the show ring. The lighter colored Golden Retrievers are often called buff or blonde and are very popular in the British Isles and Europe.

They usually range in size from 45 to 90 pounds depending on the sex and physical conditioning of the Golden Retriever. Males are typically ten to fifteen pounds heavier than females. Golden Retrievers are sturdy and muscular consisting of large front quarters with deep chests in comparison with their rear quarters.

For Golden Retrievers which are spayed and/or neutered, there is very little difference between the personalities of the male and female Golden Retrievers. However, like people, each dog will develop its own unique personality.

They were originally bred for hunting companions and retrieving upland birds and water fowl. In addition to being popular family pets and house dogs, Golden Retrievers are often used as therapy dogs for hospitals, companion dogs for the elderly and seeing eye dogs for the blind. They are also a popular search and rescue dog. Some even make great scent dogs for airports and police drug stings.