Golden Retrievers have been competing in tracking trials for many years, with many of them gaining titles and together with their handlers thoroughly enjoying the sport of tracking.

It became apparent that the Club should consider holding a tracking trial itself, so the Golden Retriever Club of Victoria Inc (GRCV) applied for and was granted permission to hold its first Tracking Trial in May 2002.  It was decided to apply to host a restricted to Group 3 tracking trial only which would allow not only Golden Retrievers to enter but also all our fellow gundogs.  This would continue to encourage even more gundogs to become involved in tracking.

Prior to 2002 there had never been a tracking trial held in Victoria where gundogs were the sole competitors, a great initiative by the GRCV.

Our first tracking trial well supported with a total entry of twenty-three gundogs competing over two days.  The trial was held at Broadford which is just off the Hume Highway north of Melbourne.  There were five Golden Retrievers entered with three of them gaining passes.  Mrs Dawn Howard was the judge for both days.

The Club has continued to run a restricted to Group 3 tracking trial in May each year and the number of gundogs competing continues to increase. We now hold the trials over three days and have two judges officiating allowing us to cater for all entrants.  The trial is now held at Inverleigh which is west of Geelong and has become a highlight on the tracking calendar.

In 2006 we had a record entry of forty-three gundogs, fifteen of which were Golden Retrievers. 

The first Golden Retriever in Victoria to gain a Tracking Champion Title was Tracking Champion Pointgold Pure Pleasure CDX (Meg).  Each year a trophy in honour of Meg’s achievement is awarded to the Highest Graded Golden Retriever for the trial.

Over the years a friendly rivalry between the gundog breeds has evolved.  First it was the Weimaraner people who decided that having an award for the highest graded Golden was a great idea so they initiated the highest graded Weimaraner award.  This has been followed by the Labrador Retriever people over the last few years, so now there are three awards presented on the last day of the trial each year to the outstanding exhibits from these three breeds.

There is also a rivalry as to the number of each breed entered from year to year.  To date apart from a tie with the Weimaraners in 2005 the Goldens have always won this little competition although the Labradors are hot in pursuit.

Many more Goldens have followed in Meg’s footsteps and gained their Tracking Champion Titles, we can now proudly boast thirty-one Tracking Champion Titles.  Our breed is amazing at whatever discipline they are involved in, but they excel at tracking.  Five Golden Retrievers have done so well they have gained the honour of being awarded Tracking Dog of the Year by the Tracking Club of Victoria, which is no mean feat as this competition is open to all breeds of dog competing in tracking who are members of the Tracking Club.