Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/golden-retriever-festival_n_3731865.html
Did you know that the golden retriever breed of dog originated in Scotland? Did you know that there’s a golden retriever festival held in Scotland every year since 2006? Me neither! I just found out today, and the pictures are adorable.
In 2006, the very first Guisachan Festival was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland (didn’t know any organizations like this existed either), where 188 golden retrievers and their owners congregated for one big furry party. The festival has been held every year since then and has attracted even more guests, with the most recent festival welcoming in 222 golden retrievers.
In addition to general merriment and socializing, they conduct dog shows at the festival. How they are able to deem which dog deserves an award out of literally hundreds of nearly identical dogs, I don’t know. And on that note, I wouldn’t be surprised if owners lost their own dogs amidst the sea of retrievers! But that’s besides the point. Regardless, the festival seems to be a fun way to bring together people with similar interests, even if their interests happen to line up with a particular dog breed, and the dogs seem to have a blast too.
I think the whole notion of dog breeds is a little weird, that people often have favorite breeds based on how cute they are and sometimes stick exclusively to those breeds in choosing pets. I don’t know the rules behind the event, but I would hope that if some of these golden retriever owners had another dog of a different breed that they would allow that other dog to attend the event as well. Anyway I might be thinking too much into this, and not trying to take away from the adorableness of the Guisachan Festival or anything, but I certainly hope they didn’t discriminate!
Original article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/golden-retriever-festival_n_3731865.html
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