Re: Bad dogs - good dogs
Golden Retrievers often can differentiate between "protected" animals and animals that are "fair game" (at least in their eyes).<br /><br />We used to have a golden that would use our female housecat as bait--he would hide when a potential male cat was nearby, and when that cat would enter the yard with less than noble motives regarding our female, he would let him get far enough in the yard, and then pounce. We buried a fair number of cats that were on unauthorized visits.<br /><br />Nowadays, it is hard to find good goldens, as when they got popular, they got bred recklessly, and you never know what you are going to get, unless you go to a very reputable kennel for them.<br /><br />The golden I have now I could teach to leave any specific small animal alone in short order, but that does not translate to any small animal, but only those that I specifically tell her are off limits. Ones that I have not specifically introduced her to are fair game.