Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #751723 in Books
• Published on: 1994-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 165 pages

Synopsis
The golden retriever's friendly disposition makes it ideal as a pet, and its glamorous good looks find favour in the show ring. Biddable and easy to train, it is also used as a guide for the blind. This book includes the specialized areas of gun-training, agility, working and obedience tests.

From the Inside Flap
The Golden Retriever is one of the most popular breeds in the world. A friendly, outgoing disposition makes him an ideal pet, his glamorous good looks find favour in the show ring, and his retrieving abilities make him an excellent shooting companion. Biddable and easy to train, the Golden Retriever is a successful competitor in canine sports, and is used as an assistance dog, helping blind and disabled people to lead fulfilling, independent lives. In Golden Retrievers Today, author Valerie Foss traces the origins of the breed from its ancestral home in Scotland. Advice is given on choosing a puppy, depending on whether you are looking for a pet, a working dog or a show dog, and there is guidance on basic training and socialisation. Caring for a Golden is described, with information presented on feeding, grooming and exercise. A chapter on health care provides details of first aid, preventative health care, and breed ailments. The Breed Standard is analysed, and there is illustrated coverage of preparing a Golden Retriever for the show ring. For those who are interested in training, the specialised areas of gun training, agility, working tests and obedience competitions are highlighted, with breed-specific training tips to help you get the very best from your Golden. For the expert, there are chapters on breeding - from choosing breeding stock through to mating, whelping, and rearing a litter. Lavishly illustrated with over 100 photographs and line-drawings, Golden Retrievers Today is essential reading for all enthusiasts of the breed.

About the Author
Valerie Foss has been involved with Golden Retrievers for more than 30 years, and her Elswood kennel is well known for producing top-quality stock for show and pet homes. Valerie has enjoyed considerable success in the show ring as an exhibitor, but she is best known as an international Championship Show judge. She judged Golden Retrievers at Crufts in 1987 and has officiated in the United States, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. Valerie judged at the World Show in Switzerland in 1994, the Gundog group at Crufts in 1995, and is due to judge the Golden Retriever dogs for a second time at Crufts in 2004. Valerie is President of the National Gundog Association, which annually holds the largest gundog show in the world, and she is a member of the Kennel Club. Involved in all aspects of the Golden Retriever, Valerie is well known for her seminar work on the breed. She is also an experienced writer, contributing regular articles for the canine press in Britain. Valerie is author of a definitive reference book, The Golden Retriever Book of Champions, and contributed to, and edited, The Ultimate Golden Retriever, which has received international acclaim.