A retriever is a kind of dog that people train to find birds its owner has shot, and bring them back in its mouth without chewing them. The name is really a job description: it retrieves — it brings the bird back. Golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers are the ones most people picture: large, friendly, with a soft mouth so the bird is not ruined. Though actually, in everyday talk people also call any dog that loves to bring a ball back a retriever, but the home of the word is that hunting dog. You will see it most often as part of a breed name.