We can trace Golden Retriever backgrounds in America over 100 years, way back to when the first Goldens appeared in the United States as early as the 1890s.
There are photographs of Lord Tweedmouth's son, the Hon. Archie Majoribanks, at his ranch in Texas with Lady, who was a descendant of Lord Tweedmouth's dogs.
There are other reports of Goldens in Canada and the United States in the early 1900s, but none of them were ever registered.
The breed would not make an official entry into the United States until the 1920s, when a few Goldens were imported from England by some of America's wealthiest and most prominent citizens.
Robert Appleton, a resident of East Hampton, Long Island, and the retired head of a publishing company, was the first to actually register a Golden Retriever with the American Kennel Club in 1925.
During these early years, Goldens were registered and shown along with Labrador Retrievers.
The American Kennel Club didn't officially recognize the Golden Retriever as a separate breed until 1932.
Meanwhile, as the handful of fanciers grew, some dogs were shown sporadically, and there was an occasional litter of puppies.
But none of these dogs had any influence on the breed as it developed in America.
Golden Retriever backgrounds in America include the first serious Golden breeder in the United States, Dr. Charles Large of New York City.
In 1931, he imported a number of British Golden Retrievers that were shown and became the foundation of his breeding program.
Dr. Large was an early activist in the attempt to form a national breed club. His efforts were not yet realized when he died in 1933.
Goldens of this era were owned exclusively by the wealthy.
They were primarily obtained out of curiosity and for the breed's growing reputation as outstanding hunting dogs.
Few actually lived in homes, as pets.
They were generally kept in large kennel facilities overseen by kennel managers.
The Golden breed received the boost it needed when Col. Samuel Magoffin of Vancouver, British Columbia, imported Speedwell Pluto from Britain in 1932.
He became a champion in both the United States and Canada and was the first Golden Retriever to win a Best in Show ribbon.
Pluto was much more than a show dog, however.
He also skillfully retrieved birds during hunting expeditions off the rugged coast of the Pacific Northwest.
He's considered to be the foundation sire of the breed in America.
More recent Golden Retriever backgrounds in America can be traced to Magoffin's other kennel located in Englewood, Colorado.
He imported a number of dogs from England that would be influential in the development of the Golden breed. His relatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin followed his lead in obtaining Goldens.
The Golden Retriever growth in popularity throughout the midwestern U.S. during the 1930s and early 1940s was truly phenomenal.This was an era when hunting upland game and waterfowl was enjoying its peak in popularity among a growing number of hunters, and the Midwest was the capital of this pastime. The Golden was embraced by an increasing number of hunters as "the dog for the job."
Following World War II, a growing number of Americans finally had the money and leisure time to include a dog in the family, yet the Golden was still relatively unknown to the general public as a pet.
Most were in the hands of show and field competitors or hunters throughout the U.S.
Until the 1970s, the Golden was a well-kept secret, often confused with the very popular Irish Setter.
The event that brought the Golden Retriever prominence with the American public took place in 1974, when President Gerald Ford obtained a young Golden female.
Liberty and her subsequent litter of White House puppies received national publicity.
The secret was out! Goldens skyrocketed in popularity and suddenly the breed was ranked among the top five in registrations, a position it still holds today.
And so, the humble Golden Retriever backgrounds in America set the stage for our national love affair with these adorable dogs.
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