To answer the OP's question; Goldens make great pets. My mother in law had a couple, and my sister in law did as well. We adopted one of SIL's pups when her female got pregnant. Howard was huge, 140 lbs, black and ugly, so we took him in. Best mutt we ever had, gentle with kids and other dogs, even small ones. Their one drawback though, is that they love anything with four legs, so don't expect a GR to protect your garden. They'll just want to play with the deer or rabbits. It took a couple of near misses to get Howard to hate coyotes. Twice he was drawn out by coyotes, but I happened to be there with my 25-06. He finally figured out that "Daddy doesn't like coyotes, so I don't either".