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Red VS Gold

3K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  njb 
#1 ·
Well howdy!

I was looking at all your wonderful pictures and was surprised at the amount of really really dark "red" colored goldens.

I know according to the AKC they can't be that color for showing, but I do see it getting more and more popular.

Is red the new gold? :)

Just wondering if anyone else noticed the trend :)
 
#3 ·
I know that the dark colors are much more common in the US, while the blonde is common in Europe.

I honestly love both colors....but I've always felt the dark colors were "real" goldens. Not sure why I've felt like that, though.
 
#4 ·
I'm an in between kinda girl lol I'm not a fan of the really light colored or the really dark pretty much brown colored... I just like the goldie color lol.

I think Tucker will eventually be the in between, but I'm not too sure! His ears look nice, and I read you're supposed to go by that.
 
#7 ·
I'm not as much of a fan of the light as I am of the dark. That's not to say I would turn a light one down ;)
My ideal colour is that reddish, copper colour hence the name Copper which I want to name my Golden.
Samson's color would make a good Copper...

My wife wanted a blonde golden. And really, I think a lot of times, the blonde puppies are cuter than the darker (not by much, though).
 
#10 ·
I notice new fur on Tuckers back that is almost the same color as his ears! I'm so excited! lol he's getting bigger each week it seems.

Now if he'd stop biting me... :( lol.

I dunno what to call the color I like... besides golden..its not like cream or blond or red or brown lol.... I like the color most show dogs are ?
 
#16 ·
I like them in every shade, and have had them in every shade. Here's a sampling of the Goldens I have fostered... they are Holly, Rally, Andy and Sage. They are ALL SENIORS and all adopted, or lived with me until they died. Rally was severe abuse case. Left in a house for dead with no hair left and scars everywhere. Sage was severe neglect. I kept him til he died. First time he wagged his tail I cried like a baby. God bless all senior rescues. They are the BEST KEPT SECRET!!!!!!!!! Adopt a senior. You will never regret it. You will wonder why you didn't adopt one years ago! Color doesn't matter- inside they are all GOLD.
 

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#23 ·
If you grab an old copy of the GR News, you'll see that in the Seventies and Eighties, darker goldens were very popular in the show ring. In fact, today, there are still some very dark colored goldens winning in the show ring.

As with anything else, the favored colors move in trends. Right now, the trend is swinging back again to the darker dogs in conformation.

The standard allows for a very wide range of colors. Because of that, you do in fact see many darker goldens participating in the show ring these days. The important thing is that no matter the color of the coat, you'll see gold in it when the lighting is just right. That, IMHO, is what determines whether or not the coat is correct, not the color.

I have dark goldens, and I have light goldens. I love them both.
 
#22 ·
Last year I was in Europe for a few weeks on business and noticed a number of GR for the most part they were much lighter then the American GR.

I can live with the dark or light GR! Health and temperment are two keys to what drew me to this breed as a little kid. Our neighbors golden just loved
playing with my friends and I (For hours, non-stop!) Stew lived to the age of 14 years-old.
 
#26 ·
I too love all goldens but I tend to favor the darker ones.
 
#27 ·
I've just been reading some sections of a book I have here, and it states what the standards are for showing, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the English Kennel Club.

For the colour of the coat it says...
" Both standards advocate any shade of golden, and both condemn excessively dark coats. The AKC singles out very pale coats as being undesirable, but these are popular in the UK. In both standards, a few white hairs are permitted on the chest - or on the muzzle if they are the result of ageing."

Personally, I like 'em all.


Quite interesting stuff in the same book about how the breed first came about and what dogs were bred to create the Golden Retriever. Also, how the different colour pups are bred.
 
#28 ·
I thought that Samwise would be a lot darker red but he looks almost orange to me. In fact, he and my middle son have just about the same color hair (Ash's is a little brighter orange). Ashton calls him his Irish dog. I am very pleased with his color, though. In the sun he looks like he's had highlights. The longer hair on the back of his legs, on the underside of his tail and around his butt is very blonde.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Well howdy!
I was looking at all your wonderful pictures and was surprised at the amount of really really dark "red" colored goldens.
I know according to the AKC they can't be that color for showing, but I do see it getting more and more popular.
Is red the new gold? :)
Just wondering if anyone else noticed the trend :)
If you look back in the past you will see the darker colored goldens which many call the reds, or copper colored ones. They are not new at all, and have been around for a very very long time. The AKC gets there standard for the parent club, if you look on the parent clubs site you will see the darker goldens. The AKC also says the golden should be shown in working condition....i've yet to see that!

Another good source is to get at some older books on the Golden Retriever, you will see the dark ones in there as well.
 
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