I had two golden's. First one collected starfish in the Puget Sound and hearded us kids like cattle. Loyal to the death and a very cool dog.

The other one hunted, but was flakey as all hell. I think she got some in to some poisoned gophers and was never the same since.

I'd second what most said about goldens. They tend to have breed issues, bad hips, way too much damn hair to collect thistles and things that never come out. They are very loyal, loving, and make for a great family dog.

Most of the labs I meet mostly reflect their owners and how their were trained, or not trained. One shouldn't have to ever "bark" louder than their lab.......

Unless you get a truly phsyco dog, most "issues" with hunting labs and goldens stem from the rtturbo's quote above.

If I were to get another hunting dog, I'd get a lab.