Labrador vs Golden Retriever

Question
QUESTION: Sir,

I want to get a family dog which is non-aggressive, playful with both
children and adults, and which is an ideal family dog. I'm a little
confused on whether I should buy a Labrador Retriever puppy of a
Golden Retriever puppy. I've read that Golden Retrievers and high
maintainance dogs who are very risky and prone to illness, and which
requires a hell lot of a care. In comparison, I've read that Labrador
Retrievers are easy to care for and requires less care than the
Golden Retrieveers. Which one of the two would you personally
recommend ? Please reply.

Thank you.

ANSWER: Have you read Marley and Me?  There are Labs that will just take over the household.  Likely Goldens too, but it is less common.  Usually they are much more manageable.  Labs shed.  Here is a link to a picture of one of mine, http://www.photolocker.net/images/Labman/knitanewaster.jpg  You can control it, but it takes frequent brushing.  I once took that Lab and a couple of Goldens to the river.  The 3 had a grand time.  I also took a big stick of towels.  A half an hour after we got back, I gave my lab a 5 minute brushing, and she was fine.  The Goldens were still a mess of stick tights the next day when my friends come for them.  They haven trusted me to keep their Goldens again.

A well bred Golden won't have any more medical problems than a well bred Lab.  Buy either from a pet store or backyard breeder and count on big medical bills.   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.  They 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.

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.  

You might look at both Labs and Goldens and get which ever you find a good one of.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Would you please give me the link where I can read "Marley and me" ?

Answer
Marley and Me is a book, and I doubt you can read it on line.  Essentially a family fails to do any research ahead of time and buys a very dominate yellow Lab.  They then fail to give him proper leadership.  The dog ends up running rampant over them.  I can easily see everything in the book happening