If you are looking for a family dog, Golden Retriever is the best for you. Further, the perfect size, beautiful skin coat, friendly temperament, and intelligence of these breeds make them a great companion for kids, adults, and elders. But owning a pet comes with responsibilities, and one of them is to maintain the size of a Golden Retriever.
The size of a Golden Retriever varies according to the breed type, lifestyle, and health condition. So, the average weight of a male Golden Retriever is 65-75 pounds, and that of the female is 55- 65pounds. Further, the perfect height for an adult male Golden Retriever is 23-24 inches and 21.5-22.5 for females.
Moreover, due to their irresistible body structure, these breeds can attract everyone’s attention. So, Golden Retrievers are one of the most popular dogs. However, giving a proper lifestyle to this breed is still a challenge that most owners fail to succeed.
Undoubtedly, I will disclose more about the size and healthy lifestyle of Golden Retriever further in this article. But before this, let us have a sneak peek at its origin.
Golden Retriever’s History
If you look at the history of Golden Retrievers, the origination of these breeds dates back to the 19th century in Scotland. Generally, the British aristocrat dog breeder Lord Tweedmouth created these dogs to help the Sottish estate owners to hunt.
As the owners wanted a companion for hunting in land and water, Tweedmouth bred a golden-colored dog with a Tweed Water Spaniel to produce yellow-coated Golden Retriever puppies. And due to their excellent hunting ability, these dogs slowly became popular after the 19th century. Thus, these dogs became an AKC breed in 1932.
What Is The Appropriate Size For A Golden Retriever?
The Golden Retriever may have different sizes based on its breed type. But since the yellow-coated Retrievers were the original breed, their appropriate weight and height are:
Average Height Of Golden Retriever
Generally, the average height of the original Golden Retriever is 20 to 24 inches. The male Retrievers are about 23 to 24 inches tall, and females are 20 to 22 inches tall.
Average Weight Of Golden Retriever
Since Golden Retrievers are large dog breeds, their average weight of 55 to 75 pounds. Further, a male English Retriever weighs about 60 to 75 pounds. And the average weight of females is 55 to 65 pounds.
However, for a healthy lifestyle, you should also focus on the growth rate of the puppies besides their size.
What Is The Growth Rate Of A Puppy Golden Retriever?
Being a fast-growing dog breed, Golden Retriever reaches its maturity within 1-2 years after birth. Further, to ensure proper growth, a puppy should grow at the rate of 5-10% every week.
Moreover, you can use a measuring scale to measure the size of your Retriever. And record it to determine the growth rate. Further, to check the growth of my puppy, I always mark the height of my Golden Retriever in the backyard wall and note its weight. You can also try it.
Although most Retrievers reach their ideal weight and height within one year of age, some dogs may take a little longer based on their living circumstances. So, if your pet is growing slowly, don’t panic. And take suggestions from professionals to increase their growth rate.
In addition, the genetics, sex, and age of birth control also influence the growth rate of your pal. So, you should to aware of all the basic information of a Golden Retriever before owning it.
However, after being familiar with the growth and size, let me discuss the appropriate size of different types of Golden Retrievers.
What Are The Different Sizes Of A Golden Retriever?
Being a large breed, Golden Retrievers are the best cuddling and playing buddy for your kids. Furthermore, the lustrous skin coat, beautiful eyes, and appealing body structure of these dogs vary according to the type of breeds and size.
Sizes Of Golden Retriever According To Age
Usually, Golden Retrievers achieve their matured height and weight within eighteen months. So, these breeds are one of the most rapidly growing dogs. However, the appropriate chart that shows the size of Golden Retriever based on age is as follows:
| Age of Golden Retriever | Weight Of Golden Retriever (lbs.) | Height Of Golden Retriever (lbs.) | ||
| Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| Up to 8 weeks | 4-17 | 5-17 | 10-15 | 10-14 |
| 2- 4 months | 10-25 | 10-25 | 10-16 | 10-14 |
| 5- 8 months | 16-57 | 16-52 | 12-20 | 12-16 |
| 9-12 months | 29-85 | 27-70 | 19-22 | 16-19 |
| 12 to 18 months | 45-77 | 44-80 | 20-24 | 17-20 |
| 2 years | 65-77 | 55-90 | 22-26 | 18-22 |
| After 2 years | 65-80 | 55-90 | 25-27 | 20-22 |
Moreover, you can for sure take this table as a guide to determine whether your Golden Retriever is growing or not. But still, fluctuation in the size of your pet beside this table does not necessarily mean illness. So, take help from the Vet to know your pal’s health condition and growth rate.
Sizes Of Golden Retriever According To Breeds
Apart from age, the types of Golden Retrievers influence a lot in their size. If your pal is an offspring of a smaller-sized parent, you cannot assume it to be bigger. Can you? Therefore, the size of different Golden Retriever according to the breeds are:
| Type Of A Golden Retriever | Average Height | Average Weight |
| American Golden Retriever | Males: 23-24 inches
Females: 21-22 inches |
65 -75 pounds |
| Canadian Golden Retriever | Males: 23-24 inches
Females: 21.5-22.5 inches |
60-70 pounds |
| English Golden Retriever | Males: 22-24 inches
Females: 20-22 inches |
55-65 pounds |
| White Golden Retriever | 20-24 inches | 65-75 pounds |
| Red Golden Retriever | 21.5 to 22.5 inches | 55-65 pounds |
| Cream Golden Retriever | 21.5 to 24 inches | 55-75 pounds |
| Light Golden Retriever | Males: 23-24 inches
Females: 21.5-22.5 inches |
Males: 65-75 pounds
Females: 55-65 pounds |
| Dark Golden Retriever | 21-24 inches | 55-75 pounds |
| Black Golden Retriever | Males: 23-24 inches
Females: 21.5-22.5 inches |
Males: 65-75 pounds
Females: 60-70 pounds |
| Field bred Golden Retriever | Males: 23-24 inches
Females: 21.5-22.5 inches |
Males: 65-75 pounds
Females: 55-65 pounds |
| Show Golden Retriever | 23-24 inches | 65-75 pounds |
| Mini Golden Retriever | Maximum 16 inches | 20-50 pounds |
| Goldendoodle (cross breed) | 13-20 inches | 40-50 pounds |
What type of Golden Retriever do you own?
Moreover, I hope to know you are familiar with the type of Golden Retriever and its size. Further, if you have any queries, you can take help from the articles-
What To Do When Your Golden Retriever Is Big?
Golden Retriever loves food. Thus, obesity is one of the major health issues of these breeds. Besides this, these needy dog breeds excel in the art of pleasing the owners. As a result, owners reluctantly give their pets what they want and spoils their health.
However, the size of a Golden Retriever greater than 80 pounds is huge. So, if you think your pal is getting bigger than its average size, you must follow these ideas to control its weight.:
Make A Routine And Stick To It
Generally, managing a routine for your pal involves them in various activities throughout the day. So, they don’t show aggressive behavior. Furthermore, this also ensures that your pal is getting proper nutrition at the correct time.
Hence, your Golden Retriever can live an active and healthy lifespan. Along with this, routine management prevents reckless feeding and overfeeding so that your pal doesn’t get obese.
Manage The Diet Of Your Golden Retriever
If you want your Golden Retriever to be happy, managing its diet is essential. Further, your pal needs different types of nutrition according to its age and physical activities. So, you must focus on these two things while making a diet schedule.
Moreover, after reaching maturity, your pal’s body starts retiring. So, it needs food that is easy to digest and lesser in protein or fat. Along with this, the physical activities of your pet reduce in winter. Hence, focus on hot liquid meals during winter to prevent your pet from obesity.
Provide Healthy Snacks
Golden Retrievers needy dog breeds. And thus, they know how to attract the owner’s attention and please them for treats. So, these dogs always use their impeccable pleasing power to get what they want. Usually, owners fall into the trap of Golden Retrievers’ contagious smiles and spoil them with tasty treats.
However, these treats aren’t good for the pet. As they invite health issues like constipation, heart diseases, joint problems, mouth diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer, etc, they degrade the health condition of your pal.
Hence, if you don’t want your pal to be sad and obese, you should feed them with natural healthy snacks instead.
Engage Your Golden Retriever In Exercise
Undoubtedly, excising is the best way of managing the weight of your Golden Retriever. Besides this, these breeds also love to exercise. Thus, this makes the weight management process a lot easier.
Usually, these dogs need about an hour of daily exercise to promote their growth and body functions. But if your pal is too big, you can increase the exercising time and intensity. Moreover, swimming is the best exercise to manage the weight of your pal. However, some of the other activities to control the weight of your pal are:
- Fetching
- Hiking
- Jogging
- Long walks
- Retrieving
- Camping
Give Proper Training
Although Golden Retrievers have a calm attribute most of the time, training them to manage their aggressive behavior is essential. Furthermore, proper training makes your pet obedient and prevents them from recklessly eating the things present in the house. So, your pet is less likely to get obese.
Therefore, here are some of the training sessions for your pal are:
- Potty training
- Diabetic Assistance Training
- Training to calm the aggression
- Bite inhibition training
- Barking control training.
Give Small Meals
Golden Retriever’s love for food is undeniable. So, it is difficult to stop them from eating when they are near food. So, to control the overfeeding habit of your pal, you should give them frequent small meals instead of a big bowl of food. Since your pet’s eating urge satisfies through this process, it is more likely to eat less.
Besides this, avoid leaving the food in your pet’s food bowl all day long. And always include easily digestible small meals so that your pal can stay fit and active.
Consult With The Vet
Besides overfeeding, your Golden Retriever may also be obese due to different health conditions like diabetes, thyroid disorders, etc. So, you must consult with professionals to manage and mitigate this health hazard.
Apart from this, suggestions about the diet and exercise plan can help manage the weight of your pal.
Further, to know how to manage your pal’s weight, see the article- How Can You Help Manage The Weight Of Your Golden Retriever?
Is your pet big?
How do you control the weight of your pal?
What To Do When Your Golden Retriever Is Too Small?
Although underweight is a rare issue in Golden Retrievers, it is fatal and leads to instant death. Usually, the dogs suffering from various diseases lose their appetite or are always hungry. And those dogs who do not prefer eating are smaller and underweight.
Furthermore, increasing the size of your pal is easier than losing it. However, some of the ideas you can use to increase the size of your Golden Retriever are:
Include Food Supplements
Some of the owners fail to understand the demand for nutrition according to the age of the pet. Generally, puppy Golden Retriever is in a growing phase and requires more proteins and fats. Besides this, the dogs involved in intense physical activities need more food.
Moreover, probiotics, vitamins, and minerals can help promote the health of your pal. So, take help from professionals. Also, include all the essential food supplements in the diet of your pet.
Provide Omega Rich Foods
Omega-rich foods are very good for growing dogs. So, the nutritious value of these foods helps in the proper growth and development of the bones and joints. Thus, your pet can grow properly.
Besides this, food rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids contributes to the healthy growth of your pet’s skin coat. Hence, some of the omega-rich foods for your pet are:
- Seafood
- Salmon, sardines
- Flask seed
- Fish oil
Increase Intensity Of Exercises
Sometimes your Golden Retriever may be avoiding its meal due to the lack of exercise. Thus, an increase in the intensity of exercise will utilize the excess energy of your pet. So, your pal will eat more food to meet the requirement of the extra calories.
However, this cannot be helpful if your pal is not eating due to health issues. Thus, before increasing the intensity of your pet, you must first take them for a health checkup. And increase the training only after the approval of the Vet.
Use Herbal Supplements
Since herbal supplements have various health-promoting ingredients, they enhance the growth of lustrous skin coats in your pet. Apart from this, some herbal supplements like aloe vera, calendula flower, ginger, goldenseal, chamomile, etc., has antifungal and antibacterial properties. Thus, they prevent your pal from parasitic infection, eye disease, ear infection, or bacterial infections.
After the elimination of these health issues, your pet can gain healthy weight.
Seek Help From The Vet
As we know, the Vets are experts for promoting the healthy life of your pet. So, they know how to eliminate and manage the health issues of your pet. After consulting with the Vet, you will get ideas about the proper Golden Retriever care, like feeding, training, and grooming pattern.
Apart from this, the medicines, supplements, and preventive measures suggested by the Vet help maintain the appropriate size of your Golden Retriever.
How often do you visit the Vet?
Is your pal underweight?
How Should You Feed Your Golden Retriever?
If you want to manage the size of your Golden Retriever, the first thing that you should focus on is feeding. But if you give food to your pal recklessly, proper training cannot contribute to their healthy lifespan.
Therefore, to ease your dilemma and help you, here are some foods and the feeding schedule for your pet.
Feeding Schedule For Your Golden Retriever
As we know, every dog has its own needs and requirement. So, I cannot assure you that my schedule will be 100% effective for your pal. Even though taking some ideas from it won’t do any harm, will it?
Thus, the feeding schedule is as follows:
| Weight of Golden Retriever | 6-12 weeks
(4 times a day) |
3-4 months
(3 times a day) |
5-7 months
(2 times a day) |
8-12 months
(twice) |
12-24 months
(once) |
| 3- 10 lbs. | 50-100 grams | 100-150 grams | |||
| 10-30 lbs. | 75-125 grams | 150-200 grams | |||
| 30-60 lbs. | 100-150 grams | 200-250 grams | 300-350 grams | ||
| 60-80 lbs. | 150-250 grams | 250-350 grams | 350-400 grams | ||
| 80-100 lbs. | 250- 300 grams | 300-350 grams | 350-450 grams | ||
| 100-125 lbs. | 250-500 grams | 350-650 grams | 400-500 grams | ||
| 125-150 lbs. | 400-600 grams | 400-650 grams | 400-800 grams | 500-900 grams | |
| 150-175 lbs. | 350-750 grams | 500-900 grams | 650-100 grams | 850-1150 grams | 900-1300 grams |
Furthermore, pregnant Golden Retrievers need 50% more amount of nutrition than others. So, keep it in mind when you make the feeding schedule for your pregnant pet.
Best Food For Your Golden Retriever
Usually, the dog food you choose influence a lot in the health and size of your pet. So, investing in good dog foods is essential for a healthier lifespan for your expensive Golden Retriever. Moreover, I think you prefer paying for food more than paying for treating the health issues of your pal. Isn’t it?
So, some of the best foods for your pal are:
- Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food Adult
- Purina Pro Plan Weight Management Adult Dry Dog Food
- Natural Balance Fat Dogs Low-Calorie Dry Dog Food
- NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE Small Bites Adult Dry Dog
- WELLNESS CORE Marrow Roasts Natural Grain-Free Dog Treats
Which one do you prefer for your pal?
What Are The Quicks Tips For Golden Retriever Care?
As we know, Golden Retriever is a high-maintenance dog breed. Thus, it needs adequate care and grooming for a healthy and longer lifespan. Further, most owners fail to realize their responsibilities. But I hope you know what you should do for your pal.
However, here are some quick tips for your pet’s care:
- Brush your Golden Retriever’s skin coat daily. Also, observe its ears, skin, paws, and eyes for infections, ticks, and fleas.
- Bathe your pal once a month. And always use dog-specific shampoos and conditioners, like Oatmeal shampoo and Isle of Dogs Everyday Jasmine & Vanilla Conditioner.
- Regularly clean the ears.
- Clean your pet’s teeth thrice a week. And use dog-based toothpaste ( Virbac CET Enzymatic Toothpaste, Nylabone Dental Advanced Oral Care Toothpaste, etc.)
- Take your pal for a health checkup once a year.
- Vaccinate your Golden Retriever.
- Engage in socialization and meetings with your pal.
- Keep the house clean to maintain the hygiene of your pal.
- Always maintain a peaceful environment around your pal.
- Regularly consult the Vet for your pet’s healthy and active life.
And I hope all these points are helpful for your pal.
Besides this, Golden Retriever will be a friendly companion that cuddles and plays with you if you give a little attention and time. After you build a strong bond with your pal, you can make many beautiful memories that last forever.
In addition, a study on obese Golden Retriever states that weight management can add few years to the life of your pal. Therefore, you should always be cautious before deciding for your pal. Further, I hope all your decisions lead to a happier and longer life with your beautiful friend.
Do you have any suggestions for maintaining a Golden Retriever in its appropriate shape and size?
Please share your suggestions.
