Kennel Party: Why did 488 golden retrievers gather in Scotland?

 JUDITH NEWMAN

What is the sound of 488 golden retrievers barking? Imagine the sense of helplessness you might feel when someone’s baby is crying and you can’t solve the problem. Then multiply by, oh, 488. Then add in drenching rain and an onslaught of midges. Why the cacophony? Around 4 p.m. on July 13, the dogs had been assembled on the broad lawn in front of the ruins of Guisachan House in the Scottish Highlands to take a group photo of the 2023 Guisachan Gathering, a kind of golden retriever convention, commemorating the anniversary of the founding of the breed. For the photo, the owners were instructed to leash their dog to a stake in the ground and then scurry away for approximately 15 seconds so that the photographer, Lynn Kipps, could capture the wagging horde. Fifteen seconds in golden retriever time is approximately eternity, and 488 golden retrievers evidently believed they had been abandoned forever.

And panicked. “Tricia, darling, I’m over here,” one woman shouted at her girl, and with that the barking got exponentially worse. Finally, eternity over, the dog mothers and fathers returned to their dependents, and order was restored with a tsunami of petting and treats. Since the first group photo was taken in 2001, golden lovers have come together about every five years to pay homage to Sir Dudley Marjoribanks, later Lord Tweedmouth, who lived in what was then Guisachan House.

Sir Dudley is credited with developing the golden retriever in 1868, when he bred a wavy-coated retriever with a tweed water spaniel. He wanted a rugged hunting companion with a beautiful head, a loving disposition and soft, melting eyes that lived to fetch game. An obsession with tennis balls and rolling in filth apparently also came with the package. People and their dogs travel from around the world to take part (dogs do not need to be quarantined to enter Scotland).

Represented this year were Ireland, Bavaria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the United States, Australia, Canada and Croatia. Marta Farkas, 43 — “the name means wolf in my language” — traveled three days from Hungary with a friend, her golden and four cocker spaniels. Wayne and Sharon McGrath, 69 and 71, who have bred and raised goldens for 40 years, did not bring their dogs this year, but traveled from New South Wales, Australia. The McGraths have been coming to Guisachan almost since the event’s inception, when it was only 30 goldens and a dream. “Yes, we are a little like Deadheads,” said McGrath.

This year’s gathering was the largest yet. Accommodations book up months in advance, and participants grouse that they’d bring more dogs if most B&Bs and camping sites didn’t limit you to two. My son and I stayed at the Westward Bed and Breakfast in Cannich, a perfect rustic stone cottage with traditional Scottish breakfasts, right near the nature reserve of Glen Affric. Curiously, there were no goldens at the B&B. That’s because the resident terrier mix, Rass, “hates them,” said Alistair Mann, 57, our host.