We have a dog. Her (well, actually since there's been an operation, its) name is Sandy. She is some breeder's nightmare image of a Golden Retriever. The best we can tell she is a golden w/ a sprinkle of collie and some cocker-spaniel (maybe). She is lovable and friendly, but by no means really well-behaved.
Dog enthusiasts seem to think that golden retrievers are easy to train. Maybe they never met this particular mix - she just can't understand the concept behind fetch (wait a minute - isn't she a retriever??), much less complicated things like 'heel' and 'no'. Her short repertoire of tricks includes "sit," "paw," (For shake), "down" and "over." When a treat is in evidence, she will run through the whole list: "sit,paw,down and over" "sit, paw, down and over" until she either gets something or just gives up. The concept of responding to a cue, as opposed to spontaneously running through the entire list just hasn't hit her.
Sandy came with the house when we bought it. I guess this is really another story. If you really want to know how it happened, just ask.