AKC Breed Rankings

Everything about these dogs can make you smile, so it is fitting that the person who started it all should have a whimsical name Dudley Coutts Marjoribanks, a 19th century Scotsman who was later elevated to the title Lord Tweedmouth. In The Golden Retriever, by AKC judge and longtime Golden fancier Jeffrey G. Pepper, breed historian Marcia R. Schlehr tells the tale of a chance meeting that changed the world. Marjoribanks was on holiday in southern England when he met a cobbler with a dog, Schlehr writes, of an unusual bright golden color. The owner said that the dog was the sole yellow puppy from a litter of black Wavy-Coated Retrievers. Marjoribanks bought the dog, named him Nous the Greek for wisdom, and bred him to a liver colored Tweed Water Spaniel, Belle. Four yellow balls of fluff from Nous Belle breedings became the foundation for Goldens. Later breeders introduced Irish Setter and yellow Labrador Retriever into the bloodline. The AKC recognized the breed in 1925, and their popularity soared after WWII. They have been in the top 10 in AKC breed rankings since 1976.