Lab vs Golden

Question
I have had a lab in the past and my lab was un trainable and EXTREAMLY hyper, plus she's afraid of everything and very agressive. Because of her I would never reccomend the breed. I was wondering if Goldens are more obediant, smarter, and calmer than Labs?

Answer
Much of what any dog regardless of the breed is like is dependent on exactly what lines it was bred from and its early socialization.  I have no problem with the idea your Lab was just as you say it was.  Choose a Golden unwisely, you could have the same problem, although the odds are less than with a Lab.  

I like the Golden Retrievers as family pets.  Perhaps I am making the mistake of judging the whole breed by my friends' dog.  But I see others too.  They love attention, and are sturdy enough and good natured to tolerate almost anything.  The Australian Shepherds are great too and shed less.  They are smaller than the Golden and tend to be less nippy than some of the other herding dogs.  I enjoy my Labs, but some of them can be strong willed and a challenge.  They shed terribly too.

Consider the animal shelter.  There are many nice dogs, and you can see how they look with little or no grooming.  You can also see how they behave.  Look for dogs that want your attention, but are not going wild. Leave the ones that retreat to the back of their cage.  Look at their teeth.  Look for ones that still show a 3 lobed, clove like pattern on the front ones.  Leave the ones that fight letting you look at their teeth too much.  If the points are worn off the teeth, it is an older dog that may break your heart by dying too soon. Pinch the web between its toes.  It hurts.  It is OK for the dog to pull away or whine, but it shouldn't growl, snap or show its teeth.  Think about size. In a small apartment, a Golden might knock over the lamps when it walks through wagging its tail.  Since the shelter likely will kill most of the dogs, you may as well pick out a nice one.

Finding a good breeder and purchasing a puppy that will make a good pet is very difficult.  Almost nobody is intentionally breeding dogs to be nice pets.  Most of your so called reputable breeders are breeding for show or something.  They may say the puppies they don't keep for their purpose make great pets, but the truth is that the parents were selected for other than health and temperament.  Often they keep the puppies in the kennel too long and they miss the important early socialization puppies need to live in the house with people.

Next are the disreputable breeders.  Puppy mills breed any 2 registered dogs they can lay a hold of looking only at the money they can make selling them to pet stores.  Pet store puppies are easy to find, but difficult to socialize into nice pets, perhaps difficult to even keep alive.  You will not get what you pay for at a pet store.

Backyard breeders are only slightly better.  At least there, most of the breeding stock is acceptable to live in somebody's home as a pet.  Unfortunately many of them know nothing about what it takes to produce quality puppies.  Some of them are breeding for the selfish pleasure of vicarious motherhood, and others the same greed as puppy mills. If you don't get good answers to questions about allergies or OFA and CERF certification, go elsewhere.  

Avoid puppies forced to live in their filth or that saw little outside their kennel between 6-12 weeks.  At 7-8 weeks, a puppy is quick to adjust to its new home, new people, and new things.  Past 12 weeks, it may never adjust to its new life as well.  Even some of the better breeders hold puppies too long without proper socialization.   

One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue dogs.  These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home to be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them.  You may find a rescue near you starting at http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm  The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.