About Flat Coated Retrievers

Skye is AADI's (Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland) first Flat Coated Retriever, although other assistance dog charities have used Flatties before. Flat Coated Retrievers are a high energy breed of dog, and Skye is no exception. She loves to exercise and she would play fetch all day long. Flat Coated Retrievers are gundogs, and they are very intelligent with a biddable nature.

Flat coats are lively dogs and you need a sense of humour when training them. Being a retriever, they love their food which does help when training. Flat Coats tend to be known as the 'Peter Pan' of retrievers as they never seem to grow up, and always have a playful nature.

Before, I mentioned that we were having problems with Skye licking, and I have since found out that this is a breed trait. I remember the Flat Coat 'Jet', who won 'Best in Show' at Crufts 2011, was licking everybody after he won! Flat Coats are friendly and outgoing dogs, and have a love for water and muddy puddles! They will just not be able to resist splashing into water!

Flat Coats need to be exercised, otherwise they can get up to mischief and be destructive. They need gentle but firm leadership, and are generally obedient and confident.

Whilst Flat Coats may look like a black Golden Retriever, they are a completely different breed altogether with differing characteristics. Skye is black, but you can also get brown Flat Coats - one of Skye's littermates was brown!

We were at a local Dog Show a few weeks ago and Skye met an adult Flat Coat who was black like her. It was very interesting to see an adult of the breed, as we now have an idea of how Skye will look as an adult. They are quite tall dogs (they're a little bit taller than Golden Retrievers) but slim, being the skinnest of all the retrievers.

Flat coated retrievers make lovely family pets, as long as you are prepared to give them the exercise they need and a job to do - these dogs just love to work and will do anything to please you.

I think Skye will make a great assistance dog as she learns new things very quickly, and loves to work. She also has a very sociable nature and enjoys being with people, especially with children. I do agility in the garden with her as her fun activity, she loves it and is very fast at it! It also helps her use up some of her abundant energy so she can focus on training or act calmly when we need her to. When Skye is working she has her jacket on so that she can tell the difference between working and free playing fun time when she can act like a puppy and be as crazy as she likes!