Flat Coated Retriever

[allie,hannah,brinkleygold]

Is anyone familiar with Flat Coats? They are gorgeous and look JUST like Goldens, only they are black!! This is a pic of one in a Hunting competition. Arent they gorgeous. Does anyone own one? Thanks for the info!

flat coated retriever (http://clubs.akc.org/fcra/photos/que.html)

[CanadianGolden]

They actually have much flatter, longer heads and are often lighter boned than Goldens. They tend to be very high drive as well. Nice dogs, never owned one though.

[goodtim'n]

The breed has a much higher drive level. I worked with a couple in training/teaching, from what I dealt with, they train well, were the as easy to train, for me I had no problems, but for the inexperienced owners the dogs seemed to balk at the inability of the owners. They aren't quite as calm, and easy going as the GOLDEN, They have a more demanding attitude, Very good dog for more of an advanced owner with training. This is only MY experience. I would dearly love to own one and probably will in the future. One thing about the breed is that not everyone seems to have one on there door step (so to speak) as we see with the GOLDENS.

[allie,hannah,brinkleygold]

Yeah i noticed that Goodtim'n, i cant even find a breeder in Texas, its wierd, but they are gorgeous! The puppies are adorable too! So they arent as laid back as the golden?
They sure are pretty, thanks for the responses!

[Rocky's Mom]

11 years ago when my first GR died, I looked into other breeds....Springer Spaniels and Flat Coats. Talked to some Flat Coat breeders who said what you all are saying about activity level, and also that they were quicker learners than GR....but had some health problems. Cancer I think and at the time (11 years ago), they all told me that life expectancy was about 7 years old....I decided not to go that route since I had just lost my GR and couldn't bare the thought of going through it so soon.....got another GR!!!

[Ami]

They are great dogs, but yes, as CanadianGolden stated, they are flatter, have longer snoutes and are lighter boned than a golden. Have seen both yellow flats (not very common though) and black, and I must say, I like the black ones better.

[allie,hannah,brinkleygold]

Wow, i cant believe thier life expectancy is only like 7 years!! What could cause that? Anyway, i agree that they are gorgeous,but i will stick with the Golden Retriever for always!!!!

[Rocky's Mom]

That was 11 years ago when the breeders told me about that life expectancy thing....I think it was some sort of cancer they were prone too....the breeders told me they were working on improving it and getting rid of that problem....maybe they have by now???? Maybe they just didn't want me to get a FC!!!! This summer I was looking into getting a puppy (not sure at the time what breed). Went to a local dog show and saw a girl showing a Springer so I talked to her about it and she told me a lot of negatives about Springers...I was surprised....she asked me what I was looking for in a dog and I described it and she said "Oh, you need a Golden!!" I laughed and said I had one and had had another one. She also showed GR and said if I really liked my Goldens then I would not be happy with any other breed...that they were a breed apart and there really wasn't anything like them. I had really been praying about what breed to get and I felt like this was confirmation and now I am waiting on a Golden puppy.....they REALLY are the best!

[LogansMom]

I actually saw one last night in Logan's 1st puppy class. Very sweet dog, but VERY out-of-control.

Cindy & Logan

[rockstar]

Have seen both yellow flats (not very common though) and black, and I must say, I like the black ones better.Wow, I thought those were nonexistant

I was looking into this breed at one time. I do know they come in a liver color as well.

[GoldenFrost]

I also was thinking about a Flat coat as well
But I hear they are higher stung the our Goldies
Play a little ruffer as well
Sure are prutty though. :050

[allie,hannah,brinkleygold]

Yes they are definetly pretty, but i will never change my breed of dog again! We just recently got some irish setters (and ended up giving them back, because the people that we got them from were scaring us....) and they were ok sweet, but didnt have the sweet happy go lucky personality of the golden. They would rarely wag thier tales and didnt seem to get happy about much....I love how our Goldens look happy, act happy wag happy and just plain live happy! Me and my husband realized that you can beat perfection in a dog! Goldens just RULE!

Summer

[MyBoyGus]

with the Irish Setters? I had read what you wrote about them and thought things were going well. Was there some kind of problem?

[allie,hannah,brinkleygold]

Nothing was going wrong on our part! The people called and asked us for them back. No reason why, i figured it was because they knew that the female was getting ready to go into heat. Wierd people for sure! They threatened us, and we just decided to not mess with them anymore, and gave them the dogs back. They were living in sewage and were emaciated. We just didnt want to get into a legal battle with them over these dogs....Oh well...