The scenting ability of golden retrievers has been called the best among retriever breeds so often that the term “golden nose” was coined to champion their gift. Golden owner and breeder Phil Warren vouches for the breed’s excellent nose.

“I was running two goldens in South Dakota a few years ago through some nasty tangles and cattails near an abandoned farmstead. The dogs _flushed 35 pheasants. I was lucky enough to shoot a double—one of which landed in the open while the other, a cripple, disappeared back in the tangle,” Warren explained. “My golden, Fielder, ran out and quickly retrieved the bird in the _field. Then he plunged back into that mass of vegetation, which was three times his height. Somehow he found that cripple in all the dense brush and thick scent, tunneling deep through the tangle. The result was a precious rooster and a proud dog owner.”

Warren is a retired senior regional director for Ducks Unlimited who farms his land in Alstead, New Hampshire, with Belgian draft horses. He and his wife, Janet, have owned 11 goldens since the late 1970s; they currently have 3. The Warrens have had 6 litters with 3 females in the past 34 years, yet Phil says it was a male named Issac that “really sealed our commitment to goldens.” They hunted Issac hard for grouse, pheasants, woodcock, and waterfowl.