This mahogany golden's puppies were born in the dun color.
(photo from http://www.over-the-moon.us/.)
Golden puppies are usually born a different color than the one they have when they are mature Most mid-gold and light-gold puppies are born cream or even off-white. The darker-colored ones, though, very often do not look gold or reddish at all when they are first born.
Very dark golden retrievers–the tawnies, the coppers, the golden reds, the reds, and mahoganies– are born in two basic colors. Some puppies are born in their adult color. Others are born with natal coats of a dun color. The dogs in the photo above are of this dun color.
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas writes about this color in The Hidden Life of Dogs. One of her dogs is a full dingo of the typical red color. The dog had two litters, one with a springer spaniel and one with a white husky. In both cases, the puppies were born of a dun coloration. The spaniel cross puppies were more of a beagle color, but their tan coloration was dun. In the husky cross puppies, the color was all dun, and the puppies matured into reddish husky-type dogs with blue eyes.
Dingoes almost universally come in this recessive red to yellow color, and is not Australian dingoes come in this color. Virtually all dingoes throughout southern Asia and Indonesia are of this color. It is also a very common color in Asian dogs. One only has to look at the Korean Jindo and the Japanese strain of Akita to understand that this color is well-known in Asia. We now believe that dogs have an origin in Asia, and it is poossible that this color could be the oldest color in domestic dogs. It might be that a clear red color was an identifying characteristic of domestic dogs that separated them from wolves. A red dog-like animal wouldn’t get killed on sight, while a gray dog dog-like animal would. It is also possible that people just liked that red color. This selection for red has gone on in several different cultures. The Masai livestock guardian dog, which is smaller than a border collie yet guards against lions, is usually red in color. The Masai love that color, so they have selected for it. Europeans have selected for it in golden retrievers and Irish setter for no other reason other than its novelty. (Although a case can be made for goldens that their color is good camouflage.)
This phenomenon of reddish dogs being born dun is a very common characteristic.
However, it is not universal.
Irish setters are born full red in color.
And some red goldens also with their coloration approaching that of their adult pelage.
These golden retriever puppies are from Zomarick. They were born red, which is the color of both of their parents. The puppies appear at 3:02. Yes, that’s the sire of the litter helping the bitch lick the puppies clean!
The dun-colored whelps usually have a red muzzle and ears and a reddish shaded stripe that runs down their backs. As they mature, the red gradually spreads over the puppies.
The first litter of golden I ever saw were dun-colored. I thought they were mixed with Norwegian elkhounds. It was only when they matured into rather dark golden retriever puppies with no elkhound features at all that I realized that this dun coloration was a very common coloration in dark golden retrievers when they are first born.
Golden retriever puppies, then, come in a very wide range of colors when they are first born. But they all mature into dogs that range from almost white to mahogany. Gold coloration is truly a many-splendored thing.
I remember when my old golden grew from a puppy into a dog, and as he did, a dark red line showed up from his neck to his tail. Eventually, he was completely dark red.
My old red Golden had that same dark red line. He eventually became that color all over, too. Another pup from his litter, originally called “big white guy” because he was so light, became medium red in maturity! This was a mating of a medium red male to a dark red bitch. My current Golden was born dark red.
I’ve seen some lighter pups ones turn that color. Usually, you can tell the color of the pup as an adult by looking at its ears.
Usually they aren’t this white, though, when they are born:
Heavens no! That’s not really a Golden! It’s the offspring of a “white” lab and a Great Pyrenees. ;-)
And yes, ears are definitely the clue! My latest dog was born dark red with even darker ears and got darker red. If one more person thinks he is an Irish Setter, I’m going to scream.
That light-color craze is something. Actually, light gold goldens always existed, but goldens devoid of yellow to red pigment have existed only since the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. My current dog is light gold, but not “white.” The original color range was light gold through to mahogany, which is a very rare color these days. The first dual champion in the breed was a mahogany, Ch. Balcombe Boy.
The dog in the photo is a mahogany, and here’s a pic of another one: https://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/another-mahogany-golden/#comments
It’s easy to compare that mahogany dog with the dog in the header, which is a red golden in color.
The dog in my avatar is a red golden from the 1920’s and 1930’s named Ch. Noranby Diana. She was one of the top bitches owned by one of the breed’s founders, Winnifred Charlesworth, who also wrote the first standard for the breed in 1911.
I won’t say that goldens have changed dramatically from their original form, only because they haven’t changed as much as when you compare them to the bulldog and Afghan hound to their original forms.
Also, goldens have a lot of Irish setter in them. In fact, the first Tweedmouth dog, Nous, had Irish setter in his background. The preferred color for wavy/flat-coated retrievers was always black, but because Irish setters were so often crossed with them, you got reddish colored puppies every once in a while.
Reddish colored wavy-coats were known to exist before Nous’s birth in 1864. Landseer painted one in the 1840’s that looks a lot like a golden retriever: https://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/breeze-by-sir-edwin-landseer/ (We’ve since done some research to prove that this dog is a retriever, not a setter.)
Saturn was the same color as he was when he was a puppy, all red :) He never really changed but got a tad lighter.
I had a golden retriever and he was mahoghany. He was a beautiful dog and the best dog we ever had. Im looking for a new puppy and would love to find one his color again, but not having any luck.
Contact this man and you will get what you want. A quality dog with red coat!
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-pets-dogs-puppies-for-sale-golden-retriever-puppies-W0QQAdIdZ173221149
The love of my life was my red golden, Louie. I will never be able to replace him, however I am looking for a reputable breeder of dark red goldens. When I see the Bush’s Beans commercial I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry…can anyone out there give me some suggestions. I do not want the “bench” variety you see today at all the AKC shows with the square head and boxy body.
Louie was dark red at 8 weeks.
I also knew one of those Bush’s baked bean dogs.
They are such good dogs.
Now everyone assumed they are mixed with Irish setter.
A real shame.
Hello, I’m looking for a red golden retriever breeder in Germany or Austria, Netherlands or France. I’d like to get a puppy for therapy and as a family dog. Do have any adress, any contact? I would appriciate to get an email, thank you very much!
I saw several working type goldens in Munich this past winter; one was quite red.
I am a bit more familiar with the Danish working type golden scene than the German.
This breeder in Denmark might be able to help you: http://www.bredekaer.dk/link.htm
http://www.all-about-retriever.biz/html/zuchthundinen.html Forgot about this.