It's easy for golden retrievers to form a special bond with one another. After all, these dogs often have similar styles of play and interaction that differ from other dogs. Most retriever parents aren't surprised when their dogs run off with other retrievers at the park or a puppy play time meeting.
Still, Emily Buchenberger got a lesson in how much golden retrievers enjoy one another's company when she brought her 4-month-old Billie to a puppy play hour and found Billie and the other retrievers secretly holding hands!
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Billie, who has her own Instagram account, is a loving pup who likes to spend time with other dogs. But she has a special affinity for other retrievers, which became apparent when Buchenberger took her to a puppy play hour. This activity allowed dogs between 8 weeks and 18 weeks old to play and romp with one another off their leashes.
Buchenberger was surprised to see that her puppy only seemed to want to play with the other retrievers, even though there were so many other dogs with whom she could have played.
“There might as well not have been the other 15 puppies at puppy hour because the goldens were attached to each other like glue,” Buchenberger told The Dodo.
Instead of playing with other puppies, the golden retrievers seemed more interested in hiding under objects to have secret golden retriever meetings to which the other dogs were decidedly not invited.
“Most puppies ran around or jumped onto the objects, but not the goldens,” Buchenberger said. “They almost exclusively played with each other underneath the objects in secrecy.”
The whole thing came to a head when the puppies all congregated under a plastic box. One of the other golden retriever parents decided it was time to find out what the puppies were doing, so, while Buchenberger filmed, he walked over and lifted up the box.
Beneath the box, it was revealed that the three golden retriever puppies were quietly hanging out and seemed to be holding hands — or paws — with one another!
“We found them all calmly interlocking paws,” Buchenberger said. “They definitely were not expecting to be exposed and immediately dispersed.”
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Golden retriever parents online loved the story. The pup's behavior made sense to Buchenberger, who explained that Billie loves to hide at home when she has found something she cherishes. This could be an old sock, a toy or another treasured item. To Buchenberger, it made sense that Billie treasured her new friends in the same way.