World’s largest golden gathering

One hundred and one Dalmatians were put in the shade by 361 golden retrievers yesterday – the biggest gathering of the breed in the world.

The owners and their canine chums convened to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the origin of the breed in the Highlands.

And like in previous meetings of the Scottish Golden Retriever Club, the numbers keep going up.

Chairwoman of the club Doreen McGugan said: “The 150th has been a roaring success. We’ve gone up from 188 golden retrievers at the 2006 gathering – today we have 361.

“It’s appropriate we’ve beaten our record on the big anniversary.”

The five-day event, which ends today, was celebrated in the grounds of the nowruined Guisachan House in Strathglass, where the breed was born.

The golden retriever was developed by wealthy brewery magnate and banker, Lord Tweedmouth, Sir Dudley Coutts Matjoribanks, at his Highland estate.

The first litter was born in 1868 and the breed has gone from strength to strength.

This year’s celebration saw dogs from as far afield as the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Organisers reckoned 1,000 people had travelled from all over for the event.

Golden Retriever Club’s largest meeting of 361 dogs