Generally, when you think about Golden Retrievers, your mind automatically circles into the immense popularity, their 4th rank in the most popular dogs in the USA, and the different shades of golden they have. Owing to the presence of Golden Retrievers across the world and changes in various environmental circumstances, these best family dogs do not settle down in three colors. Therefore, there are different types of Golden Retrievers.
However, based on color and different places of origin, there are different types of Golden Retrievers with distinct features. In general, there are three different types of Golden Retrievers based on where they live, i.e.:
- American Golden Retriever
- Canadian Golden Retriever
- English Golden Retriever
Furthermore, based on their looks, there are three types of Golden Retrievers. And six types due to different skin coat colors. Based on color, there are:
- White Golden Retriever
- Red Golden Retriever
- Cream Golden Retriever
- Light Golden Retriever
- Dark Golden Retriever
- Black Golden Retriever
Finally, the Golden Retrievers based on looks are:
- Field bred Golden Retrievers
- Show Golden Retrievers
- Mini Golden Retrievers
Undoubtedly, you will get a brief introduction to each of the types of Golden Retrievers further in this article. But before that, how about digging into the past of Golden Retriever?
Do you know the original Golden Retrievers were yellow?
History Of Different Types Of Golden Retrievers
When you flip the pages of history, the origin of Golden Retriever dates back to the 19th century in Scotland. Since hunting was a medium of food collection at that era, the Scottish estate owners were looking for an animal breed that could hunt in both land and water.
The sole credit for the origin of the Golden Retrievers goes to the British aristocrat dog breeder, Lord Tweedmouth. His attempt to solve the problem drives him to crossbreed a yellow-colored local dog with Tweed Water Spaniel. As a result, small yellow and furry puppies were born in 1906.
Since the breed came into the limelight only after the 19th century, the Golden Retriever made a place in the Kennel Club of England in 1911. Furthermore, the Canadian Kennel Club gave recognition to the Golden Retrievers in 1925 after the breeds were popular in the 20th century in North America.
Eventually, after the American Kennel Club registered the Golden Retriever as an American breed in 1932, the dog breeder started importing these breeds from various places. And they start crossbreeding them with others. Finally, the crossbreds gave the basis for the production of different types of Golden Retrievers.
As a result, there are different variants of Golden Retrievers nowadays.
What Are The Different Types Of Golden Retrievers?
Owing to the benefits of Golden Retrievers, the breeders from different places started importing the yellow and furry puppies of Golden Retrievers. However, due to the environmental condition and climate, the original puppies started showing remarkable deviations. Thus, these deviations were distinct when the breeders crossbreed the Golden Retrievers with other local dog breeds.
Moreover, the different types of Golden Retrievers based on the place of origin are:
English Golden Retrievers
The English Golden Retrievers are also known as British Golden Retrievers, are from Scandinavia, New Zealand, and Austria with an average height of 22-24 inches. Generally, these breeds have off-white to cream-colored coats and weights around 55 to 75 pounds. Furthermore, the female English Golden Retrievers are shorter and lighter and have an average height of 20 to 22 inches, and weigh 55-75 pounds.
However, the American Kennel Club and the British Kennel club have set two different standards for English Golden Retrievers that includes:
- A deeper head with a broad skull and no prominence of the occipital or frontal bone
- They have large dark to medium brown eyes that perfectly fit the rims. In addition, the eyes are triangular and slanted with pleasing looks.
- Shorter and hound-like ears that fall close to the cheeks
American Golden Retrievers
American Golden Retrievers are the most friendly and delicate breeds among all others. Thus, they stand as the perfect family dog and best playing companion for kids. Generally, the dogs of this breed are slightly lankier and less muscular than the others and have an average height of 23 to 24 inches for males and 21.5 to 22.5 inches for females.
However, the weight of the American breeds is similar, that is 65-75 pounds for a male and 55-65 pounds for a female. Furthermore, the standard of The American Kennel Club for American Breeds includes:
- Smoothly cascade skull from the tip of the nose to the back of the head.
- Strong neck without obstructions in the shoulders
- Well-balanced body without barrel-shaped ribs.
- Smooth topline and muscular forequarters without bumps
- Pleasing triangular and slanted eyes
Canadian Golden Retrievers
Canadian Golden Retrievers have a cream-colored coat with a beautiful body structure. As the name suggests, these breeds are from Canada.
In addition, the prominent features of this breed are:
- Shorter creamy hair
- Thinner coat
- Two inches taller than other breeds
Can you differentiate these breeds?
Which of the above breed do you want in your home?
How To Differentiate The Golden Retrievers?
Although these breeds belong to different places, they all resemble each other. Therefore, it is difficult to differentiate them from the first look. You must observe them.
Observe the Body Structure
The Embrace Pet Insurance has a general guideline for all three Golden Retrievers. That includes:
| Canadian Golden Retriever | American Golden Retriever | English Golden Retriever |
| Dark golden short hair | Long dark golden hair | Very long light golden hair |
| Thin hair coat | Dense hair coat | Thick hair coat |
| Broad skull with slight arch | Small head with narrow profile | Broader head |
| Dark and slightly tapered eyes | Triangular and slanted light eyes | Darker and large round eyes |
| Long ears above the level of eyes | Ears above the level of eyes | Ears at the level of eyes |
| Medium but muscular neck with untrimmed ruff | Muscular neck with untrimmed ruff | Long protruding neck with trimmed ruff |
| Slightly curved upward tail | Curved tail | Leveled tail |
| Lean and smaller body | Taller and lankier body | Stocky and heavier body |
| Male: 23-24 inches
Female: 21.5-22.5 inches |
Male: 23-24 inches
Female: 21.5-22.5 inches |
Male: 22-24 inches
Female: 20-22 inches |
| Male: 65-75 pounds
Female: 60-70 pounds |
Male: 65-75 pounds
Female: 55-65 pounds |
Male: 65-75 pounds
Female: 55-70 pounds |
Check Their Skin Coat
Generally, the Golden Retrievers have a double-layered coat that helps them to cope with extreme climate. Moreover, since the same breed of Golden Retriever can have different shades of coloring in the skin coat, sometimes one breed can resemble the breed color of the other. Thus, to determine the types of Golden Retrievers, you need to observe both the skin coats.
The general rule for determination is:
| Coats/ Breeds | English Golden Retriever | American Golden Retriever | Canadian Golden Retriever |
| Outercoat color | Off-white to light golden | Dark Golden | Cream to Light golden |
| Undercoat color | Light golden | Yellow to golden | Cream |
Color Determination
The coat color of Golden Retriever does not remain constant throughout the lifespan. While the fur color gets darker in adulthood, the coat color starts fading as the Golden Retriever reaches one to two years. Thus, you must check certain areas to determine the actual coat color.
- Check the hairs behind the ears: The color of the clumps of hair present behind the ear indicates the actual color of the Golden Retriever.
- Observe the tip of ears: During the growing phase, the Retrievers lose their puppy fur. However, the color of the ear tip retains and denotes the actual color.
- Analyze feathery hairs: The color of the hairs that cling to the ends of legs and strangles around the tail indicates the prominent color of the Golden Retrievers.
I hope these tips will help you in determining the type of your Golden Retriever?
What tricks do you follow to determine the type of breed of an unknown Golden Retriever?
What Are The Different Types Of Golden Retrievers Based On Looks?
Undoubtedly, the Golden Retrievers have the best features of a dog. Long, soft and lustrous hairs with beautiful colors and body structures steal the heart of every individual. However, Since humans are greedy, they experiment a lot to improve these features.
Thus, the breeder mix bred the Golden Retrievers with other dog breeds having astonishing body structure. As a result, they produced three types of Golden Retrievers with the best looks. And they are:
Mini Golden Retrievers
The mini–Golden Retrievers are the cutest ones with different shades of gold as coat color. However, most people have a misconception due to the name mini that these breeds are dwarf of Golden Retriever. But these breeds are instead crossbred of golden poodle and a cocker spaniel.
Though many may think that crossbreds are less healthy and more susceptible to disease, the strength of personality of the mini breeds depends on their parents and the number of genes they inherit. Moreover, the mini-breeds live for 10-12 years and have fewer health issues than their parents.
Furthermore, the normal mini-Golden Retrievers weigh around 20 to 45 pounds with a height of 12-20 inches at the withers. These breeds have a kind, trustworthy and playful attribute that can melt the heart of owners. Thus, instead of the mini–Golden Retrievers are twice in price, they have more demands than the purebred.
Field Breed Golden Retrievers
Generally, the history of the Golden Retrievers makes it clear that their creation was for hunting. But as they reach this era, they are more of a family-friendly dog breed than the hunting dogs. However, if you train them, they can be a great hunting companion.
Furthermore, as the name suggests, field Breed Golden Retrieversembodies the actual work of the Golden Retriever. Since these breeds are athletic, more driven, and energetic, they are best for fieldwork and hunting. Despite their agility and hunting ability of the field breed Retrievers, they are friendly with appealing shorter gold to red-colored coat and lankier body features.
However, since these dog breeds are hunting dogs, they are mouthy. Thus, you must give them proper training before introducing them to your kids.
Show Golden Retrievers
Show Golden Retrievers have the most appealing and promising look. Since the standard features of Golden Retrievers evolved over the years, this breed has prominent structures like:
- Blocky heads
- Long and full coats
- Thick and stocky body with big bones.
Besides the attractive looks, the attributes of the Show Golden Retrievers are also very pleasing. Though, these breeds have lesser energy, they are more social, friendly, generous, and kind. Thus, these features make these breeds the perfect family dog and the best for kids.
Although most of the Golden Retrievers have typical shades of gold as the skin coat color, their skin coating nowadays goes beyond the gold and cream color.
Do you know there are six colors of Golden Retrievers?
What Are The Coat Colors Types Of Golden Retrievers ?
Even though the American Kennel Club accepts only the most prominent color as the standard color, it is a myth that the Golden Retrievers have only shades of gold as skin color.
However, the continuous attempt of the dog breeders resulted in six different colors of Golden Retrievers with the most appealing color. Therefore, a brief introduction of these breeds is as follows:
Red Golden Retrievers
Being rare and uncommon Golden Retriever breeds, the red Golden Retrievers are expensive dogs. However, appealing body features like, compact body, straight but short red hair, dense coat with grows thinner in the legs and tails can easily please the buyer. Thus, these breeds are more in demand despite their higher price.
Besides this, the actual red Golden Retrievers are not easy to distinguish. And since they resemble with Irish Setter, it makes harder to know them. Thus, if you want to know the actual red Golden Retrievers, take help from the Veterinarian.
Black Golden Retrievers
The black breeds are the most promising ones among the others. Moreover, the irresistible shiny, long and black dense coat of these breeds make their higher price appreciable. Besides this, the black Golden Retrievers are the traditional breeds and have more preferences due to their classic look.
Although the body structure of these breeds is similar to the original Golden Retriever, they have higher energies and impulses. Thus, they are very playful and always active.
Dark Golden Retrievers
The dark Golden Retrievers have intense and dark golden colors that will retain throughout their lifespan. However, sometimes the undercoat may change its color due to aging. Yet, the color of the outer coat remains shiny and appealing.
And, the most prominent features of these breeds are:
- Skin coat with darker golden shades from top to bottom
- Lankier body
- Triangular and larger eyes
Light Golden Retrievers
Generally, the light golden puppies of the Light Golden Retrievers change into an intense golden or yellow adult. Thus, they are slightly yellowish than completely light golden. However, the tall body structure with oval eyes makes it easy to distinguish them.
In addition, the light Golden Retrievers are the typical traditional Golden Retrievers and are very popular in England and Canada.
Cream Golden Retriever
As the name itself suggests, these breeds are cream in color. Although the outer coat of these breeds has a cream to light-golden color, the undercoat is strictly creamy. Though this breed has a very high resemblance with the general Golden Retrievers with similar size, they also have some prominent features like:
- Well-leveled tail from the body
- Protruding ears
- Slimmer or thinner body
- Large, round, and darker eyes
Along with this, since the female cream Golden Retrievers are smaller than the males, the gender of this breed is easy to differentiate.
White Golden Retrievers
Generally, the coat color of these breeds is not white. The coat color becomes white only after they start aging at the age of one to two years. However, since the hair color is light or pale golden, the skin coat of the dogs appears white.
Moreover, sometimes people mix the white Golden Retrievers with the old Retrievers. Thus, you should know there is a lot of difference between the two. And their differences are:
| White Golden Retrievers | Old Golden Retrievers |
| Their coat color appears white from birth. | Their coat color changes to white after they are one year old. |
| These breeds have a light or paler golden color. | They can have any color during the growing phase. |
| Their undercoat has a light golden color. | They have white undercoats due to graying. |
What is the color of your Golden Retriever?
Do you like the color of your pet?
If you want to enhance the color of your Golden Retriever, you can read – How To Enhance The Coat Color Of Golden Retriever?
What Affects The Price Of Different Golden Retriever?
However, the common question regarding the different breeds of Golden Retrievers is,
Does every Golden Retriever breed have the same price? And which one is disease resistant or less prone to illness?
Generally, the disease resistance of every Retriever purely depends on the type of their parents and the number of genes they will take from their parents. However, since the Amercian Golden Retrievers are 60% prone of cancer, their lifespan(10 years) is shorter than the English breed (14 years) and the Canadian breed (11 years).
In general, there are the different factor that affects the price of the Golden Retriever breeds. Moreover, some of the factors that influence the price are:
Type of Breeder
The professional breeder nurtures the pet in a perfect and healthy environment. Along with this, the breeders give training, a healthy diet, and vaccinations to the offspring. Thus, they charge more for the puppies than the unreliable ones.
Breed Type
The most common dog breeds are less expensive than the rare and uncommon ones. Thus, mini, black, red, and field breed Retrievers have a higher price than others.
Similarly, the parents of these breeds are difficult to find. Thus, the breeders import them from other places. Therefore, the cost of breeding these types of Golden Retrievers increases. As a consequence, they have a higher price.
Owners Place
The Golden Retrievers need registration according to the law of the country or place you live after bring them home. However, the registration conducts thousands of inspections to ensure safety, security, and health. Thus, it raises the cost of Golden Retriever.
Generally, the AKC (American Kennel Club) does the registration in America.
Place Of Buying
The place from where you buy the pet also influences the cost. Normally, the purebred Golden Retriever costs from $500-$3000 when you buy through a breeder. But, if you adopt the pet from shelter homes, it will cost you around $50-$300.
However, the average overall cost of buying a Golden Retriever is around $15000 to $16000 including, registration, legal documentation, vaccinations, etc. The cost of raising a Golden Retriever puppy is more in the first year ($1200). After that, the annual cost of raising and feeding a puppy is around $800 to $1000.
Do you think you can afford to raise them?
Besides this, the pet needs a lot of time and attention. Can you give that to your pet?
Cross Breeds Of Golden Retrievers. Do they Cost Less?
The breeders crossbred the Golden Retrievers with other dog breeds to improve and enhance their qualities. Furthermore, the crossbreeds are less susceptible to illness and have a longer life. Therefore, crossbreeding Golden Retrievers with other dogs gives the attributes of both the parents in the offspring. As a result, the breeders get the pet they desire.
Some of them are:
- Goldmation (with Dalmatian)
- Golden Chi (with Chihuahua)
- Golden Mountain Dog (with Bernese Mountain Dog)
- Goldador (with Labrador)
- Goldendoxie (with Dachshund)
- Golden Poodle (with Standard Poodle)
Whatever be the breed type, pure or cross, the Golden Retriever needs adequate care and attention.
Do you know how to ways to effective Golden Retriever care?
What Are Caring Tips For Your Golden Retriever?
Apart from being immensely popular, Golden Retrievers are sensitive. And since they are more prone to health issues (ear infections, constipation, obesity, thyroid disorders, skin infections, or cancer), you should take good care of them.
Therefore, here are some tips for caring for them:
- Provide them adequate food and essential nutritional supplements
- Brush the coat of your Golden Retriever daily
- Give the pet a proper bath with dog-based shampoo at least once a month. And you can use a dog bath. It makes the bathing experience of your pet easy and comfortable.
- Avoid giving them human foods (like chocolates, coffee, cakes, sodas, etc.).
- Use natural snacks as treats while encouraging the Golden Retriever.
- Visit the Vet twice during the first year. And once every year to check the health condition of your pet.
- Consult with the Vet and follow the suggestions to deal with health issues.
- Give the pet sufficient training (potty training, diabetes assistance training, etc.).
- Exercise with the Golden Retriever for at least an hour daily.
- Take the pet on long walks, social gatherings, and swimming.
A healthy pet is the best friend. And playing and cuddling with your pal reduce your stress. Thus, you for sure want a longer lifespan for your Golden Retriever.
Therefore, after adding the Golden Retriever to your family. You must be conscious about the diet, health, and exercise of your pet.
However, I hope this article gave you guidance regarding the types of Golden Retrievers and ways to care for them.
If you have any suggestions, please leave your valuable comments in the comment box below.
