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Boxy Head Golden Puppy

8K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Cpc1972 
#1 ·
I am buying a puppy and need to know how to tell if the puppy will have a boxy head or long snout. The dam has the long snout and the sire has a boxy head. Are there certain things to look for in the puppy that will tell me?
 
#2 ·
Head type is difficult to change in one generation. It may be that the dam's head is not really what I am imagining from your description, but in general, any female will have a smaller, less 'boxy' look to her headpiece. It would also be very difficult to tell at 8 weeks what the headpiece will look like as an adult, especially if the dam's headpiece is very different from the sire's (not just gender difference but truly type difference). All the puppies will probably have a short muzzle until they are 3-4 mo old, when their teeth start changing over and the lower/upper jaws grow. This is one reason why it is important to breed type to type, and when you want to change or improve a bitch's headpiece, you don't expect that to happen in one generation.

I doubt you will be able to look at the litter and make any guess as to muzzle length at adulthood. Post some head pics of the sire/dam here if you can, so an educated guess can be made as to whether the headpieces will favor one or the other.
 
#3 ·
I agree with Prism Goldens completely. They all look so short until they are about 4 months give or take. This is not science, but just for me & my own quirky thing: I like the eyes to be a wider set apart in an 8 week old bc I think the head is going to grow with back skull lol, but that eyes set close together will have that more snipey muzzle . Take that with many grains of salt bc it is only a personal quirk/superstition to pick.
 
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