The GRCA National 2025 – It’s More Than A Dog Show

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290 – November/December, 2025

By Amy Fernandez

There was a time when the word “Golden” was self-explanatory. After all, it is the nation’s third most popular breed. That has changed… unfortunately. Popular culture has redefined the Golden Retriever as a doodle ingredient rather than a purebred classic. Who saw that one coming? Early breeders focused their attention on functionality, coherent type, documented lineage, etc. It’s impossible to imagine this issue coming up at one of those nineteenth-century club meetings.

Of course, no one ever said dog breeding was easy. This new complication of misinformation and misperception–spawned by doodle mania–might seem like the final straw. Oddly, that’s not happening. Of course, the Golden Retriever also spent decades battling the historical mythmaking about the breed’s Russian circus dog heritage. So, there’s quite a bit to unpack here.

Ainslie Mills has bred Goldens under her Oriana prefix since 1974. In addition to breeding multiple winners in the US and Canada, she’s a lifetime Canadian Kennel Club member, Chair of the GRCC Breed Standard/Judges’ Education committee, and a member of the GRCA Judges’ Education Committee. She has clearly had some experience with the doodle situation.

Click here to read the complete article
290 – November/December, 2025

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Posted by AnthonyA on Nov 23 2025. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.