Take this Dog Breed Quiz. Know your Golden Retriever Quotient

Puppies do sleep peacefully but when awake, are very active and need human attention and are extremely playful with a pattern of crazy hyper playfulness.

It is normal for a young puppy to sleep up to 18 to 20 hours a day. As it grows older, the sleep pattern slowly changes to adjust to human sleep timings.

Golden Retrievers are very intelligent breeds and are easy to train, however, you must wait until they are at least about 4-6 months. Start with baby steps. Don't hope for them to accomplish everything at once. Have realistic age-appropriate expectations. Continuous consistent training up to 2 years and beyond will lead to the best trained dog and the apple of your eye!

Dogs are carnivorous animals. Considering the puppy has had mother's milk before separation at least 6-9 weeks, don't need cow/buffalo milk or Cerelac. I would go with high-quality dog food specifically designed a recipe for golden retriever puppies with a high fat-to-protein ratio with added extra calcium and other supplements to sustain their extremely high growth rate between 3 months to a year. Homemade food may not fulfill all these criteria.

Reputable breeders won't separate the puppies from mother before at least 60 days (ideally 90 days), vaccinate the puppies, register with Kennel Club of India (KCI papers) all for Rs. 20 to 25k. Please note, it does not make business sense if he charges less. Do not encourage cheap, dishonest breeders selling unhealthy puppies bred in unhygienic conditions and inhuman breeding practices.

Large breed dogs like Golden Retrievers have very high growth spurts between 7 to 14 months. They seem to gain weight every day. This is normal. If you are feeding your pup the right quantity of high-quality age-specific dog food, they will do just fine. Large breeds attain almost 90% of adult weight by end of this growth spurt.

Most dogs shed hair with good regrowth as a normal process. Golden retriever's shed similarly, only their hair is long and denser. Purebreed Golden Retrievers have double-coated fur which means undercoat hair is short, wooly, and dense and outer is longer. Thus they shed more. A good dog food diet ensures, the hair is well maintained and healthy and looks soft, wooly, shiny. If your dog doesn't have a good amount of hair, either its not pure breed or is unhealthy.

Puppies between ages 3 to 8 months often bite things around to "see" them and understand the world around them. It's their way of interacting with you. Don't worry, it will subside as they grow. By using the above method, eventually, they will learn that you don't like it and that the playtime stops. This takes time and until then, you have to bear the pain 🙁 but don't be harsh with them....please!!!

Goldens were bred to fetch hunts in ponds and fields. Their bite strength is such that they can gently hold a raw egg in the mouth without breaking it. It can be safely assumed that in rarest of rare situations when pushed to extreme, if a Golden does bite, it may not inflict a major wound like other large and powerful dogs.

It might sound weird but a golden retriever barks frantically at strangers from inside the home, but when strangers come home, they will wag their tails and go after them for petting. So you may only be alerted of an incoming intruder, but if a thief enters inside, your golden might as well get cozy with him and happily give away all your treasures.

Not just Golden Retrievers, most dog breeds will swim easily if you just put them in water. They don't need any swimming classes! Goldens are more of a "water person" because they are bred for retrieving hunted ducks in ponds and lakes, so swimming comes more naturally to them than others.

AKC (American Kennel Club) excludes extreme colours like white and dark brown or black. However, Golden Retrievers are supposed to have fur that is rich, lustrous golden of various shades.

It is not without a reason that Golden Retrievers are said to be family dogs. They always stay by your side and want company. It is a known fact that Golden Retrievers go into depression if you leave them away from you for long periods of time. If you are working and have to stay away from home, then DO NOT get a dog...more so a Golden Retriever.

Humans cool by sweating and breathe heavily to get more oxygen. Dogs don't have sweat glands (except paws). Their panting is a way for cooling down the body temperature. This may be in summers (hot climate), after exercise, or if it has a fever or other health conditions.

There is a misconception that a dog can be trained by a dog trainer. The fact is dogs respond only to their "handlers" which means if you don't train your pooch yourself, it will respond only to the trainer, not you. You must establish leadership with your dog which also helps in bonding relationships as dogs are pack animals.