Key Takeaways
The American golden retriever is usually more lanky with feathery fur, perfect for active families.
English golden retrievers are stockier with full coats, making them ideal companions and retrieving partners.
Did you know there are three distinct types of golden retrievers? Not only do these breed variations hail from different countries but also have their own special physical characteristics to help tell them apart. Not that a golden would ever be in a police line-up. She’s far too congenial and well-behaved to pull off a heist!
Here are the three types of golden retrievers and how to tell them apart.
What Are the Three Different Types of Golden Retrievers?
There are three golden retriever types: American, English (British), and Canadian. While they share the same breed, their appearances differ due to regional preferences in the U.S., U.K., and Canada.
Vivve Tamm, the board chair for Golden Rescue Canada, provides a snippet of breed history. “The golden retriever was created in the mid-1800s by a Scot [Dudley Marjoribanks, the first Lord Tweedmouth], who was looking for an ideal gundog,” she says. “He bred his yellow retriever with a breed that’s now extinct—the Tweed water spaniel. Bloodhound and Irish setter were added to the mix.” There’s also a little flat- or wavy-coated retriever in the lineage.
This makes for a terrific blend of good dogs! Let’s take a closer look.
American Golden Retriever
American goldens gained fame in the 1970s when President Gerald Ford brought his dog, Liberty, to the White House. They are popular with families, ranking high on the American Kennel Club’s breeds list. This type is usually lankier, with less stocky builds and more ‘feathery’ fur.
Canadian Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever Club of Canada notes that Archie Majoribanks, the son of the breed’s founder, imported goldens as early as the 1880s, but the first registration of a Canadian golden happened in 1927. Tamm says you’ll spot their difference because they’re usually darker in color, taller, and leaner than American and English golden retrievers, with a thinner coat.
English (British) Golden Retriever
The heritage origin of the American and Canadian golden retrievers come from this one! Does that make him the OG golden? The United Kennel Club states that the British golden retriever “was bred by British aristocrats to be a dual-purpose dog, able to retrieve waterfowl and upland game birds and also to be a companion.” Tamm notes this golden is heavier and stockier, with a full coat, wider, shorter muzzle, and a blockier forehead.
Different Colors of Golden Retrievers
Despite their name, golden retriever coats truly run a beautiful spectrum! With so many heritage breeds influencing their color hues (so if you see a red golden retriever, that’s probably her Irish ancestor popping up!), you might think at first that it’s challenging to tell them apart, but here are some helpful hints.
American golden retrievers are generally more honey-colored, a little more true to what people often perceive as ‘golden’.Canadian golden retrievers usually have the darkest color of the three variations, perhaps with a bit more red.English cream-colored golden retrievers are often regarded as the rarest type of golden retriever due to their light coats, with off-white colored locks.
“There are no two goldens the same—not in body shape nor coloring,” Tamm says. “Just like humans, all vary in their intelligence, personality, and health.”
