Top Producing Golden Retriever Sires and Dams

Top Producing Sires and Dams

We have heard about the limited gene pool for Goldens, particularly for Field Goldens. As with many such
issues, this may be ill-posed and the requisite data unobtainable or non-existent. Here we begin to try to
understand a limited part of this question using our database of performance Goldens. Although the total
number of registered Goldens is unknown (to us) it is easy to estimate that dogs with these major titles
constitute less than 1% of the total.

Since we are doing the work we get to define what we mean by a "performance" Golden. We mean any Golden
with one or more of the following titles: CH, UD or above, All-Age or above, AX or better, AXJ or above, RE or
above, TDX, VST, or MH. All-Age is not an AKC title but there are very few FC or AFC Goldens.

Our database is based on the Golden Retriever Yearbooks, the GRCA Magazine, AKC Awards magazine,
k9data, Field Trial Retriever News, and the on-line databases of the AKC and OFA . In so far as possible,
"every" Golden retriever who has attained a major AKC title through the AKC Awards magazine of October
2009 has been included.

This database contains more than 16,400 Goldens with major titles. Dogs with CH titles constitute 54%. Major
field titles contribute less than 12.6%. 53% are males.

The more than 16,400 Goldens with major titles were produced by 4661 known sires and 8731 known
dams. In addition, 52 sires and 55 dams are unknown and 249 dogs in the database are ILPs.

The top 150 sires account for 33% of all Goldens with major titles!
The top 150 dams account for 10% of all Goldens with major titles.

The top 25 Kennels in terms of producing Goldens with
major titles. Topbrass leads the pack!

*This assumes that the Golden's name begins
with the kennel name.

Efficient Producers?

Some of these Goldens were, surely, bred more
often than others. Sadly, the number of breedings
is unknown to us. Thus we can not normalize by the
number of breedings to see which Goldens were the
most efficient producers. Moreover, owners play a
critical role. How would one adjust for that basis?

The following Goldens hold major AKC titles, so do both parents, all grand-parents, all great-grand-parents, all
great-great-grand-parents, and all their great-great-great-grand-parents
(Note: None can go back one more generation without having at least one forebearer who lacks a major AKC title).

Goldens with major AKC Titles on all forbearers in each generation

Which Goldens produced the greatest number of offspring who
made the top producers list?

Sires with the most offspring on the Top Producers List

Dams with the most offspring on the Top Producers List

Out of those litters with at least one major title holder:
9373 litters had only 1 major title holder (57%)
1856 had 2              5 had 8
579 had 3                3 had 9
186 had 4                1 had 11
81 had 5
35 had 6
12 had 7

Repeat Breedings

The following lists the sires and dam who were breed to each other on at least two separate
occasions and produced offspring who attained major AKC titles in each breeding. Note that Misty
Morn's Sunset and Faera's Future Classic were each bred to 11 different dams at least twice and
each time produced titled offspring.

Repeat Breedings

Footprint of Yeo was bred to Beckwith's Malagold Starfarm on 5 separate occasions with each
producing titled offspring.