How your Golden Retriever reacts to and behaves with other people and animals depends on how well he was socialized. Socializing dogs means getting them used to adults, children, other dogs, cats, rabbits, and the world in general.

Fortunately, for owners of Golden Retrievers, nature has already done half the work. Goldens are friendly, smart, energetic dogs who love to please. They are normally patient and loving with children, though there are exceptions. Most Goldens are friendly to strangers and good with other animals. However, you may find a Golden who is only comfortable with one sex, with adults but not children, or good with other Goldens but not with other dogs or cats. Socialization depends not only on the breed of the dog but on his early experiences.

Three factors contribute to how well your dog will become socialized: his genetically-inherited characteristics, he experience with his mother and siblings, and his early life experience. Though some over-breeding may have created exceptions, most Goldens are genetically-prone to be open and friendly.

As a newborn, your puppy learned how to behave and react from copying its mother and littermates. In addition to genetic pre-disposition to certain behaviors, its mother’s example will help shape your Golden’s reactions to the world. For this reason, it’s important to make sure the breeder has selected animals with good, even temperaments for breeding. Of course, you can’t know about an adult’s past if you are adopting a rescue. But you can probably draw some pretty good conclusions by his behavior when you bring him home.