The Golden Retriever is a large-sized breed of dog. They were bred as gun dogs to retrieve shot waterfow such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties, and were named retriever because of their ability to retrieve shot game undamaged. Golden Retrievers have an instinctive love of water, and are easy to train to basic or advanced obedience standards. They are a long-coated breed, with a dense inner coat that provides them with adequate warmth in the outdoors, and an outer coat that lies flat against their bodies and repels water. Golden Retrievers are well suited to residency in suburban or country environments. Although they need substantial outdoor exercise, they should be housed in a fenced area because of their instinctual tendency to roam. The dog sheds copiously, particularly at the change of seasons, and requires fairly regular grooming. The breed is a prominent participant in conformation shows for purebred dogs. The Golden Retrievers' ...
The name comes from the Chinese word for "lion dog" because this kind of dog was bred to resemble "the lion as depicted in traditional oriental art," such as the Chinese guardian lions. (The Pekingese breed is also called "lion dog" in Chinese) "Shih Tzu" is the Wade-Giles romanization of the Chinese characters 獅子, meaning lion; Wade-Giles romanization was in use when the breed was first introduced in America, but in modern times Pinyin romanization is used, rendering it shīzi. The Mandarin Chinese pronunciation is approximately SHIRR-dzə. The Shih Tzu is also known as the "Xi Shi dog" because Xi Shi was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of ancient China. Shih Tzu were nicknamed the Chrysanthemum Dog in England in the 1930s. The dog may also be called the Tibetan Lion Dog, but whether or not the breed should be referred to as a "Tibetan" or "Chinese" breed is a source of argument, the absolute...