Poodles are gun dogs, very friendly and do not shed. And come in different sizes.

 

I love GRs. They fit the bill in so many ways. Happy go lucky, laid back temperament, not known for excessive parking or extremely high prey drive, great with kids.

My only issue is the size and shedding Ten years of living with a Bernese Mountain Dog and I would love a dog who was more portable and I can pick up if for any reason I need to!

I cannot really find a medium size breed that fits this bill though?? Does it exist?

So, in your mind, what medium (or small) breed is most like a Golden Retriever in temperament?

What about a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever? Similar to a Goldie but smaller.

 

What about a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever? Similar to a Goldie but smaller.

Minus the screaming
Here they tend to be pretty intense dogs, are they mellower in the UK?

 

I love GRs. They fit the bill in so many ways. Happy go lucky, laid back temperament, not known for excessive parking or extremely high prey drive, great with kids.

My only issue is the size and shedding Ten years of living with a Bernese Mountain Dog and I would love a dog who was more portable and I can pick up if for any reason I need to!

I cannot really find a medium size breed that fits this bill though?? Does it exist?

So, in your mind, what medium (or small) breed is most like a Golden Retriever in temperament?

How about a foreign rescue some of them are lovely dogs.
I found this one today that looks like a small retriever ish type with a lovely temperament

Amber - 1 year old female Cross-Breed available for adoption

Amber is a 1 year old female Cross-Breed. She is our extra special girl and she has been in our Cyprus Shelter for just one month, having been sadly

www.dogsblog.com

 

Miniature Schnauzer hardly shed but you do have to take them to the groomers regularly to stop them looking scruffy, They're also a very hardy, healthy breed and ideal for a family with young children.

Miniature Schnauzer vs Golden Retriever - Breed Comparison

Miniature Schnauzer vs Golden Retriever. Comparison between Miniature Schnauzer Dog and Golden Retriever Dog. compare height, weight, life span, litter size a..

www.mydogbreeds.com

 

Sienna - 1 year old female Terrier Cross available for adoption

Sienna is a 1 year old female Terrier Cross. She is fostered in Norwich Norfolk. She has passed her cat testing.

www.dogsblog.com

Another similar temperament rescue dog

 

It's shame that the shedding and size put you off as I agree a Golden really does suit you.

Even though others have mentioned breeds none that have been mentioned are anything like Goldens , poodles and Tollers are both lovely breeds but their nothing like Goldens.

Honest awnser is theirs nothing that is exactly like a Golden but smaller as only Goldens are like Goldens.

The closest I've ever met that reminded me of a Golden was a cavalier king Charles spaniel but then you'd have a whole host of health issues.

Like I said in your other post Havanese are apparently similar but smaller.

Keep in mind Goldens are smaller than most Bernese especially girls and live longer than most Bernese.

And the non shedding breeds are not easier coats the Havanese for example they don't shed fur but you have to brush them several times a day to brush out the dead fur since they don't shed they do need a lot in terms of grooming.

Maybe a female golden some can be more medium size

Here's a video of a tollers scream and they shed too.

 

Honest awnser is theirs nothing that is exactly like a Golden but smaller as only Goldens are like Goldens.

The closest I've ever met that reminded me of a Golden was a cavalier king Charles spaniel but then you'd have a whole host of health issues.

Got to agree with this 100%

No dog I've ever met in 60+ years, is anything like a Golden..............people think Labs are, but they are not!

 

Working type golden retriever? They're likely to be smaller with less coat if other working types are to go by.
Definitely not smaller but flat coats have less extreme coats in my experience.

 

How about a lab? Working type? Not sure if they’d be small enough but the labs I walk are smaller than the goldens (especially the girls). Quite similar in a lot of ways, they do shed but not to the point of a retriever! I’ve looked after two goldens for two/three weeks and I did not expect the amount of hair that came out of them! My carpet was a carpet of hair! The labs I look after so shed a fair amount but much easier to clean up!

just read the small enough to pick up ha!
Pom? Havanese?

 

How about a lab? Working type? Not sure if they’d be small enough but the labs I walk are smaller than the goldens (especially the girls). Quite similar in a lot of ways, they do shed but not to the point of a retriever! I’ve looked after two goldens for two/three weeks and I did not expect the amount of hair that came out of them! My carpet was a carpet of hair! The labs I look after so shed a fair amount but much easier to clean up!

just read the small enough to pick up ha!
Pom? Havanese?

Personally I wouldn't recommend a working line Labrador.
The one I know sheds like crazy, would knock a child over easily and, to be honest, I'm nervous around

If I compare the one I know against a Golden, Goldens are gentler, calmer and just lovely dogs, whereas the Lab is like a bull in a china shop.

 

I guess it’s horses for courses. I love all the labs and goldens I walk but I do lean more towards the labs if I’m honest!
The OPs criteria was happy go lucky, laid back (once mature), low prey drive, low shedding and good with kids. I walk 3 working line labs and 1 show line and pet sit 2 of the labs (different homes) for a week or two at a time and they are all of those things tbh! I find them much easier to clean up after than the goldens I’ve looked after in terms of hair so thought they may be a good alternative that no one had said yet.

Yes they can be boisterous and daft and don’t always know their own size but they are very trainable as well. Both the labs and goldens I’ve walked have knocked into my legs when playing and decided to wrestle near me so, in that sense, they both seem similar to me. But that is only my personal experience so I must just have daft goldens to walk haha! One of them has broken his owners fingers chasing after a cat 🤦‍♀️

 

My last golden would deliberately hurtle straight towards me then at the very last minute swerve to the side. She knew exactly what she was doing and I’m sure she only did it because of my reaction. All I could do was stand still and hope she didn’t mess up and hit me. She never did.

 

Just a different option - I’m not sure how old your kids are but have you thought about contacting some rescues? (Or whenever you’re in the position to have a dog). They might have a mixed breed that could be what you’re looking for! We (my parents) got a mongrel from the RSPCA when I was 8, she was a ridgeback X but looked nothing like a ridgeback apart from her ridge! She was medium sized, ginger and white, looked a bit corgi like, bit barrel chested. She was an odd looking thing but perfect. She didn’t bark much at all, loved children, had very little prey drive (would chase a squirrel but about 5 metres and then come bumbling back). I have such fond memories of her, she really was the perfect family dog!

 

@Alice Childress I think if you really want a Golden go for it , if you really want no shedding and smaller size a Havanese would tick your boxes. Their easy to train, great with kids ( provided the kids know how to behave around a dog) , calm and gentle and affectionate little dogs who are less barky than most small dogs.

Havanese Breed information

I think they look sweet in a puppy clip like this one

Happy 1st Birthday of Milo the Havanese Puppy

Happy 1st birthday to Milo the Havanese puppy. Its time to pawty, mother puppers !!!#agilitydog #havanese #havanesepuppy #havaneselove #havaneseofinstagram ...

youtube.com

My friend in the husky community who has huskies and Havanese told me theirs a great forum were you can ask all the questions you want on the Havanese if you consider them

Havanese Forum

A forum community dedicated to Havanese owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!

www.havaneseforum.com

 

Havanese

I shall definitely look into a Havanese, they have always been one of my favourite smaller dog breeds as a matter of fact so it's interesting to hear they sound similar in some ways. I will also look for the forum.

I was wondering why a golden wouldn’t have been able to go to your sisters. Our goldens go everywhere with us unless dogs are not permitted for what ever reason. Isla is very used to going to other peoples houses when she’s invited to and apart from checking the kitchen floor for stray crumbs happily settles down somewhere. Having said that, she didn’t come with us to a friends house where a number of the neighbours were there as one person doesn’t like dogs which is completely understandable, otherwise she would have been there under the table hoping for dropped crumbs. Despite being a large dog she seems to keep out of the way and folds up fairly small

Hmmm!! Interesting! I guess, I am just used to Maggie who as a 10 stone barky bernese (not that they are suppose to be especially barky, but god she is!), I simply cannot take her to friends houses unless they are VERY dog friendly. She knocks things off tables, leaves a trail of hair and mess everywhere she goes, and gets excited and barky.

It is true that is a Golden really would just settle down under a table or by your feet then this would be a very different experience. I don't think Maggie has ever really learnt how big she is or where her tail ends! So I'm very interested in the idea that Golden's seem aware of their size and other people around them........ Ohhhhh! Hmm...

What about as pups? Maggie was AWFUL and at 6 months would get over excited in the garden and leap and mouth at us. She hurt me a lot as she was so big. She obviously grew out of this, and she hasn't mouthed or leapt up at anyone she she was a teenager, but this has put me off having a large puppy breed (and as much as I'd love to rescue an older dog in some ways, I would really like to have a puppy again).

 

There was a golden up the road from us a few years back. Absolutely super dog, but he was always getting loose (or his owners let him roam) and he would follow me on my runs to the point that I kept having to return him. His way of greeting me was to hurl himself at me and mouth my hands if I tried to push him off. Were I not a dog person I think I would have been horrified, but knowing how to handle a dog like him and knowing it was all "friendly" I just took it in stride.
Anyway, just to say puppy and teenage goldens are not particularly gentle IME.

Another thing I meant to say about a little dog, being able to carry her means she can come in places bigger dogs cannot. Stores like bookstores that normally wouldn't allow dogs are fine with me bringing her in as long as I carry her. Again, no matter how well trained, you just can't do that with a bigger dog.

There are of course benefits to bigger dogs that you don't have with little ones, but the reverse is also true, and portability is definitely a plus.

 

I can take the Schnauzer boys anywhere knowing they won't let me down. We go into pet friendly shops and shopping malls. Have lunch or coffee and cake in restaurants and coffee shops. Gwylim and I, but not Grisha, has been on holiday and was happy to stay for a few nights in a hotel.

My previous dogs and cat, have twice made the 3 day journey by car from Hungary to the UK and back, staying in hotels on the way with no problem at all.

 

@Alice Childress please let us know what you choose

 

Not a fan of Goldies, my young boy has now been attacked 3 times by male intact goldies…he has been on lead each time and the owners blame us!

 

They were not good examples of the breed then and again it's down to their owners why they attacked your boy.

I've been around hundreds of Goldens over many years and not one has ever been aggressive to any of my huskies over the years.

My current 2 my boy is a soppy goofball and loves everyone and loves all dogs but respects their space if they don't want to play. My girl on the other has never been interested in other dogs she's not nervous just is more interested in their owners then them so she tolerates being around other dogs except Goldens they seem to be the only dogs she's happy to play with apart from her brother of course.

 

I know someone who has Nova scotia duck tolling retriever. They're a bit like a small goldie. Lovely dog he is.

 

@Alice Childress again the above is not correct novas are lovely dogs but they are not small goldens they are way more intense and have more energy than Goldens

 

I know goldens are generally cited as being not prone to excessive barking, but from personal experience I have to disagree with this. I don't know if it's a recent phenomenon, but we've had so many barky goldens in classes and 121 sessions.

If you want a small/medium sized dog with low shedding then poodles are great little dogs. Would quite like one myself.

 

I know goldens are generally cited as being not prone to excessive barking, but from personal experience I have to disagree with this. I don't know if it's a recent phenomenon, but we've had so many barky goldens in classes and 121 sessions.

If you want a small/medium sized dog with low shedding then poodles are great little dogs. Would quite like one myself.

I don't have hands on experience of Goldens like @rona and @Siskin but all the Goldens I've been around which is hundreds over the years all except one was quiet even on a golden walk I recently went on with my daughter no barking at all.

Again maybe the ones you've seen are bred from bad breeders or from barky parents or their owners haven't discouraged the barking.

Goldens in general are a quiet breed

 

Well since the can is open and the worms are out...
In the US there are many barky goldens. Got to any dog show and sit near the golden ring, just make sure you have on ear plugs. Yep, demand barking, some anxiety too. These are not dogs bred to work all day on a hunt, they're bred for the ring, so there's that...

But the more concerning thing for me that you see in spaniels a lot, labs and goldens less but still something to consider - resource guarding. Not the usual resource guarding that a few swaps and treats will solve, but weird, genetic, OTT resource guarding where people are getting badly bitten over a box of tissues or some other random object that the dog didn't care about until that second.
If the breeder can't/won't talk about resource guarding and what the incidence of it is in their lines, walk away.

That said, I do have a soft spot for a good goldie, the good ones are really special dogs. But I'd still go for a well bred lab over a goldie (ducks and hides )

 

Well since the can is open and the worms are out...
In the US there are many barky goldens. Got to any dog show and sit near the golden ring, just make sure you have on ear plugs. Yep, demand barking, some anxiety too. These are not dogs bred to work all day on a hunt, they're bred for the ring, so there's that...

But the more concerning thing for me that you see in spaniels a lot, labs and goldens less but still something to consider - resource guarding. Not the usual resource guarding that a few swaps and treats will solve, but weird, genetic, OTT resource guarding where people are getting badly bitten over a box of tissues or some other random object that the dog didn't care about until that second.
If the breeder can't/won't talk about resource guarding and what the incidence of it is in their lines, walk away.

That said, I do have a soft spot for a good goldie, the good ones are really special dogs. But I'd still go for a well bred lab over a goldie (ducks and hides )

I know I'm no expert on Goldens only what I see of them on walks but it's interesting reading what you see in the US , I suppose their is a different between US and UK Goldens but again @rona will know more about that than me.

I am starting to wonder though if my daughter has been told the whole truth about what Goldens are like she seems to have this impression of them based on what she's been told that they are not naughty as adults and are very obedient and listen to everything you say and are very easy to train.