Golden retrievers to gather at the breed's ancestral Highland home

News imageBBC People stand, some of them holding up phones to take a picture, as hundreds of golden retrievers stand in a grassy arena next to the ruins of Guisachan House.BBC
A gathering in 2023 involved almost 500 dogs

A mass gathering of golden retrievers and their owners is to be held at the ancestral home of the breed in July 2028.

The event will mark 160 years since the first golden retriever puppies were born at Guisachan House in Glen Affric, near Cannich, in the Highlands.

Meetings to celebrate the breed have been held in different formats by the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland since the late 1990s, with larger events taking place since 2006.

A gathering held at Guisachan in 2023 involved almost 500 dogs from 12 countries.

The Golden Retriever Club of Scotland said a date for the 2028 gathering would be announced later.

News imageGetty Images A close up of a golden retriever showing its neck and head. The dog is a golden colour, has its mouth open while it looks up to the right of the image.Getty Images
Today's golden retrievers are descended from dogs bred in the Highlands
News imageA golden retriever stands with its tongue out next its owner.
The last event at Guisachan involved dogs from 12 countries

Golden retrievers were bred by aristocrat Sir Dudley Marjoribanks, who wanted a gun dog suited to Scottish Highland terrain.

The first litter was born in 1868 to a Tweed water spaniel, a breed now extinct, and yellow wavy-coated retriever.

The puppies were called Primrose, Cowslip and Crocus. Some histories of the breed report the litter having four pups.

More than 40 years later in 1913, the golden retriever was officially recognised as a breed by The Kennel Club, the UK's largest organisation concerned with dog health, welfare and training.

Guisachan House had fallen into ruin by the 1960s.

News imageFour well-behaved golden retrievers sitting looking at their owner on a grassy area below the ruins of Guisachan House.
Guisachan is the ancestral home of the breed
News imageA golden retriever sits looking at the camera on a grassy area below the ruins of Guisachan House.
The Victorian mansion has been a ruin since the 1960s