# 4 month old golden looking more like a lab??



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

do you have other shots...is there any feathering at all on his front legs or tail?


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## Court92890 (Mar 26, 2012)

Yea I do have quite a few pictures...I will post them. Well I don't see a whole lot of feathering, not like our 5 year old golden at all.


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## goldhaven (Sep 3, 2009)

Did someone shave him when you weren't looking? You are right. He looks like a lab. I have never seen a golden look like this at 4 months but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Give him some more time and if he doesn't fill out by 1 year, I would be having a DNA test and speaking with the breeder.


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## goldhaven (Sep 3, 2009)

He is very cute though.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I wouldn't worry too much...some take longer to mature than others.

This is a picture of Lincoln at 4.5 months...he was very short haired and looked more like a lab. Today, at 3 years, he has tons of coat and the longest feathers I have ever seen. Doesn't make brushing dirt balls out of them very much fun!!


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

He is super cute but does look labish. I would contact the breeder and see if mom and dad took a while to get longer fur. Some goldens do take longer.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

The OP's puppy has way shorter hair than Lincoln did. Lincoln looks like a Golden puppy to me, the OP's puppy looks like a Lab. Did the breeder have any Labs at their house or any visitors? I would bet that a Lab got to mom. What did he look like as a puppy? Do you have any pictures when you first got him?

The only fuzzies I see are at the top of his ears and those are really short. He's really cute, BTW.


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## kdel (Jul 26, 2011)

Well first let me say I think your pup is adorable! I have a yellow lab and I have to say your guy looks to at least have some lab in him? For me it's the tail most of all. The ears are a bit long for a lab though sooo.....maybe like someone else said - did a lab have the opportunity to get to Mom?

I love my dog and think Labs are great however, I would not be happy if I were mislead. I would contact the breeder (nicely) and just ask some questions. Could just be that you have a Golden without much fur yet.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

kwhit said:


> The OP's puppy has way shorter hair than Lincoln did. Lincoln looks like a Golden puppy to me, the OP's puppy looks like a Lab. Did the breeder have any Labs at their house or any visitors? I would bet that a Lab got to mom. What did he look like as a puppy? Do you have any pictures when you first got him?
> 
> The only fuzzies I see are at the top of his ears and those are really short. He's really cute, BTW.


 
Yes, sorry.....now that I can see the pictures clearly (the sun was beating down on my computer screen here at work) there is a difference between the OP's puppy and Lincoln (although many people thought he was a lab). 

I agree he is very cute but I would probably be questioning it as well.


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## Casey and Samson's Mom (Sep 24, 2011)

My first golden looked "labbish" until she was at least 6 months old...when her fur came in it really came in! What do the other puppies from the litter look like?


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Are you sure that the father is actually the father? He looks like a yellow lab male must have snuck in and mated with the mother. He is adorable nonetheless!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

The length and the shape of the ears doesn't look like a Golden. I know Brooks had short fur at 4 months, but his ears had a golden type shape.


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## akgolden (Jun 18, 2011)

Beautiful pup but I would bet money there is some lab in him. I would contact the breeder and see if you can get some more info.


Either way if it is a lab/golden mix you got two of the best breeds in one.


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

It seems some are way slower to develop the coat. Flem was a slow poke and her adult coat is not as long as some others. Try to forget about the redness when you compare to your puppy. Your pup's ears seem a bit long but it might be the way the pictures where taken.

This is Flem at 4 months with Spip the Lab for comparison - only a little crinckling at the ears and a rat tail, lol.









At 6 months - a slight beginning of feathering at the front and back legs, still pretty short coat.









At 8 months - she is turning into a Golden; the rat tail is gone, the butt fluff is growing and the coat is starting to lenghten.









At 1 year - grown up coat is mainly here.


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## MarieP (Aug 21, 2011)

Here is Riot at around your pups age. He had really short hair and we were questioned a lot about him being a mix or a lab. Only the top of his head was fuzzy.




























This is him now.










He still doesn't have a lot of coat, but he is certainly a golden. I don't think you can tell at this point. Wait until he hits a 8-9 months, and if he is still looking like that, I may start to worry some.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Interesting! Your pup is adorable no matter what - but I'd be really interested to talk to the breeder and show her your pics.


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## Court92890 (Mar 26, 2012)

Thank you for all the replies! I have started to notice some "crimping" of the fur on his ears and a little bit of fur sticking out around his tail but still, nothing like Angel our other golden. We love him to pieces no matter what. Goldens and Labs are both wonderful dogs but it just feels like we were mislead and paid a pretty penny for him. He is AKC registered but I am not sure how far they investigate into registering them. I will keep you all posted though and will update pictures every month or so.


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## Deb_Bayne (Mar 18, 2011)

At four months I wondered about Bayne but knew he was pure Golden since I met his parents. I rejoiced when his feathers started showing up.


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## vcm5 (Apr 20, 2011)

He is adorable, but I would probably be wondering the same thing if I were you!


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

I can tell you one thing, Spip the Lab never ever crimped behind the ears. Wet or dry, not a blink of crimping. Please do update the pics, I would love to see how Achilles turns out. Before you know you will be asking about how to brush out mats and keep the static to create fly-aways.

As far as the AKC, my understanding is that they do not investigate anything. If a litter is registered by the breeder as coming from two purebred dogs who were also registered, the litter is accepted as purebred. However, you can go on the AKC website and buy a multi-generational pedigree of your dog. See here : American Kennel Club - Ordering an Online Pedigree


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## quilter (Sep 12, 2011)

There was a yellow lab puppy in our first dog class. Casper and the yellow lab were only a week apart in age. They looked very similar, especially since Casper is on the light side. You could tell the difference when you petted them, though. Casper had a very soft coat. The lab puppy had a very sleek, tight coat and the hair was stiff.


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

I used to wonder about Dakota who is from field lines. She was short coated forever, though a deep red. At eighteen months she is just now beginning to get some feathering, very slow to develop. I don't think she'll ever have the true 'longer' coat of most GRs.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Thalie said:


> ..............As far as the AKC, my understanding is that they do not investigate anything. If a litter is registered by the breeder as coming from two purebred dogs who were also registered, the litter is accepted as purebred. However, you can go on the AKC website and buy a multi-generational pedigree of your dog. See here : American Kennel Club - Ordering an Online Pedigree


Not exactly true-if you suspect that your breeder has lied about the parentage of your dog, you can contact the AKC. If they agree there is reason for suspicion, DNA can be tested on the puppy and parents. Litters have had their registrations revoked for this, and breeders have lost their AKC rights.

Four months is a little young to tell yet, but as your puppy gets older, if you suspect he is either a Lab or a Golden/lab mix, you can contact the AKC.

If the sire of the litter has been used more than 7 times, or more than 3 times in one year, the breeder is required to have a DNA profile on him, which can be used to prove parentage.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

While I can understand the concern, I would not state your beautiful pup is not pure Golden. Time will tell for sure. 
There are a number of things that could be possible. One is that he will will just develop the feathering later on, not totally unheard of. And it can be quite minimal regardless of how much feathering the parents have. 
Another may be the parents you met are the parents but somewhere back one or two generations a Lab got in the mix, and the breeder of your pup has no idea that occurred. I have seen dogs from service organizations where they intentionally crossed a Golden and Lab (black) and to look at the dog you would have never guessed one of the parents was a Golden.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

^ He looks like a golden here to me. I can see from the pictures that he's developing a ruff around his neck.

And even the lack of frizzles around the ears isn't technically telling (Jacks did not have a lot of frizzles). Same thing with the length of the ears (Jacks was ALL ears at different stages). 

Some golden boys are just very slow to develop coats and they really go through a series of gawky stages.


**** Take lots of pictures over the next 2-3 years. It's fun to see how long it actually takes before those coats come in.


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## Maine Molly (Mar 1, 2012)

I was worried about Molly being a Lab mix but after asking her obedience instructor what she thought she told me that Molly is a Field Golden. I had no idea there was different types of Goldens.

Molly has short hair, long muzzle, and looks nothing like the dogs in Space Buddies. My son's dog Nugget on the other looks like he just got done being in the movie.


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## Phoebe's mom (Jan 17, 2012)

Unexperienced people always call Phoebe a lab. She is at the point of losing her puppy hair and has not yet got her adult feathers but is still clearly hairier then a lab. 
Your pup looks very much like a lab, a cute lab though. Is the hair wirey or softer?


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## tahill (Jul 19, 2011)

Court92890 said:


> Thank you for all the replies! I have started to notice some "crimping" of the fur on his ears and a little bit of fur sticking out around his tail but still, nothing like Angel our other golden. We love him to pieces no matter what. Goldens and Labs are both wonderful dogs but it just feels like we were mislead and paid a pretty penny for him. He is AKC registered but I am not sure how far they investigate into registering them. I will keep you all posted though and will update pictures every month or so.


 
I hope you plan on still keeping him because he is beautiful. I think he looks like a golden. His face. You can kind of see on his tail that it looks like he will be getting his feathers soon. He also looks like he is going to be a BIG boy. He is beautiful.


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## Denlie (Nov 3, 2011)

Your boy is gorgeous!!

I was little paranoid about my puppy when strangers ask me if she is a Goldendoodle or a Labradoodle. But it at least gave me one of her nicknames, "Doodle Bug."


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## Court92890 (Mar 26, 2012)

Thank you all so much! oh yes we are absolutely keeping him, he is probably the best pup I have ever had! training has been a breeze, he was house broken in just two days! the only problem we are having is the chewing and biting of our other Golden, but at this age that is to be expected. His fur is actually very soft and not wirey at all. Yes we think he is going to be a big boy too! we got him at 11 weeks and he already weighed 25 pounds, and has grown so much since then ha.


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## aerolor (May 27, 2011)

Your pup doesn't look like a labrador to me - he has the golden expression and the ears are golden ears. Granted his coat is not there yet, but I am sure it will come in as he ages. These things take time and he is only four and a half months old. Occasionally, people still ask me if my pup is a lab. and she is nearlly a year old. Her coat is coming, although at the moment it seems at a standstill, but I do brush her a lot and use a rake on her to keep the shedding down to a minimum. I actually am hoping she won't have a "big" coat and if your pup is the same, you may eventually be grateful (as I am) if you have a dog with a coat that is easy to manage.


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Tahnee GR said:


> Not exactly true-if you suspect that your breeder has lied about the parentage of your dog, you can contact the AKC. If they agree there is reason for suspicion, DNA can be tested on the puppy and parents. Litters have had their registrations revoked for this, and breeders have lost their AKC rights.
> 
> Four months is a little young to tell yet, but as your puppy gets older, if you suspect he is either a Lab or a Golden/lab mix, you can contact the AKC.
> 
> If the sire of the litter has been used more than 7 times, or more than 3 times in one year, the breeder is required to have a DNA profile on him, which can be used to prove parentage.


Thank you for explaining the intricacies of litter registration. I had no idea about the compulsory DNA testing in the case of repeated litters by a same sire either over time or in a relatively short amount of time. So much to learn and since I do intend to ever breed, I am not that familiar with the related paperwork and procedures.

I just meant that the AKC does not systematically review the extensive pedigrees for each and every litter if the necessary documentation (parents' name, registration number,date of birth, number of puppies, etc.) is supplied by the breeder when he/she submits his/her application for registering the litter. But I can still have it wrong in some way 

OP, sorry for the off-topic.


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## wbetheajr (Mar 12, 2012)

Here is my Riley at 13 weeks, the fur on his back is starting to get a wave in it. His dad was a Golden and Mom was a Chocolate Lab.


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

A few months ago I posted a similar thread, but opposite! In Coopers class there were 2 male goldens who's owners wanted to know why their dogs didn't look like him. The pups were brothers, both taller, short coat and rounded head. To me they looked like irish springers pups. Coop was shorter and much more stocky with more hair (but nothing like now). I questioned the look to the forum. I saw these two pups now 8 mo old and they have greatly changed. Still long legged, but definately looking golden.

I think you just need time to see. Amazing to see the more coat these two pups in class put on in just 3 months. As puppy fur falls out and new hair starts to grow think many of our pup go through a lab stage. Mine are light and when younger were thought to be pyreneese. Finally now people call them Goldens...say wrong color, but Golden at least. 

Be interesting to see a picture each month as your boy matures and a learning experience for us all.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Thalie said:


> Thank you for explaining the intricacies of litter registration. I had no idea about the compulsory DNA testing in the case of repeated litters by a same sire either over time or in a relatively short amount of time. So much to learn and since I do intend to ever breed, I am not that familiar with the related paperwork and procedures.
> 
> I just meant that the AKC does not systematically review the extensive pedigrees for each and every litter if the necessary documentation (parents' name, registration number,date of birth, number of puppies, etc.) is supplied by the breeder when he/she submits his/her application for registering the litter. But I can still have it wrong in some way
> 
> OP, sorry for the off-topic.


You are correct though in that unless a complaint is filed, or something turns up in an AKC inspection, they don't check all the information supplied to them. And it does happen that people either outright lie, and register puppies as the breed they look like as babies, or don't realize that a litter can have more than one sire.


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