The Miniature Golden Retriever is a designer dog, a
deliberate hybrid of the Golden Retriever, a breed of retriever developed in
Scotland in the mid to late 1800’s, and the Poodle, a multi-talented dog that
is capable of excelling at activities as varied as water retrieval, circus
performance, police work, and truffle hunting. This is done with the intent to
develop a dog with the appearance, instincts, and temperament of the Golden
Retriever in a much smaller canine; typically around half the size. Several
breeders have been working independently to develop this breed since the early
2000s. Those that are working on refining the Miniature Golden Retriever have frequently
incorporated genetics from the Cocker Spaniel, an expert game flushing dog, as
well. This was more common during the beginning of development, but many on the
breeders noticed an increase in snappish behavior when the Cocker Spaniel
heritage was introduced and they ceased the inclusion of this breed. Even those
Miniature Golden Retrievers that do not incorporate any Cocker Spaniel genetics
at all are considered to be a separate hybrid from the Goldendoodle cross
because they are selectively bred to look and act like the traditional Golden
Retriever, but are much smaller and less likely to be hypoallergenic than the
Goldendoodle. Breeders of Goldendoodles are more likely to incorporate genetics
from larger poodles, whereas Miniature Golden Retriever breeders prefer to
include smaller or miniature sized Poodle. Although the majority of breeders
are developing these dogs as companion animals or therapy dogs, some individuals
that are breeding Miniature Golden Retrievers specialize in breeding hunting
dogs, instead.
