Golden afternoon: Hundreds of golden retrievers pack Scottish Highlands

To mark the birthday of the breed, hundreds of golden retrievers from all over the world were brought Thursday to the Scottish Highlands, home to where it all started.

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The first golden puppies were born 155 years ago at Guisachan House in Glen Affric, Scotland, when Sir Dudley Marjoribanks, Lord Tweedmouth, wanted a gun dog that would be able to handle the Scottish Highlands, BBC News reported.

Marjoribanks bred a yellow-colored flat-coated retriever with a tweed water spaniel, a breed that is extinct, in 1964. The yellow-colored retriever had been first purchased in Brighton from Lord Chichester and was given to Lord Tweedmouth by a keeper as payment for a debt.

The lord then bred the pups from the first mating with several other breeds, including an Irish setter, along with some careful inbreeding to get the results that Tweedmouth wanted: a dog that was “more powerful and vigorous” than other retrievers “yet one that would still be gentle and trainable,” according to the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland.

The first official listing of a golden retriever is from 1868, but the breed was introduced to the public at the Kennel Club Show of 1908, when the name golden retriever was created.

Owners from the U.K., continental Europe, North America, Australia and Japan traveled to the ancestral home of golden retrievers to celebrate the breed this week, BBC News reported.

In all, there were 466 dogs at Guisachan House, The Telegraph reported. Organizers believe it was the largest gathering, surpassing the last U.K. record of 361 at the 150th-anniversary gathering. More goldens have gathered at other events, including the current record holder, Goldie Palooza in California, which had 681 dogs in 2018, and the more than 1,000 that supposedly gathered in Golden, Colorado, this year for the “goldens in Golden” event.

Thursday’s gathering wasn’t just a photo op at Marjoribanks’ ruined castle. The meet-up also aimed to shine a light on irresponsible breeding during lockdowns, where some breeders didn’t worry about protecting the dogs’ qualities and temperament, Carol Henry, secretary of the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland, told the BBC.

While there was a field full of dogs, there were also talks, workshops, demonstrations and a nighttime procession.