I love golden retrievers.  I love how calm and gentle they are and how easily they can be trained.
That's interesting, how do you go about training them?
They are such a friendly gentle breed, that you kind of have to know how you want to train it...deciding if you are training it for hunting, or therapy, or such.
I have a cat, can cats be trained? I'd love to train my cat for hunting
I actually have three cats of my own, and I think it's pretty safe to say that they train US!  I know mine have trained me to be their companions...and to serve their every need.  LOL
That's true, they're very independent. What other animals do humans keep as companions?
There is a vast array of animals that humans keep as companions, from birds, squirrels, monkeys, lizards, snakes.  You name it, probably someone has it as a companion.
Snakes gross me out, why would people keep those
I'm right there with you on that one.  I think they are quite less than desirable.  I have no idea why people would want to have them as companions.  I prefer something that I can interact with and shows some level of emotion.
that's why golden retrievers are so awesome!