Hi all

As some of you may have read I am getting another Golden so I wanted to do something for fun.

If there were only tow dog breeds on earth and you could only choose one ,which of the following would you choose?

P.S - I know some of you would not own either but this is just for fun.

Would you choose

A) a Golden Retriever

B) a Labrador retriever

You can only pick 1, tell me which you would pick and why?

I’m on my fourth golden and I just adore them to bits. Labs are lovely but I prefer long haired fluffy dogs and I like the sweet nature that goldens have. That’s not to say that labs don’t have a good nature, but there is something very gentle and kind with a golden.
If I could only have a lab it would have to black working bred one or a fox red at a push which is odd really as I like the colour of goldens but it doesn’t transfer to yellow labs so well for some reason (well on my mind anyway)

I'm with Jodi.  I love the fluffy look and adore the temperament.

Me too a Goldie I love fluffy dogs too    and we have them in the  family although Ido love my flat coats

I personally wouldn't have either as Non HPR gundogs don't as they say float my boat. However if the Golden could be bred by a late friend of mine who bred multi talented Goldens(dogs that were successful show, working & activity dogs) calm, but full of character & with temperaments to die for, then it would be a Golden

I can't wait to see what other members vote this is so interesting, it makes you wonder why the Golden is not the no 1 dog instead of the lab since the Golden is getting all the votes so far.

I'm not surprised though my golden was just perfect her temperament was just fab, she was kind, affectionate, gentle and even though I like labs I love goldens they in my experience are calmer than labs. And mine matured quicker than my friends lab.

Tommee - I know that they may not in reality be for you and you would normally never look at either to own but this is just for fun and don't blame you for voting the Golden , true goldens are beautiful dogs.

Labradors are the breed which have more puppies bred than any other in most countries. I know at one time around 40,000 KC registered were bred each year & also an equal number of unregistered puppies were also bred,  making them readily available for purchase by pet owners who are members of the I want one now brigade.

Add to this the misguided advice that they are the perfect family pet that comes from professional sources like vets !! Having had incidents with "pet" Labradors & my flocks over the years with their owners present when this has occurred they are definitely NOT on my favourite breed list.

There are far fewer Golden bred each year & they are a larger hairier dog,

I agree with you Tommee I think professionals need to stop saying they are the perfect family dog as they are perfect only to family's who suit the breed.

My golden got attack by more labs than staffies , to me in my opinion goldens are a much better choice as I have always found goldens to be calmer and more gentle were I have found labs more boisterous and bouncy , if I had a pound for every lab who crashed  into me I'd be rich. Labs are more clumsy and always run straight into you.

A Golden purely because I like my dogs with coat and feathering etc, so if there were no Cavaliers it would have to be a Goldie. :-) Although I did love the Sheila Hocken 'Emma' books so a chocolate Labrador might tempt me!

I did love the Sheila Hocken 'Emma' books so a chocolate Labrador might tempt me!

They can be difficult dogs, this looks to be a strong girl but he's dragging round wherever he chooses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYUq1ZHu4Rc
.

Truthfully neither,  never understood why Labs are so popular, know it's more often the owners than the dog, but too many are rude, unruly, charge around like loons with owners reeling with laughter when they bowl into your dog or take the legs out from underneath you. I've rudely referred to them as the Ford Escort of dog breeds.
The Golden's I've known & met are far more placid & gentle.

No contest a Lab for me. Grew up with them most of my family have owned or do own them and i walk a good number of them and i find them very biddable.

I like a good golden too but they've never really been sold to me.

An out of control lab is no fun and a lot is down to poor ownership and many dont think they need to put much into training and running up to other dogs or charging in some cases is rude but they seem to think well my dog is only being friendly. I have met quite a few sharp black Labs

I also like a coated dog.

For me it would be Working Type Golden, prefer the colouring, Cleaner less heavy heads, generally straighter coats.

I walked one for a neighbour with my Elkhounds for many years.

See I never had an issue with my golden , could be cos I spent a lot of effort on training at a young age and then being consistent.  I think the reason so many labs are difficult is because there are so many buy them who don't suit them but also beacuse a lot of people are under this misconception that labs are born perfect with how vets ect.. portray them as these perfect dogs when there not they take a lot of hard work like any dog. I still think goldens are calmer and eaiser but once they have been trained and socialized well. Ect...

Working goldens are lovely Barbara, my preference is Duel purpose as they have the brains and beauty of the workers but the calmer energy level of the shows the best of both worlds. Plus I like a "Golden retriever" not a cream retriever , no offense to them just I prefer the look of goldens.

Mines dual purpose and certainly has the brains. She's been incredibly easy to train, but I'm sure left to her own devices would have made her own entertainment and created chaos. The key to her brain was to teach her the names of her toys, words like indoors or outdoors, upstairs, car, motorhome and so on qmd so forth. When she was younger and playing up a bit I would ask her to go get a toy or whatever and off she would go. She seems to really enjoy trying to understand what I've said and going to get it. Despite having working dogs on her maternal side she has a fairly low prey drive, deliberately chosen for that. If she has gone off after something she's very easy to call off which is something I didn't have with a show bred golden I had once.

I've had 10 Goldens in my life, still have one aged 14 years and 8 months, but I have to say that I will never, ever have another. Lots of reasons and one of them is the coat. So if I had to pick now, it would be a working Labrador -easier coat and more speed.

What are the other reasons why you would not have another golden beside the coat, Goldmali?

Definately labs for me. I do love goldens coats, but not living with a golden's coat!
I don't like rude labs, but that is all in the breeding and training.
I do like goldens, but couldn't cope with their daftness. The ones I work with are like giant spaniels and not as driven for working.

>The ones I work with are like giant spaniels

That's probably why they appeal to me. :-D Too big altogether for me really though, I like my little dogs.

There not like spaniels in the UK, my Golden was not like a spaniel she was waaaay calmer and very intelligent and easy to train, I would not compare her to a spaniel.

If I wasn't allowed my trusty GSD, then of those two a Golden- but for gun dogs in general I'd pick a flatcoated retriever.

I am in the UK- no idea how to get rid of the German flag!!
To clarify, the goldens I work with are spaniel like. These are all working lines.

MissMiya - would you pick a flat coated retriever because there supposed to be aloof with strangers like GSD?

Working lines are full on and have boundless energy, mine was a duel purpose Golden a cross between show and working lines and she was not spaniel like that's why she is calmer

Thanks all for taking part , the poll is now closed as I was only going to leave it open for 24hrs , and the winner is...

The golden retriever!!!!!!

Flat coats are not aloof with anyone.amd very different to had. They love humans bot say had don't they just need to be I introduced  . another flattie trait apart from the ever wagging tail is the licky tongue  until last no th I had a had and a flatter. Sadly lost my gsd but whereas the gsd would work u out and watch my flattie would be in there giving u hugs.  I've had both breeds before and so have experience of the same behaviours as well as friends  with both. Flatties ate known as the Peter pan of retrievers as they take so long to mature but are  a very good and trainable breed

I have no knowledge of flat coats , I was just asking if that's why MissMiya prefers flats as I read somewhere there aloof with strangers which I know GSD are.

Ooo definitely not aloof although if u train them to leave things it isn't a problem   . They are also Velcro dogs I say as i have one laying at  my feet ! always wanting to be beside u .luckily separation anxiety isn't usually a problem although following u to the bathroom is :)

I hope u find your Goldie soon  and have many happy years together

Thank you, me to , I'm looking at breeders now, I think I was so devastated when I lost her ( my first golden ) and she was so special I think I was scared of opening my heart to another as it truly hurts when you loose them.

But I know that a golden is the right dog for me and for a change will be having a boy this time.

It certainly  does. 6 weeks since I lost my 10 year old gsd.the comfort is that he is at peace and home with us again
. It was losing my first gsd  that bought a flat coat into our life. I couldn't face having another gsd  at that point  but after 10 years with my flat coat i felt.ready for another gsd also a boy this time and not another bitch and of course another flattie
I am.sure u will  not regret it

Whoa there GSDs "aloof" in other words suspicious of strangers was a term used in the UK only breed standard for breed back in the 1950s & 1960s to make the bl**dy awful nervous English Alsatians acceptable.

GSDs should never be "aloof" they should be self assured, confident & friendly under normal conditions of meeting people in public & on home ground.

I prefer the look of Goldens, and their temperament seems to be calmer than the labs, at least the ones I've met.

Hi all

Ok so I thought the poll on lab Vs golden was very interesting that I'm doing a part 2. Again please remember I know the breeds in part 2 most of you would not own but this is just for fun.

Apart from me prefer happy go lucky friendly to all dogs , nearly everyone has breeds that were bred to be guard dogs.

So part 2 is based on guarding breeds.

> nearly everyone has breeds that were bred to be guard dogs

Is that supposed to be nearly everyone you know? It's certainly not my experience. Almost all of my friends have hounds, a few have gundogs, one terriers, only 1 from some 500 facebook friends has a guarding breed

If the only dogs available were those 2 breeds, then I wouldn't have dogs as they'd be unsuitable for my needs.

I really can’t vote on this sorry to say. The only dog that scared me to death was an Akita and I just cannot like how a bullmastiff looks, apologies to all that have either of these dogs, but you seem to have found two dogs I would avoid.

Year all my family and friends either have an Akita or Bullmastiff and then a few have GSD.

By the way the poll was suppose to have three options but for some reason the GSD is not there. Anyway just so everyone knows the GSD is an option too.

Everyone just ignore this one I have come up with a better idea. So I'm going to do a new poll on here.

Ok so this time the new poll is now we're I have picked the most popular breeds in each breed group. I used the KC statics to see which breed is the most popular in each group so in the gundog group for excample the lab has the most registrations than any other breed in the gundog group.

So if the following were the only breeds which would you choose?

GDSs are a pastoral breed bred to work sheep/cattle(think the name German Shepherd Dog may just be a clue) yes they take part in protection work activities & can be used as a handled guard dog, but they are NOT a guarding breed like Dobermanns, Mastiffs etc

None of those breeds were bred as guard dogs be it stock or people

You and tommee have not read my last post were I said we were not doing the guard dog thing and we were going to base the poll on most popular breeds from each breed group.

Pastoral Group,
I would have thought that Border Collie / ISDS reg / Acivity reg Working Sheepdogs were FAR more popular / common than GSDs

And I'm sorry tommee but I will not be taking any notice of what you say regarding the GSD , I am a member on tow GSD forums was brought around the breed as my dad has always had them and everyone on both forums disagrees with you when you say there not aloof. One of the very experienced members who has owned the breed for over 30yrs said...

"
People often confuse aloof with being shy and timid, that is not the case. Shy and timid is mostly lacking in confidence , an aloof dog can be confident but will show no interest in those outside the family, although once accepted they will cease to be aloof with them.

When a GSD doesn't act like a tail wagging labrador, then people think there is something wrong with the dog. Now there are GSDs that do act in an over friendly manner; I've had a few but mostly they are supposed to be aloof"

Now your saying there not guard dogs like mastiffs when they do guard the home.  Yes they are in the pastel group and they were livestock guardians as well as now being police dogs. But they have a natural instinct to guard the home and protect there people. And it's a natural instinct you don't need to train a GSD.

Yes I thought this too but apparently according to the KC registrations and puppies born each year the GSD has the most compared to other pastoral breeds

Out of those as for many reasons I am unlikely to have another gsd althoigh I love the breed I wouldn't have a dog . Like some of.the others there are other breeds that are better suited for for my future situation and them for me

I have closed the poll as it was a stupid idea to do this again.

Sorry Zara I hadn't checked for replies!
Honestly- the few in number of flatcoats I have met have been absolute goofs, I would chose them in the gundog group purely as I think they're the best looking! I love a dark dog and their is just something elegant about them.
Certainly GSD aren't "aloof" in the guarding sense. I'd more likely describe as "choosy", not fussed by most strangers but some are deemed ok enough to be given affection. They're also very *extra* when it comes to their people. Personally I'd have to be very convinced by any other breed, nothing better than a dog who hangs on your every word when training, but when your partner gives a command the dog looks at them like they're speaking spanish.