14 Reasons Golden Retrievers Are the Perfect Family Dog

It’s not always easy to find the perfect family dog for your home. Some need a lot of exercise, some don’t do well when they’re home alone, and others need a lot of attention and strict ownership. When it comes to looking for the perfect family dog to grow up with your kids, you want something gentle, loving, and playful. No dog fits this description better than a golden retriever. Learn why golden retrievers make the best family pets with these 14 reasons below.

1. Golden Retrievers Are Quiet

There’s not a breed of dog that never barks, but there are ones that only bark for important reasons. Golden retrievers, affectionately known as goldens, fall into this category. They won’t bark every time your neighbor goes outside, but they will alert you if someone is at the door.

For the most part, they do this naturally. However, if you want to teach them to bark only during specific situations, you can train them. Since they don’t bark a lot, this makes them a great family dog to have around children who might not be a huge fan of loud noises.

2. Golden Retrievers Enjoy Staying Active

These balls of joy enjoy spending time with their owners. They’re more than happy to lounge around on the couch for most of the day. If you enjoy staying active, your goldens won’t hesitate to keep up. They enjoy agility training, chasing, hiking, hunting, running, and any other exercise you may want to partake in with your beloved pet. If you’re an active household, then a golden makes for a great family dog.

Golden retrievers enjoy any type of exercise, but their absolute favorite is swimming. Goldens were originally bred in Scotland. The focus of this breed was to create a perfect birding dog.

Birding dogs help to catch ducks and they often jump into the water to collect birds hunters shoot down. Though they aren’t used as often for hunting anymore, they do still have their passion for jumping into any water they see.

3. Golden Retrievers Stay Loyal

Golden retrievers are often called ‘velcro dogs‘ due to how much they love their owners. While they aren’t quite as needy as some other dog breeds, they are happiest whenever their owner is around.

Generally, golden retrievers will pick one person in their home that they attach to. Whenever this honored person is home, the golden will do everything to be right at their side.

This is one of the reasons golden retrievers make excellent family dogs. You can get a golden as a puppy to grow up with your kid. They will be bonded and stay attached at the hip all the time. It’s a perfect way to ensure your child is never alone and has a family member always looking out for them.

If you want your golden retriever to be attached to you, there are a few ways to easily strengthen the bond with them. Essentially, it comes down to spending a lot of time with your dog and giving it plenty of praise and love.

4. Golden Retrievers Adapt Quickly to New Situations

Some dog breeds do fine in controlled situations. Then, as soon as something changes, they start to grow anxious and irritable. Golden retrievers do not have such problems. They take in new pets in no time. When you’re ready to have kids, your golden will be right there to welcome the new member of the family.

This doesn’t just work for additions to the home. If you move around a lot or enjoy camping, your golden won’t hesitate to keep up with you. They are ready to explore every new smell and crevice. Those seeking adventure will find a golden retriever to be the best family dog for them.

As long as you are around to reassure them, there’s nothing that a golden retriever won’t try. They won’t be upset in a small apartment or a ranch house with acres of yard. They’re quick to adjust to anything thrown at them and they’ll prove it to you in no time.

5. Golden Retrievers Are a Smart Breed

When you watch videos of golden retrievers, they often seem a little goofy and silly. You might then assume that these dogs aren’t bright but you’d be wrong. While golden retrievers aren’t the smartest dog breed in the world, they definitely rank in the top five.

But why does having a smart dog breed make for an excellent family dog? Generally, it wouldn’t. Smarter dogs tend to need a firmer owner to stop them from acting out. They also need a lot of mental exercise. This stubbornness means they won’t always listen when they should, especially to children.

Golden retrievers are different due to their loyalty. Instead of using that intelligence to get into trouble or push their boundaries, golden retrievers learn about their human and their behaviors. They then use this knowledge to make their owners as happy as possible.

They also use this information to pick up commands. It’s been found that goldens can learn new commands in as little as five repetitions. In comparison, dogs with an average intelligence take between 15 and 40 repetitions to learn. Goldens have the perfect combination of behaviors to make for the most loyal, caring, and fun pet. This is one of the reasons they make for a perfect family dog.

6. Golden Retrievers Are Gentle Dogs

If you’re going to have small children or other animals in the house, you want a gentle dog. Though golden retrievers tend to be a bit mouthy, they are very controlled and patient. They aren’t likely to barrel over your kids or bite down hard enough to hurt.

Even when they are playing, they are quite in control of their actions. This is what makes them such a perfect family dog, even over other dog breeds.

7. Golden Retrievers Are Eager to Please

There are many loyal dog breeds that will defend their owners to their last breath. There are also quite a few dog breeds that enjoy pleasing their owner. None do it quite as well as a golden retriever. These dogs are adorable and do the cutest things in their daily life, such as carrying around their favorite toys and blankets.

What most owners don’t realize is that when golden retrievers find out that their owner enjoys when they do these kinds of actions, they will deliberately do them more to get more praise and attention.

As long as you make sure to praise your dog when they do something you want them to do, like going outside, lying down, or following alongside you on a walk, your golden retriever will learn what they need to do rather quickly. Most dog breeds do best with positive reinforcement, but you’ll notice the difference right away when you start praising your golden.

Having a pet that’s eager to please instead of being difficult makes for a great family pet. You can shower your golden with affection rather than having to try and stay firm with them like some other dog breeds.

8. Golden Retrievers Have a Long Lifespan for a Dog

While the average lifespan of a golden retriever is between 10 and 12 years old, some goldens can live much longer. For example, the golden with the longest lifespan to date is one named Augie from Tennessee. She lived 20 years and 11 months.

For a medium/large dog breed, 12 years is a pretty good age. Many goldens might actually end up living a couple of years older as long as they don’t face serious health issues and come from reputable breeders.

A dog breed that lives longer makes for the perfect family dog because it allows your children to grow up with their beloved pets for a long time.

9. Golden Retrievers Don’t Need a Lot of Care

Some dogs need constant care. Care for dogs includes grooming, vet visits, training, and exercise. Dogs like Akitas and huskies need a lot of training. They need to be socialized as well early on to ensure that they don’t react badly when people come to visit. Mental and physical exercise are other types of care that high-maintenance dogs need. If some breeds aren’t given enough exercise, they grow moody and misbehave.

Goldens are low-maintenance in comparison. They need only basic training, although you’re more than welcome to do more. They also need moderate exercise, and most of their mental stimulation comes from interacting with their owner and having fun.

While you can do more to enrich their lives further, goldens are fairly understanding that you might be busy with life. Give them some attention and cuddles and brush them every few days and they’ll be more than happy.

10. Golden Retrievers Love Affection

If you want a dog that wants to cuddle and watch movies with you every night, you want a golden retriever. Some dogs don’t like cuddling and are fairly independent, but that isn’t a problem with a golden as your companion. They crave love constantly. They won’t hesitate to accept a good hug, cuddle, or affectionate pat on the head.

They may play favorites, though. If you and your partner are both trying to tempt the dog to cuddle, you may soon find out which one your golden prefers, and which one is just the second-best option.

A super affectionate dog doesn’t make for the perfect family dog for everyone, but it’s certainly a positive for many pet owners.

11. Golden Retrievers Are Easy to Train

Golden retrievers are smart, loyal, and eager to please. This creates a unique combination. While most smart dogs tend to push their boundaries or grow stubborn, goldens are focused on making their owner happy.

Instead of using their smarts to cause problems, they generally do what their owners want. This combination means that training them is incredibly easy. Their willingness to learn and their ability to pick up commands to make you happy means that you only need to spend a little bit of time every day with your golden retriever to teach them how to be the perfect family dog.

12. Golden Retrievers Are Good With Kids

One of the reasons to look for the perfect family dog is if you have kids. There are many different kinds of families out there, but golden retrievers fit well into almost any of them. They fit especially well with kids compared to other dogs.

Many dog breeds do well with bigger children. When playing with babies and toddlers, they may play a little too rough or get aggravated when children pull at their tails and ears. It’s always a good idea to teach your children to be kind with dogs, but things happen and sometimes your kids aren’t as gentle as they mean to be.

Goldens are patient and kind. They seem to understand that children need a little more patience, and have a lot more energy than adults. They’re ready to play, curl up for a nap, or even nanny your children to make sure they aren’t handling anything dangerous.

13. Golden Retrievers Don’t Drool a Lot

If you don’t mind a dog that drools almost all the water they drink, that will open up the possibilities for great family dogs. However, if drool is where you draw the line, you’ll be glad to know that golden retrievers are minimal droolers.

Sure, they might get a little extra slimy around the mouth if you tease them with good food. What they don’t do is leave big trails across the floor or leave slime trails on all your clothes.

Drool can be a bit of a hazard too. If you have tile or wood floors, a slick puddle of drool greatly increases the chances of slipping. This is dangerous for everyone, but especially those who are fairly old or very young. With golden retrievers, you don’t have to worry about any of that.

14. Golden Retrievers Are Adorable

Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to picking out what makes a dog adorable. Some like the small dogs with flatter faces, some like bigger dogs with jaws that hang down.

Goldens have a classic and simple cuteness that warms the heart no matter your preferences. They are fluffy balls of fur as puppies. As adults, their puppy-like behavior, warm faces, and long coats still impress and warm the heart.

Your pet doesn’t have to be adorable to make the perfect family dog, but it definitely helps. Having an easily recognizable and well-loved dog breed makes it easier to take around in public and makes it easier to bond with.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Bicho_raro