I didn’t know a dog would react this way. It’s not a trained trick. The dog saw its owner was about to fall. It stood up and steadied the lady with its paws.
Video is only 40 seconds. The thumbnail shows how the dog reacted.
Dogs are always observing their masters. Some have alerted their owners when they (the owners) were about to have a seizure and guide them to a seat or safely down to the floor.
My dog Gracie is the most intuitive dog I’ve ever met. She was a rescue, so we don’t know a lot, but she was about a year old when she was picked up as a pregnant stray, so I don’t think she had a life full of extensive training before.
Just this morning I was marveling at her. She had been left behind in the bedroom with my partner to sleep in, but she decided she wanted to come out for breakfast. She’s a boxer/pit bull mix, and normally has a big bark. But I heard her make the softest, tiniest bark to let me know she wanted out, so as to not wake up my partner.
I don’t know if she would save one of us like the OP dog, but I’m sure she would if she could.
Our previous dog, Iris, would lie to us to get what she wanted, so that’s a different skill.
A golden retriever’s fur does need a lot of attention. They’re prone to matting if you neglect them. When I had retrievers, I usually took them to the groomer every six weeks or so during the summers.
Goldens are beautiful dogs but I’ve always had the impression they weren’t the brightest of breeds. This one seems to be an exception.
Depends on the breed and the individual dog. For most of the time that I had my Bernese Mountain Dog (which have thick double coats) my elderly mother was still living with us, and brushing him was a sort of ritual that they both enjoyed a lot. Despite pretending to complain that I had a dog the size of a horse, she absolutely adored him. She loved brushing him because it made him look really nice, and he really enjoyed the attention.
Not as smart as border collies, but far from dumb. They make good guide dogs. We had two we raised for Guide Dogs and one became a breeder. They were both smarter than the Labs we raised.
Our border collie mix was smarter than me. Scary smart.
Only a problem if you want to see the color of your rug under their hair. Our golden’s hair filled up our Roomba pretty well. We’d brush out a trash can’s full of hair, and she’d grow another trash can full immediately.
A friend who had several Golden breeders from guide dogs which she has kept took some of their hair when shopping for carpet so she could get carpet that matched.
I’ve spoken with a local woman with a Golden Retriever service dog. The woman has balance issues left over from a brain injury. Her dog was trained by a professional trainer to help her, staying by her side and allowing her to use him as a balance aid.
Before Dog she would fall to the ground daily as she lived her life. After Dog she doesn’t remember her most recent fall (although she jokingly said she can’t remember much due to her brain injury).