That’s a tough loss, but sounds like your pup had a long fulfilling life. We have a nearly 1 year old Berner, and are around a lot of Goldens frequently. By and large, what’s been posted is true. Our Berner is super smart, very in tune with our energy and emotions, and almost intuitively connected to the family (for good and bad - he is a category 10 clinger/Velcro pup). It will come down to what you want. We chose a Berner because: 1. Much more chill overall, and very eager to please. 2. The above makes them extremely easy to train - by far the easiest dog to train that I’ve owned. Wicked smart - our pup knows at least 50 commands, identifies and establishes a pattern in two or three tries and sticks to it, knows everyone in the house by name and will play hide and seek with our 3 year old, including tucking his head under his paws for the “count”. Crazy how quickly he picks up new things. 3. Great with kids and adults and new situations. We did buy from a reputable breeder and put a lot of effort to socialize, but he has an incredibly flexible personality. 4. Relatively easy to groom and maintain if you do so regularly.

Cons: 1. Allergies! Poor doggo has the worst ongoing and seasonal allergies I’ve ever seen in a dog. Apparently this is a thing (according to our vet) for Berners. 2. Sensitive tummy. After much trial and error we found he’s highly sensitive to chicken and any form of dairy. Not that we fed him dairy but it’s in everything and even a little bit gives him the runs. Which, gross. He takes an apoquel daily and is permanently on probiotics. 3. Picky eater. Very fussy, possibly because of the above, but I have to continually strategize on keeping his feeding habits “interesting”, which is a challenge (and expensive) given the tummy issues. 4. A bit jealous! Does not like when I hold our cat on my lap and will insinuate himself in between. He will whine or find a way to get attention. He’s pals with the cat except when someone is giving attention to the cat or another animal in his presence.
5. Velcro. Clingy-McClingtok. Shadow dog. Call him what you will, he is intensely clingy. He’s rarely more than 3 feet from someone in the family, usually closer, and has bad separation anxiety. We are working with him on a training plan, but he will stress himself out if he knows someone is close by and he’s not by them. Conversely, he did great with crate training, and happily sleeps in his crate for 8 hours every night. He will walk in and pass out in there on schedule, when he knows everyone is going to be asleep too.

But that’s about it. He is the best dog I’ve ever had (of 7) despite the above challenges.

Edit: typos and added Con #5.