THE GRACEFUL GOLDEN RETRIEVERS

OF NORTH FLORIDA

BABE WAS A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

a few years ago, while I was recuperating with a couple broken ribs in the Hospital at Panama City, my sweet,

lovable Millie began her second "heat" period.

Even though we have a 60" perimeter fence & a 7ft kennel fence, Caesar, a 2 yr old registered Labrador Retriever

(belonging to a neighbor) managed to breach our perimeter fence and seduced my Millie.

Nine weeks later Millie delivered 8 solid black retriever puppies. I had often heard what wonderful hybrids a Lab & Golden produced

So I picked out my favorite female and named her "Babe".

She is now my constant shadow

(and is very disappointed when my wife won't let her ride to church with us on Sunday mornings).

THUS, THIS BREEDING BECAME THE FOUNDATION FOR OUR BELOVED LABRA-GOLD RETRIEVERS.

PUREBRED vs MIX-BREED or (Hybrid)

Some "Purebred" breeders look down on all hybrId dogs as "mixed breeds". However, if they check the genealogy of practically "ALL" current "Purebreds" they will find many different breeds make up each Purebred's present family. For instance our beloved Goldens: The original cross was of a yellow-coloured Retriever, 'Nous', with a Tweed Water Spaniel female dog, 'Belle' The Tweed Water Spaniel is now extinct, but was then common in the border country. Marjoribanks had purchased Nous in 1865 from an unregistered litter of otherwise black wavy-coated retriever pups. In 1868, this cross produced a litter that included four pups; these four became the basis of a breeding program which included the Irish Setter, the sandy-coloured Bloodhound, the St. John's water dog of Newfoundland, and two more wavy-coated black Retrievers. The bloodline was also inbred and selected for trueness to Marjoribanks' idea of the ultimate hunting dog.         (My family is 1/2 Irish & 1/2 German, hence I'm a mix-breed)