Sheesh. I paid $500 for our purebred (clean genetic history and fully papered) golden retriever. That was for a male. I was able to meet both parents and they were beautiful and calm dogs.

Fantastic dog, by the way. I've owned several breeds, and there's simply nothing better than a golden retriever for a family dog. They're highly intelligent and I don't think there's a dog with a better temperament.

Here's Ridley (named after the villain in the Metroid series).

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The breeder that sold us our dog does a yearly check in. They ask for any fun pictures we might have and ask about the health of the dog. They also update us on both parents.

I like golden and black labs too. Our next door neighbor has one (golden lab) but we are the ones that generally take care of it (we walk it, play with it, let it out to play with our dog). They have a lot of similarities, but labs tend to be a bit more high energy than the retrievers. Goldens are a bit more needy (as in they want your attention more), but they're generally more calm overall.

As for the hair...both shed. Golden hair is a lot longer, and it brushes a bit easier from surfaces, while lab hair is more wiry and tends to stick. A golden's hair will float more than a lab's hair.

Goldens are smarter than labs in general, but both breeds are highly trainable and and intelligent.

Bowser was a rescue dog. He had been severely abused and abandoned and he was afraid of pretty much the entire world when we got him. After a couple of months learning to trust people again, he become absolutely amazing. The most gentle and loving dog I've ever known. We miss this guy a lot.

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